- While Joey Logano celebrated his second All-Star victory, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. confronted Kyle Busch at the back of his Richard Childress Racing transporter.
- There was an exchange of words and then Stenhouse threw a right punch at Busch.
- The ill feelings between the two started on lap one when Stenhouse shoved his Chevrolet between Denny Hamlin and Busch to make it three wide.
After Ricky Stenhouse Jr. exited Sunday night’s NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on lap 2 due to a hit from Kyle Busch, Stenhouse told the media he would see Busch after the race.
Since there was no way to exit the track’s infield until the 200-lap race ended, Stenhouse seethed over the incident as he sat in the infield. Once the checkered flag waved, Stenhouse kept his word.
While Joey Logano celebrated his second All-Star victory, Stenhouse confronted Busch at the back of his Richard Childress Racing transporter. There was an exchange of words and then Stenhouse threw a right punch at Busch. The RCR driver blocked the punch with his left arm and then Stenhouse grabbed Busch with his left hand. The two men fought as NASCAR security and crew members rushed to separate them.
A NASCAR security person went down on the ground with Stenhouse who yelled at one of his crew members to get his dad. A few of Stenhouse’s crew members rushed onto the lift gate of Busch’s transporter and were quickly thrown off by the RCR crew members and told to leave.
“I feel like Kyle and I have always raced each other really hard going back to the Nationwide Series when we were competing for wins week-in and week-out,” Stenhouse said. “We never had any issues and then I wrecked him one time at Daytona. He’s been bad mouthing me ever since.”
The ill feelings between the two started on lap 1 when Stenhouse shoved his Chevrolet between Denny Hamlin and Busch to make it three wide. The move forced Busch into the outside wall. The next lap Busch hit Stenhouse in the rear and sent his Chevrolet into the second-turn wall. Busch parked his damaged race car in Busch’s pit and then climbed up on the RCR team’s pit box and told Busch’s crew chief he would see Busch after the race.
“I’m not sure why he was so mad,” Stenhouse said. “When I was talking to him he kept saying I wrecked him. Just built-up frustration … how he runs his mouth the whole time about myself. I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to.”
Logano, who started on the pole, led 199 laps, the most ever by an All-Star race winner. He was the fifth different driver for Team Penske to win the non-points event. Logano is the third Ford driver to win multiple All-Star races with Davey Allison and Mark Martin being the other two. Ford has now won the NASCAR All-Star race 14 times, twice in the last three seasons.
“I wish it could have been for points, but $1 million works as well,” a happy Logano said.
Larson Finishes Fourth After Qualifying Fifth at Indy
Less than five hours after qualifying fifth for the Indianapolis 500, Kyle Larson produced a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Larson arrived at the historic short track 1 hour 31 minutes after his inaugural qualifying effort for the Indianapolis 500.
NASCAR had adjusted the race’s starting time, moving it back by 16 minutes once it learned Larson was in contention for the Indianapolis 500 pole Sunday afternoon.
Driver introductions were changed to 7:45 p.m. and the green flag moved to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Larson didn’t get the Indianapolis 500 pole but in his rookie attempt at Indianapolis Motor Speedway he qualified fifth with a four-lap average speed of 232.846 mph. Once the Hendrick Motorsports driver was knocked off the Indy 500 pole, Larson boarded a helicopter at the 2.5-mile Indy track and was transported to the Indianapolis airport where a Dassault Falcon 2000EX owned by Hendrick was waiting. The private jet took off and landed at the Wilkes County Airport, where a helicopter then transported Larson to the 0.625-mile track.
After arriving at the race track, Larson appeared on Fox Sports’ show RaceDay where he was shown a video of Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti wishing him good luck in his Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double. In 1994, Andretti’s nephew John Andretti became the first driver to execute the double.
“I’m always in awe of Mario Andretti,” Larson said after watching the video. “I hope some time I can be in that Mario Andretti category.”
During the interview, Larson said he “doesn’t feel that much pressure” internally, and he had been comfortable every time he had been on the track at Indianapolis. He said he’s trying to enjoy the experience, had signed thousands of autographs and posed for hundreds of photographs.
“It’s been amazing and something I will never forget,” Larson said.
Sunday afternoon Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus said that if Larson hadn’t made it to North Wilkesboro Speedway in time for the All-Star race that his No. 5 Chevrolet would have remained in the garage. He said they considered entering Justin Allgaier in the NASCAR All-Star Open with the possibility of him driving the No. 5 if Larson didn’t make it to North Carolina on time. However, they decided that wouldn’t be fair to the other competitors.
Gibbs Wins NASCAR All-Star Open; Gragson Gets The Fan Vote
Ty Gibbs led all 100 laps in the NASCAR All-Star Open to win Sunday’s race at North Wilkesboro Speedway and advance into the NASCAR All-Star race.
Bubba Wallace finished 1.572-seconds behind Gibbs to earn the other transfer position.
Noah Gragson won the fan vote to gain entrance into the All-Star race.
In the All-Star race, Wallace finished sixth, Gragson 11th, and Gibbs 13th.
NASCAR All-Star Race
North Wilkesboro Speedway
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
1. (1) Joey Logano, Ford, 200.
2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 200.
3. (5) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200.
4. (12) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200.
5. (17) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200.
6. (19) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 200.
7. (7) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (15) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (9) Michael McDowell, Ford, 200.
10. (14) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (20) Noah Gragson, Ford, 200.
12. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 200.
13. (18) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 200.
14. (6) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 200.
15. (4) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 200.
16. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200.
17. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 200.
18. (10) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 198.
19. (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, 186.
20. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 2.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 93.809 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 19 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: .636 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 27 laps.
Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Logano 1-103;B. Keselowski 104;J. Logano 105-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano 2 times for 199 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 1 lap.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.
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