Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race weekend finished in dramatic fashion after all the competitors had crossed the finish line. Following the conclusion of the race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up throwing a punch at Kyle Busch.
The situation stemmed from an early caution during the race. Busch put Stenhouse into the wall during the second lap and Stenhouse's car crashed into the wall in a head-on fashion.
Another angle of the confrontation after the race. pic.twitter.com/JCgSZhEzwa
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 20, 2024
"I felt like Kyle and I have always raced each other really hard back to the Nationwide Series when we were competing for wins week in and week out, never had any issues," Stenhouse said on Fox following the altercation. "I wrecked him one time at Daytona and he's kind of badmouthed me ever since then. I feel like we get along with each other OK outside the race track, I talk to him quite a bit and I'm not sure why he was so mad that I shoved it three-wide but he hit the fence and kind of came off the wall and ran into me and I don't know, when I was talking to him he kept saying that I wrecked him.
"So definitely just 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 and working really hard to go out and get better each and every weekend."
As a result of the layout of the North Wilkesboro track, there's no way to remove drivers from the infield while the race is still taking place. Stenhouse couldn't leave until the race was over, so that's what led to the two drivers coming face-to-face in what turned out to be a brawl.
After Stenhouse threw a punch, his crew members attempted to try to tackle Busch after Stenhouse was taken to the ground following the initial punch. Neither Busch nor Stenhouse appeared to be injured during the melee.
Stenhouse ended up finishing last due to wrecking early on, while Busch finished in 10th place. Joey Logano was victorious at the NASCAR All-Star Race as he led the pack in 199 of the 200 laps.
