Chase Elliott, NASCAR's hottest driver, sharply criticized NASCAR after the sanctioning committee earlier this week imposed a record superb on Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for his role in a brawl following last Sunday's All-Star Race in North Wilkesboro.
Elliott was aware that Stenhouse had been fined for hitting Kyle Busch, however the 2020 Cup Series champion didn’t know the precise amount until he was informed Friday during a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the positioning of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.
Stenhouse was fined $75,000, the most important superb in NASCAR history for a driver-driver brawl. Elliott seemed incredulous when told the precise amount.
“Seventy-five thousand? Wow,” Elliott said. “I heard he got fined, but I didn't know it was $75,000.”
“Yes, that's a lot. That's a lot of money. That seems crazy to me.”
Elliott's stunned response stems from NASCAR's decision to penalize Stenhouse despite the corporate actively sharing footage of the fight on its social media channels. Elliott is upset by what he sees as a double standard: NASCAR has touted the fight on multiple occasions, but not only penalized Stenhouse, it also imposed a record superb.
“That seems like a lot for this situation,” Elliott said. “You want to fine him, but promote him with it? What are we doing? That's a little odd to me.”
“That's a lot of money to charge someone. It's not right, but we're going to spread it everywhere to get more clicks. I don't really agree with that.”
Elliott isn’t the one rider to boost this issue. Daniel Suarez has expressed the same opinion on X.
“If it's so wrong then why is it all over NASCAR's social media channels?” Suarez posted. “We should be allowed to show our emotions, I don't understand this.”
Stenhouse confronted Busch after the All-Star Race after Busch apparently intentionally wrecked him on the second lap of the non-points race because Busch made a very aggressive maneuver on the primary lap.
After the race, Stenhouse waited for Busch at Busch's Richard Childress Racing truck. More than 90 minutes passed between his crash and the altercation. After Stenhouse and Busch had a transient, heated exchange, Stenhouse punched Busch in the top. This sparked a fight between their respective teams, during which Stenhouse's father attacked Busch, sparking a physical altercation between them.
Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. argue after the All-Star race. pic.twitter.com/IJMttBw90W
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) May 20, 2024
Busch was not suspended for his actions. NASCAR suspended Ricky Stenhouse Sr. indefinitely and in addition suspended two members of Stenhouse Jr.'s JTG Daugherty Racing team, mechanic Clint Myrick for eight races and engine tuner Keith Matthews for 4 races.
Although NASCAR has not at all times penalized drivers who fight, the difference was that Stenhouse had ample time to chill down before starting the fight, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice chairman of competition, said Wednesday.
“I say if you wait 198 laps and make the decisions that were made, we'll respond to that,” Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It could have been decided differently.”
“We want the two drivers to have time to express their differences. But if things escalate to the point where there is a physical altercation, we will react again.”
Busch was not penalized because NASCAR couldn’t determine that he intentionally wrecked Stenhouse.
NASCAR's decision to suspend Stenhouse Sr. was consistent with NASCAR's policy that non-competitors will not be allowed to have interaction in confrontations.
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