Ricky Stenhouse wants an explanation from NASCAR over the severity of his penalty for punching rival Kyle Busch after the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway last month.
The 2023 Daytona 500 winner was issued a $75,000 fine in the days after the non-points exhibition race. Stenhouse was crashed, seemingly intentionally by Busch due to contact between them in the previous corner, and the two-time Xfinity Series champion told reporters to ‘watch after the race’ when asked how he would handle it.
Stenhouse was waiting for Busch, at his hauler, and immediately confronted the two-time Cup Series champion over the incident. When he got seemingly unsatisfactory answers, he tossed a right hook. His dad, Rick Stenhouse, jumped into the fray and was indefinitely suspended.
Two JTG Daugherty Racing crew members were also suspended for laying hands on Busch (tuner Keith Matthews, four races) and a NASCAR security official (mechanic Clint Myrick, eight races) respectively.
Speaking to The Athletic, Stenhouse just wants clarity on why he was given the biggest penalty ever for fighting, a number that was equivalent to teams modifying parts on the Cup Series spec car.
“I still haven’t gotten to really make my point yet to NASCAR,” Stenhouse Jr. said in an interview with The Athletic. “I did on the phone; we talked back and forth for three or four days. But I still haven’t sat down with them. And I’ve got a lot of questions.
“I figured there would be some kind of (penalty), right? Suspensions, fines, whatever. Obviously, I didn’t think it was going to be that high. And I didn’t think my crew guys would be out that long. But I also felt like at least one or two of his crew guys would have been also in that same situation. So I’ve got a lot of questions I have to ask, and maybe I can get back to you on that.”