As the aftermath of the intense altercation between Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr at Wilkesboro comes to light, NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick has provided his perspective on the incident. As a retired driver, Harvick knows the immense pressure of the sport, which is put on the driver’s shoulders.

Harvick is very well able to empathize with his fellow drivers, interpret their emotions, and understand that behind the helmets and fire suits, the drivers are nothing but humans with their own fears, insecurities, and frustrations.

The candid insight gives a glimpse of what goes on in a NASCAR driver’s mind during the heat of confrontation, like the one between Kyle Busch and Ricy Stenshouse Jr, “I think in those moments you’re thinking that I want to absolutely k*ll this guy I’m not thinking about going viral okay” he said during his recent podcast episode Happy Hour. 

Harvick goes on to explain that Busch’s frustration might be one of the factors that explains why he acted out during the altercation, “at that point, you don’t care right like you just you’re frustrated.”  Harvick also speculated that there might be some sort of personal rivalry going on between the two drivers, and they took that frustration out on each other, “and I think there’s obviously some things that probably have happened between the two of them that led to this frustration with both of them”.

While conflicts like this happen where Busch and Stenhouse Jr are involved, it may grab the headlines, but Harvick’s perspective encourages people to consider the human emotions and elements behind such confrontations.

Kevin Harvick’s take on Busch’s internal frustrations

After what happened at Wilkesboro, the community somewhat stands with Busch. And why so? As for the viewers, no matter who did the on-track wreck, the off-track drama was uncalled for, and to say the least, it wasn’t Kyle Busch who started this.

Harvick also suggests that Busch’s frustrations may have been more personal and internalized than what was shown, which led him to take those frustrations out on Stenhouse Jr, “I think Kyle’s also frustrated with his situation, and everything he has going on currently, I think that we finally have seen the trigger that pushed Kyle over the edge” Harvick added.

With years of experience as a NASCAR driver, Kevin Harvick is more accused of being frustrated on track and he was able to pinpoint why Busch was frustrated in the first place, “with the performance of what they’ve been doing on the race track, and the things that have been happening. So you can tell that he’s frustrated and not happy, and I don’t know any other way to put that.”

NASCAR has suspended multiple crew members and his father for getting involved in the fight and Stenhouse Jr was also slapped with a $75,000 fine for his involvement in the brawl. As for Busch, no official announcement has been released yet but it is speculated that he might also be fined.