Ricky Stenhouse Jr fined $75,000 for rolling brawl with Kyle Busch at Nascar race

Ricky Stenhouse Jr was fined $75,000 by Nascar on Wednesday for arguing with Kyle Busch after the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Stenhouse’s father, who joined the fight, was suspended indefinitely from Nascar events.

The $75,000 fine was the largest ever imposed by Nascar for fighting. Busch escaped punishment for his actions. Nascar also suspended Stenhouse mechanic Clint Myrick for eight races and engine tuner Keith Matthews for four races for their roles in Sunday’s incident.

“I think it’s fair to say that when there are crew members and family members taking control of our drivers, we will respond,” Nascar senior vice president Elton Sawyer told SiriusXM Nascar Radio on Wednesday. “There are not a lot of details that I will go into because these are criminal penalties, and I want to make sure that we are fair in that process.

“That said, and we have been consistent in this, we will respond if crew members and family members become involved. That’s exactly what we did.”

The two drivers tangled on the first lap before Busch appeared to deliberately bump into Stenhouse on the second lap. Stenhouse parked his damaged Chevrolet in Busch’s pit box and aggressively climbed the spotter’s ladder, exchanging words with members of Busch’s crew.

Stenhouse also told reporters that he planned to confront Busch once the race was over. “I’ll take care of it,” Stenhouse said. “You can just watch afterward.”

He made good on his promise: The drivers exchanged words before Stenhouse, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, landed a right hook on Busch and a fight broke out involving members of both teams. Stenhouse’s father, who has no professional ties to his son’s team, then went after Busch and threw punches.

During the fight, Busch also threatened to wreck Busch during this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Bring it,” Busch replied. He added: “I’m just as bad as you,” implying that neither driver is having great seasons. Neither driver has won a race this season. Busch is 13th in the points standings and Stenhouse is 26th.

However, Busch’s car owner is not taking Stenhouse’s threat lightly. Richard Childress promised to fight Stenhouse himself if he got near Busch’s car at Charlotte Motor Speedway.