Yahoo Finance Kyle Busch Dragged Into NASCAR Fight: 'I Suck Just as Bad as You'
Sunday's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro speedway was not the most competitive race in NASCAR history, but it did have one of the strangest fights ever. It started with a misunderstanding on lap 1, and after a seemingly intentional wreck and a mid-race interview, it ended with an unusual insult rounding out a fight over an hour later.
The situation started when Busch drove up into the wall while running three-wide next to Stenhouse. A lap and a half later, Busch slammed Stenhouse's bumper and sent him spinning into the outside wall. That ended Stenhouse's day and his shot at the million dollar prize in the non-championship race, so he responded by driving his car over to Busch's pit stall and parking it in his spot.
The car was cleared out in time for Busch to stop during the cycle of pit stops during the resulting caution, and an entire race followed. After Joey Logano effectively lead the entire race on his way to a win more than an hour later, the world had moved on from the crash. Stenhouse, who was stuck inside the North Wilkesboro infield for the entire length of the race, had plenty of time to stew in his emotions. He waited for Busch in the garage area and, more than an hour after an interview referencing a famous fight between Busch and his now-employer Richard Childress, made good on his word to confront Busch after the race.
Predictably, a fight followed. A video from Sportsnaut's Matt Weaver clearly shows the words exchanged before and after, starting with Busch explaining that he was retaliating for being put three-wide by Stenhouse. That, Stenhouse notes, came despite no contact on his part. As Busch seems to be about to accept the possibility that he did not hit Stenhouse, he says "go back and watch" before lunging into a punch. They briefly tussle, then Busch gets away long enough for the conversation to continue. Stenhouse threatens to wreck Busch in a points-paying race at Charlotte next weekend, and Busch retaliates with a unique and layered insult: "Bring it, I don't give a fuck. I suck just as bad as you."
The depth of the dig is that Busch is an all-time great who has been in a down year and Stenhouse has just three wins in his entire 10-year career.
While Busch is having one of the worst seasons of his storied career, he is still 13th in points and could still make the playoff field without a win. Stenhouse, the 2023 Daytona 500 winner, runs a distant 26th in the championship and already likely needs a win to make the NASCAR postseason at just past the halfway point in the series regular season.
It is a hilarious thing to say, but Busch certainly has a lot more to lose if both wreck at Charlotte than Stenhouse does.
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