Ricky Stenhouse Jr. followed through on his promise that he would see Kyle Busch after the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Stenhouse not only saw Busch in the garage Sunday night but threw a punch at the Richard Childress Racing driver as the two went back and forth about their on-track contact. The night had ended on lap two for Stenhouse after Busch wrecked him in Turn 2. But without a tunnel at North Wilkesboro, Stenhouse remained in the infield and was waiting for Busch as the No. 8 hauler after the race.
“Go back and watch the replay, I didn’t touch you. Not once,” Stenhouse could be heard saying to Busch.
“We all hit each other,” Busch replied.
“You hit the fence and then you hit me,” Stenhouse said, pointing toward the racetrack.
“I don’t believe it, but if that’s what happened, OK,” Busch said.
“Go back and watch it,” Stenhouse said before punching Busch.
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Once the punch landed, Stenhouse grabbed Busch, and the two went toward the ground before being separated. NASCAR security pulled Stenhouse away while Stenhouse’s father, Ricky Sr., went after Busch.
Stenhouse repeatedly yelled, “Dad,” as the situation escalated, with more and more individuals getting involved. “Get my dad.”
Eventually, Busch made it onto the tailgate of his hauler, but he and Stenhouse continued to yell at each other about what happened on the racetrack.
“I don’t give a [expletive],” Busch said. “I suck just as bad as you.”
Stenhouse finished last in the 20-car field. Busch was not a factor in the 200-lap race and finished 10th.
“I feel like Kyle and I have always raced each other really hard back to the [Xfinity] Series when we were competing for wins week-in and week-out,” Stenhouse told Fox Sports after the fight. “We never had any issues, and then I wrecked one time at Daytona, and he’s kind of bad-mouthed me ever since then, so I feel like we get along with each other OK outside the racetrack. I talk to him quite a bit.
“I’m not sure why he was so mad that I shoved it three-wide, but he hit the fence and came off the wall and ran into me… When I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him, so yeah, it’s definitely built-up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about myself. But I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to and I understand that. We’re a single-car team over here; we’re working really hard to go out and get better each and every weekend and we had a really good game plan coming [into today]. Our car was really strong Friday in practice; I was looking forward to running to the front. I think we’d passed a couple of cars there, and I was excited for the rest of the night, and he ruined it.
“Being stuck in here definitely doesn’t help the frustration. If there was a tunnel, I’d [have] probably been home watching the end of that. But here we are.”