Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, chastised NASCAR after the sanctioning body imposed a record fine on Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earlier this week for his role in a fight following last Sunday’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.
Elliott was aware Stenhouse had been punished for punching Kyle Busch, but the 2020 Cup Series champion was unaware of the specific amount until he was informed during a press conference Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the site of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.
Stenhouse was penalized $75,000, the highest penalty in NASCAR history for a driver fighting. Elliott appeared stunned when discovering the exact dollar sum.
“Seventy-five thousand?” “Wow,” Elliott commented. “I heard he was fined, but I didn’t realize it was $75,000.”
“Yes, that is a lot. That is a lot of money. “That appears wild to me.”
Elliott’s stunned reaction arises from the fact that NASCAR penalized Stenhouse despite openly disseminating video of the confrontation on social media sites. Elliott objected to what he saw as a double standard in which NASCAR promoted the fight many times while penalizing Stenhouse with a record punishment.
“That seems like a lot for that situation,” Elliott remarked. “You’re going to fine him, but you’re going to promote from it? Like, what are we doing? That seems a little weird to me.
“That’s a lot of money to fine anybody. It’s not okay, but we’re going to plaster it all over the place to attract more clicks. I don’t necessarily agree with that.”
Elliott is not the only motorist to bring up the matter. Daniel Suarez expressed a similar sentiment on X.
“If it’s so wrong then why is it all over NASCAR social channels?” Suarez posted. “We should be allowed to show our emotions, I don’t get it.”
Stenhouse approached Busch after the All-Star Race, claiming that Busch intentionally wrecked him on the second lap of the non-points event for what Busch saw as an overly aggressive move on the first lap.
After the race, Stenhouse waited for Busch in Busch’s Richard Childress Racing hauler for more than 90 minutes, from the moment he wrecked until the altercation. After a brief, furious exchange of insults, Stenhouse hit Busch in the head. That sparked a battle between their opposing crews, with Stenhouse’s father charging at Busch and starting a physical altercation between them.
Busch was not suspended for his behaviour. NASCAR penalized Ricky Stenhouse Sr. indefinitely and suspended two members of Stenhouse Jr.’s JTG Daugherty Racing team: mechanic Clint Myrick for eight races and engine tuner Keith Matthews for four races.
Although NASCAR has not usually penalized drivers who fight, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, noted Wednesday that Stenhouse had plenty of time to cool off before starting the battle.
“I’ll say that when you wait 198 laps and make those decisions, we’ll react,” Sawyer stated on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “There could have been various choices made.
“We want the two drivers to have the opportunity to express their differences. But, again, if it escalates to the point of a physical altercation, we will respond.”
Busch was not fined because NASCAR was unable to determine whether he intentionally crashed Stenhouse.
NASCAR’s decision to punish Stenhouse Sr. was consistent with the organization’s policy of prohibiting non-competitors from becoming involved in disputes.
Leave a Reply