When fans talk about explosive NASCAR collisions, they usually refer to crashes that happen mid-race. Well, that wasn’t quite the case on Sunday night (May 19), as two legendary drivers collided on and off the track.
As reported by Fox News Digital, Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got into a confrontation in the garage area after the All-Star Race, which took place on Sunday at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
According to reports, Stenhouse waited for Busch to get to the back before confronting him. The two men were seen in a heated discussion before Stenhouse threw a punch. The pair had to be pulled apart as crews from both teams started going after one another.
The tension between the two drivers started on the first lap of the 200-lap event. Per Fox News, Busch and Stenhouse were among those riding three wide on the short track. Busch scraped the wall while Stenhouse was running the middle, causing him to retaliate by hitting Stenhouse from behind and sending him into the wall.
“I’m tired of getting run over by everybody. But that’s what everybody does. Everybody runs over everybody to pass everybody,” Busch told Fox Sports after the race.
A video clip of the confrontation sees Stenhouse hit Busch in the face. The two then start grappling with each other as others try to separate them. In the chaos, Busch falls over a tire before getting back to his feet and being pushed aside by another bystander.
Another angle of the confrontation after the race. pic.twitter.com/JCgSZhEzwa
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“I’m not sure why he was so mad,” Stenhouse told Fox Sports. “I shoved it three-wide, but he hit the fence and kind of came off the wall and ran into me. I don’t know, when I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him.
He continued, “Definitely built up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about myself. I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to.”
Neither Stenhouse nor Busch won the race and the $1 million prize that came with it. That honor went to Joey Logano, who led all but one of the laps.