Ricky Stenhouse Jr finally proved that he can be a winner in 2024. Surely it was a little too late to get into the playoffs, but a win is a win. It took a huge wreck that washed away 28 cars on the grid and that’s what led to his season’s redemption. However, after the ‘Big One,’ Kyle Busch turned out to be a threat to Stenhouse Jr.’s win and the No. 47 driver was not having it.

Yet again, Kyle Busch went from almost winning a race to a completely undesirable position. This is just not Kyle Busch’s year so far, and his chance to find redemption at Talladega went wasted. After the incident, Ricky Stenhouse Jr spoke to the media and revealed that he was going to block anyone trying to overtake him and that’s exactly what he did.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr blocked Kyle Busch’s chances of redemption for his own

Before Talladega, both the drivers, Kyle Busch and Stenhouse Jr., had no wins. Both missed out on the playoffs and the year was not looking good for them. Kyle Busch has had a traumatic season as he ruined his record of making it into the playoffs for 12 years straight. Now, all the drivers want is to just redeem themselves and win a race so they can move on to 2025 with a positive attitude. However, it’s only Stenhouse Jr. who can do that between the two, and Kyle Busch only has 5 races left to make it happen. If he isn’t able to do so, it will be the first time in 20 years that Kyle Busch ends a season without a win.

The ‘Big One’ called for the 4th caution of the race with just 5 laps to go. Once the field was clear of the wreck and the race restarted, things got interesting on the last lap. Narrowly missing Brad Keselowski‘s incident with Austin Cindric, Stenhouse Jr inherited the race lead. Just as Keselowski went down the inside of Stenhouse Jr, Busch tried a move around the outside, failing to make it happen, and tumbled down the order. In the post-race interviews, Ricky Stenhouse Jr explained his last-ditch strategy had Kyle Busch found success in pushing on the outside.

Breaking down his mindset from the race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr revealed, “But, yeah, no, I was going to block anybody. I didn’t care who it was. So, you know, it’s so tough to win these races. It’s so tough to miss the wrecks; put yourself in the right position with enough fuel. These races are kind of chaos, you know when it comes down to the end. So, I was, you know, thankful that, you know, we had a successful green-white-checkered without having, you know, another caution.”

The JTG Daughterty Racing driver revealed his take on what went down on the last lap in the post-race interview. Stenhouse Jr. explained, “I felt like he led the middle lane a lot, and I was in the middle lane, and, you know, when he jumped out again, I felt like it was too early. So, I was hoping nobody would go with him.” That’s when Busch moved to the top lane and Stenhouse Jr believed that was a bad move. The No. 47 driver explained, “We were running so fast around the bottom lane that I don’t think you could have made that work.” 

Ricky Stenhouse Jr made it clear that once he was in the lead, he was not letting anyone pass. The fact that he blocked Busch in the middle lane led the Richard Childress Racing driver to move right, but that was a terrible move as drivers in the lower and middle lanes started overtaking him to the finish line. This decision effectively put Busch out of contention for the win, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr could focus on the rapid Keselowski pushing in the bottom lane.

That’s how Busch jumped from being a contender for the win to one of the back runners who couldn’t manage to score enough points for himself, finishing in a lowly 19th place. It’s no surprise that Stenhouse Jr expresses such a desire to keep Kyle Busch from taking the win from him. The rivalry between the two drivers goes way back. There was even a time when it broke out into a physical fight.

Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s rivalry explained

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At the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, things got interesting after the race ended. Kyle Busch had wrecked Stenhouse Jr. in the million-dollar race and that did not sit right with the No. 47 driver. Busch drove deep into the corner and made contact with Stenhouse’s car, hitting the left rear and causing Stenhouse to spin and hit the outside wall. This collision ended Stenhouse’s race early, and he was visibly upset about the incident.

After the race, he decided to wait by Kyle Busch’s garage and confront him. Once Busch finally arrived, a heated exchange between the two turned into Ricky Stenhouse Jr launching a right hook at Busch. Many members from both teams got involved, and some tried to end the fight. This included Stenhouse Jr’s father, who joined in on the altercation. But the situation did not end there, as Stenhouse warned Busch that he would be wrecking him at the upcoming Coca-Cola 600. “Bring it on,” said Busch in response to that, adding, “I stink as bad as you.” Both drivers were having a difficult season before Stenhouse Jr turned things around at Talladega.

After the altercation, Stenhouse Jr was under the threat of suspension from the sport, but the situation cooled down and he was allowed to race. After punching Kyle Busch, he received a $75,000 fine, but he was permitted to keep racing. Moreover, two of his crew members were suspended for multiple races. It was the largest fine for an incident of fighting in NASCAR. It’s clear that there is history between the two drivers, and knowing how aggressive things can get on track, just blocking Busch was not enough reason for a fight. However, the only thing on Stenhouse’s mind at the moment should be to celebrate his win and it was a well-deserved one as he managed to avoid the Big One.

With that said, do you think Kyle Busch will bag a win before the season ends? Share your thoughts in the comments below.