Kyle Busch faced two angry Ricky Stenhouses after a contentious start to the NASCAR All-Star race on Sunday.
With fireworks lighting up the sky, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. threw a right hook at Busch during a post-race argument. This confrontation followed Busch crashing Stenhouse out of the race on the second lap as Stenhouse attempted to pass him on the first lap.
During the scuffle, Busch tripped over a tire as he was pushed backward. When he got up, Stenhouse’s father, Ricky Stenhouse Sr., tried to hold Busch back from his son, leading to a larger brawl between the drivers’ teams. Stenhouse Jr., who claimed he didn’t touch Busch’s car during the first lap, also fell during the fracas.
“Dad! Dad!” Stenhouse Jr., 36, shouted after being knocked down, according to The Athletic. He then asked a crew member, “Can you get my dad?”
Busch finished 10th in the race, which was won by Joey Logano, who led all but one of the 200 laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
“Bring it! I don’t give a f**k,” Busch yelled at Stenhouse Jr., according to The Athletic. “I suck just as bad as you! Let’s go!”
Busch is 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, while Stenhouse Jr. is 26th.
Because there’s no tunnel at the track, Stenhouse Jr. had to wait until the end of the race after crashing out.
In a post-race interview on FS1, Stenhouse Jr. said Busch has “been badmouthing” him since Stenhouse wrecked him once at Daytona.
“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 after the fight. “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 racetrack, 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, kind of came off the wall and ran into me. When I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him.”
Stenhouse Jr. won the 2023 Daytona 500.
