Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is not entirely convinced of NASCAR penalties for fighting drivers

During a conversation with Jeff Gluck, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shared his thoughts on the Chastain vs. Suarez conflict. The former teammates had a series of on-track incidents in Las Vegas, which culminated in Suarez confronting Chastain, who, after a heated discussion, pushed Suarez away.

Stenhouse and Busch had a similar incident a couple of years ago in North Wilkesboro. A series of on-track incidents, a confrontation afterward, a heated discussion, and things getting physical. But the difference between the two was that instead of a push, it was a punch in the Stenhouse vs. Busch, a punch that cost Stenhouse a whopping $75,000.

Gluck asked Stenhouse whether he believes fines of that nature can prevent drivers from having physical altercations. He claimed that based on Suarez’s explanations and his own judgment upon watching the clips, the situation didn’t demand a punch.

“I’m sure they disagreed, but obviously their history goes way back, being teammates and things like that,” he said. “So, I guess kudos to NASCAR. Because I definitely think the fines are in the back of everybody’s mind. Well, I’m a little bit torn on it. Because I think everybody wants to see you see the impact that your moment has when it goes viral. And we see the Kyle Busch, Joey Logano stuff replayed nine years later all the time. When we went to Vegas last week, it was like, “Okay, clearly these are moments that give publicity to the sport, but also I’m aware that drivers could get hurt.”

In the segment, Stenhouse Jr. also pointed to Brad Moran’s comments about drivers fighting still being something NASCAR frowns upon, while pushing and shoving is ‘okay.’

Kyle Busch has had his share of famous NASCAR fights

Over the course of his long and illustrious career, Kyle Busch has experienced everything at a higher level and multiple times. Be it wins, near wins, winning championships, or fighting with his rivals.

Busch has been involved in some of the most iconic fights in NASCAR history. The one involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and North Wilkesboro is one of them and the most recent one.

But he also had a huge beef with Kevin Harvick at Darlington in 2011. It again began with on-track action and escalated into an off-track altercation, almost. Because when Harvick sought Busch to confront him and punch him in the head, the JGR driver was nowhere to be found.

Then there’s the infamous fight between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. After he felt he was wronged by Logano on track, Busch went to confront his crew chief and then the Penske driver. He promptly threw a punch at Logano. Immediately after that, a flood of bodies came on top of Busch, who was tackled to the ground. When he emerged from the pile of people, he looked shaken and had a cut on his forehead.

Having said that, Kyle Busch wasn’t penalised by NASCAR even though he threw the punch first on Logano, something which was not the case with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.