What Led to Kyle Busch & Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Throwing Punches After NASCAR All-Star Race? Complete Sequence of Events Explored

Watching your contenders race 198 laps around the North Wilkesboro Speedway while you sit idly inside your wrecked car infield can get pretty frustrating. It more than did for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on Sunday. When the All-Star race ended, the JTG Daugherty Racing driver waited on Kyle Busch – who was the reason for his angst – and got into an elaborate scuffle that is now all the heat.

The chaos began shaping up in the event’s first lap when Stenhouse shoved through Michael McDowell and Busch to make it three-wide on the short-track. Though there’d been enough space for him to do so and he made no contact with the other two, Busch’s car was seen bouncing off the outside wall. Choosing to not let it pass, the Rowdy quickly retaliated and wrecked him on the second lap.

Stenhouse couldn’t leave the track since it has no exit tunnel. So, he drove his wrecked Chevrolet to Busch’s Richard Childress Racing pit stall and parked it there. He removed his helmet and gave crew chief Randall Burnett a strong warning that he will be seeing their driver afterward. When the race did end with Joey Logano in the victory lane, Busch exited his #8 Camaro and walked toward the garage.

Upon reaching his team hauler he found an angry Stenhouse waiting to hear an explanation for wrecking him. A few minutes of words did nothing to help and a right fist connected to Busch’s face. NASCAR security and team personnel immediately jumped in to separate the two. The drivers stumbled on a pile of tires as Stenhouse’s father got himself into the mix.

By this time, the #47 JTG Daugherty crew members decided to get a bite as well and tried climbing on to the RCR hauler, only to be thrown away by Busch’s crew. Security eventually managed to pull everyone apart. Though the anger appears to have transpired over a few hours, Stenhouse believes that the spirit of it goes back to a 2018 race in Daytona when he wrecked Busch. “He’s been bad mouthing me ever since,” he told the press.

Racing icon Kenny Wallace reveals what he thought of the Busch-Stenhouse altercation

Every corner of the racing world is giving its opinion of the post-race events in North Wilkesboro. Former racer Kenny Wallace said, “That’s called passion. Competition will kill you. If you don’t think people want it bad, if you don’t think Ricky Stenhouse wants it, you just saw what happened right there. They could not talk it out.”

Wallace attributes the fight towards the passion for racing and winning. The only regret that he had was the fight not taking place somewhere all the fans could’ve seen it. Meanwhile, the drivers, crew members, and others who were involved in the brawl are expected to draw fines and suspension from the sanctioning body.