[autotag]Ricky Stenhouse Jr.[/autotag] punched Kyle Busch in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and there were steep consequences. Stenhouse’s father, Richard Stenhouse, was suspended indefinitely, while the driver of the No. 47 car was fined $75,000. The penalty shook the NASCAR world, as several drivers, reporters, and others called out the sport for promoting the fight.
This includes [autotag]Chase Elliott[/autotag], who didn’t learn about Stenhouse’s fine amount until Friday. When Elliott was asked about Stenhouse’s fine, he didn’t hold back words and said what many drivers have been thinking all week.
“Seventy-five thousand? Wow,” Elliott said. “I heard he got fined, but I didn’t know it was $75,000. Yeah, that’s a lot. That’s a lot of money. That seems wild to me. That seems like a lot for that situation. You’re going to fine him, but you’re going to promote with it? Like, what are we doing? That’s a little strange to me.”
CHASE ELLIOTT WINS AT TEXAS! pic.twitter.com/6Anw83DuN3
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 14, 2024
“That’s a lot of money to fine a guy. It’s not OK, but we’re going to blast it all over everything to get more clicks. I don’t really agree with that.”
Elliott is one of several drivers shocked about the penalty, including Daniel Suarez, who said something very similar. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. was surprised that Stenhouse was fined that much money for what he did to Busch. It’ll be fascinating to see what comes of these complaints from the drivers, even if NASCAR doesn’t change anything moving forward.
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