NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran just two of the 200 laps in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race, his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet battered and out after an early altercation with Kyle Busch. With no pedestrian tunnel or bridge out of the North Wilkesboro Speedway infield, Stenhouse was forced to sit and stew.
So, he waited for the remaining 198 to retaliate.
With post-race fireworks popping off behind them in the background, Stenhouse and Busch had a brief verbal confrontation that escalated into a physical showdown between the two drivers and their crews in the NASCAR Cup Series garage, a nasty spat that triggered memories of North Wilkesboro’s rough-and-tumble past. Both drivers went to the ground, and the mounting frustrations of both the night and their seasons overall reached a tipping point.
“Bring it! I don’t give a [expletive]. I suck just as bad as you!” Busch yelled at his rival less than a minute after Stenhouse landed a right hand to Busch’s left cheek.
Stenhouse’s night was over early after jostling in the pack with Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet led to a series of bumps that landed the No. 47 Chevy in the outside retaining wall. Stenhouse limped the crumpled heap back to pit road, sending a message by parking in the No. 8 team’s stall and dismounting.
Before walking for a mandatory check at the infield care center, Stenhouse climbed the No. 8 pit box’s ladder and had words with Busch’s crew. In his post-crash interview, Stenhouse made a “hold my watch” reference, calling back to a long-ago physical scuffle that Busch had with his current car owner. He also said that nothing Busch could say would comfort him and that “I’ll handle it.” Pressed for what that might entail, Stenhouse said: “Eh, you can just watch afterwards.”
The 36-year-old driver was a man of his word, and when Busch rounded the corner through the break in the pit-road wall toward the garage, Stenhouse was waiting for him at the back of the No. 8 hauler.
“I mean, it’s the first lap of the race,” Busch said as he explained his side of their contact during his final strides to the post-race face-off. “We don’t even have water temp in the car yet, and we’re wrecking off of (Turn) 2. … I’m tired of getting run over — by everybody. But that’s what everybody does. Everybody runs over everybody to pass everybody.”
The discussion lasted only a short bit, with the debate intensifying over who ran into whom and just how much running room there actually was. “I don’t believe you,” Busch said, and Stenhouse replied, “Go back and watch it,” before throwing a hard right.
