NASCAR Community Divided Over Busch-Stenhouse All-Star Brawl With Punishments Looming

Things got heated after the All-Star Race on Sunday. Joey Logano might have won at North Wilkesboro, but it was a different event that took center stage. Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr got into a fistfight after the race following a fiery argument. Visibly frustrated over the nudge from Busch’s #8 Chevy, Stenhouse Jr was waiting for him in the garage area. However, escalating from a simple confrontation, it became a brawl involving a bunch of people.

The events were set in motion in the very first lap of the 200-lap race when Ricky Stenhouse Jr attempted a maneuver on the short-track between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. However, a retaliatory push from Busch from behind was enough to send the #47 Chevy driver crashing into the wall.

This, naturally, did not go well with Stenhouse, who had plans of his own.

Talking to Fox Sports after the race, he opened up on the happenings and explained how getting run over by everybody has got him frustrated.

This, however, may or may not woo the authorities, who might be considering punishment options for him and, potentially, his father. Commentator Dave Moody took to X, questioning if Ricky Stenhouse has a suspension incoming.

It’s only for the time to decide. Nevertheless, the fans were apparently divided over the looming penalty. While there was a sense of acceptance over incoming punishment news, the precedence set by NASCAR of generally letting people go unharmed in such cases didn’t go unnoticed.

Fans left sundered over the imminent penalty for Ricky Stenhouse Jr and his dad

In the recent past, NASCAR has been a bit lenient towards offenders. However, there have been cases where due actions were taken. A very similar case happened in 2009, involving 2024 All-Star winner Joey Logano and Greg Biffle.

A contact on-track sent Logano out of the race, for which Biffle was later confronted by Joey’s father, Tom Logano. However, Tom later had his ‘hard card pulled’ for this incident.

Taking cognizance of the same, a fan commented, “No but they need to pull his dad’s hard card like they did to Joey Loganos dad.” However, another user was quick to counter, claiming that there were no visible punches thrown by Stenhouse Sr. They said, “Why would anyone even suggest pulling Sr.’s hard card????  He didn’t throw punches.“

Chiming into the comment section, a fan echoed the sentiment of a closed NASCAR fraternity, stating, “I have no issues with the fight but have an issue with a non Nascar member involved in the fight.” Nevertheless, one fan tried to take a balanced approach on behalf of Kyle Busch, claiming, “I’m ok with no suspension. But they need to let a guy defend himself. NOT let one driver get a free punch and the other get tackled with no chance to defend himself.“

Moreover, fans were quick to call out the potential hypocrisy if NASCAR decided to penalize the Stenhouses. A fan said, “I hope not. I’m no Stenhouse fan, but consistency is cool and they’ve got a history of not penalizing everyone who fights.“ On the other hand, one fan sounded puzzled over NASCAR rules. They asked, “So in some situations punching another driver is permitted by NASCAR?“

All in all, if the relatively recent Matt Crafton-Nick Sanchez scuffle was to be made a baseline, a potential suspension might be looming over senior Stenhouse. Moreover, Ricky Stenhouse Jr might also land in trouble for throwing a right hook at Kyle Busch.