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From Kyle Larson to Kyle Busch: Drivers Involved in Biggest Controversies of the 2020 NASCAR Season

Published 12/28/2020, 12:37 PM EST

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Racecraft and entertainment are not restrained in the sport of NASCAR. But equally, there are controversies and incidents that take place time and again across the three divisions.

The 2020 season also consisted of a few of these on and off the track. Here we take a look at the top 5 controversies that took place in NASCAR this year –

1) Bubba Wallace’s noose controversy

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The former Richard Petty Motorsports No.43 was at the center of an incident involving a noose tied at his garage stall in the Talladega Superspeedway. On June 21, prior to the Geico 500 race, all drivers and crews pushed Wallace’s car to the front of the pit road to show their solidarity.

2) Kyle Larson’s suspension from Chip Ganassi and NASCAR

The former Chip Ganassi Racing driver had gotten suspended from NASCAR earlier in the year. Following the usage of a racial slur, Larson also had to attend sensitivity training.

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The sporting organization however revoked his suspension just a few months back. He now joins up with Hendrick Motorsports as their No.5 for the 2021 Cup Series campaign.

3) Kyle Busch – Joey Logano argument

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After the conclusion of the race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch talked about how Logano was ‘nobody’s friend’. It triggered a strong retaliation from Logano himself, with ‘zero friends on the race track’ becoming his stance.

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The rivalry between the pair dates back to 2017 when Busch attempted to punch Logano after his antics in the race at Las Vegas. And it looks like the heat between them will continue based on their latest argument.

4) Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin team orders incident at Martinsville

With two spots remaining in the Championship 4 and three drivers vying for the spot, Joe Gibbs Racing communicated their team orders to Erik Jones. Considering Hamlin needed a good finish to go through, the team told Jones not to pass the former in the race.

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NASCAR later undertook an investigation to check the incident. But at the end of it, no penalties or sanctions got imposed, and Hamlin got the opportunity to participate in the title decider.

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5) Noah Gragson and Harrison Burton trade blows

Following the Xfinity Series race at Kentucky, both drivers started having a heated discussion. But that almost instantly turned into a fight, before on-track officials intervened to separate the pair.

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Earlier in the race, Gragson had clipped the rear of Burton’s car, with both of them suffering damage on their vehicles. Although both drivers got through to finish the event, they did not enter the Top 5 classification in the race.

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Written by:

Bhargav Gopal

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Hailing from Bengaluru, Bhargav is an F1 and NASCAR author for EssentiallySports. He is a huge fan of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. Bhargav also has an MBA in Sports Management from the Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Pune.
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