Ricky Stenhouse Jr throws a punch at Kyle Busch in crazy NASCAR garage brawl
"It’s definitely built-up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time"
Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Kyle Busch came to blows after the NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday night.
Stenhouse Jr’s race ended on the second lap after damage caused by contact with Busch.
Busch then found an angry Stenhouse Jr waiting for him afterwards.
“Go back and watch the replay. I didn’t touch you. Not once,” Stenhouse Jr told Busch.
Busch replied: “We all hit each other.”
Stenhouse Jr said: “You hit the fence and then you hit me.”
Busch: “I don’t believe it, but if that’s what happened, OK.”
Stenhouse Jr said: “Go back and watch it.”
Stenhouse Jr then smacked Busch with a punch.
Security intervened to separate the brawling drivers but Stenhouse Jr’s father went after Busch.
“Get my dad,” Stenhouse Jr could be heard shouting.
Stenhouse Jr and Busch continued yelling expletives at each other from a distance.
Stenhouse Jr later told Fox Sports: “I feel like Kyle and I have always raced each other really hard, back to the [Xfinity] Series when we were competing for wins week-in and week-out.
“We never had any issues, and then I wrecked one time at Daytona.
“He has kind of bad-mouthed me ever since then.
“So I feel like we get along with each other OK outside the racetrack. I talk to him quite a bit.
“I’m not sure why he was so mad that I shoved it three-wide.
“But he hit the fence and came off the wall and ran into me…
“When I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him, so yeah, it’s definitely built-up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about myself.
“But I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to, and I understand that.
"We’re a single-car team over here; we’re working really hard to go out and get better each and every weekend.
“We had a really good game plan. Our car was really strong Friday in practice. I was looking forward to running to the front.
“I think we’d passed a couple of cars there, and I was excited for the rest of the night, and he ruined it.
“Being stuck in here definitely doesn’t help the frustration. If there was a tunnel, I’d [have] probably been home watching the end of that. But here we are.”
