NASCAR fines Stenhouse, suspends dad and 2 crew members for scuffle
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR fined Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and suspended his dad and two crew members for a scuffle with Kyle Busch after the All-Star Race.
NASCAR handed a $75,000 fine to Stenhouse Jr.
“When you wait 198 laps and you make those decisions, again, we’re going to react to that. There could’ve been different decisions when it comes to getting physical. We want the drivers to have their time to express their differences. But once it escalates to a physical altercation, we’re going to react. Granted there was no tunnel or crossover gate. But better decisions could’ve been made,” said Elton Sawyer, the senior vice president of competition for NASCAR.
The sanctioning body also indefinitely suspended Ricky Stenhouse – and suspended two crew members.
Keith Matthews will miss the next four NASCAR Cup Series races and return at Iowa Speedway. Meanwhile, Clint Myrick will miss the next eight races and return at Pocono Raceway.
“When crew members get involved and family members get involved, we have to step in. We looked at the video and that’s what we did,” Sawyer said.
Kyle Busch avoided penalties.
“You look at the track and the situation. It was early, hard racing. I’ll defer to Ricky and Kyle to agree to disagree. We really as a sanctioning body stay out of the on-track incidents unless we something that blatantly comes back to us that we need to review. We looked at it, reviewed it. It was hard racing. We’ll let those guys decide where they stand and to agree to disagree,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer also added Stenhouse, his dad and his team have around three business days to appeal the penalties. Stenhouse said he plans to appeal the $75,000 fine.
On lap one, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went to fill a gap between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch in turn one. Then, Busch ran wide and hit the wall, setting him off. He drove hard into turn three, bumped Stenhouse, then bumped him harder in turn one, turning him sideways and into the outside wall – out of the race on lap two.
Stenhouse promised that “Richard better hold my watch,” alluding to an incident with Busch and his now-team owner Richard Childress at Kansas Speedway in 2011 when Childress allegedly went after Busch. NASCAR fined Childress $150,000 for that.
Stenhouse made good on his promise, waiting for Busch at his hauler. After a brief exchange, Stenhouse punched Busch in the face, setting off a scuffle where Stenhouse’s dad went after Busch. Matthews and Myrick also went toward him and his hauler, needing to get pushed off by Busch’s crew members.
Daniel Suarez offered his opinion right away on the penalties on social media.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com