The NASCAR All-Star Race moved to the renovated North Wilkesboro Speedway last year, turning the race into a short track event after spending most of its history at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Short track racing means a lot more contact and, often, a lot greater chance of tempers flaring, and we got that on Sunday night on Lap 2, when Kyle Busch turned Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the wall.
Stenhouse took exception to that, unsurprisingly, and parked his wrecked car in the 8’s pit stall, climbed up the ladder, and informed his crew chief that he’d be waiting for him after the race. True to his word, after Busch finished 10th in the race, with Joey Logano taking the checkered flag, Stenhouse strolled out to have a word with Busch by the No. 8 car’s hauler. The conversation didn’t stay cordial for long, as Stenhouse threw a right hand at Busch that sparked an all-out brawl between the teams, with Stenhouse’s crew coming after Busch and Busch’s crew tossing guys off the hauler like a Royal Rumble.
It was a good ol’ fashioned short track scrap. It didn’t seem like anyone landed any punches clean, but Stenhouse had made clear he was going to start an incident with Busch when he met with reporters after he got crashed out, so there was no surprise when hands started flying. NASCAR will probably have a sitdown with both drivers soon, but it brought a little extra juice to the All-Star Race, so I’m sure they’re not too broken up about the scuffle.