Chase Elliott, NASCAR's most popular driver, had criticized NASCAR after the sanctioning body issued a record fine earlier this week against Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for his role in a fight after last Sunday's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.
Elliott knew Stenhouse had been fined for throwing a punch at Kyle Busch, but the 2020 Cup champion didn't know the exact amount before being informed during a news conference Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the site of Coca-Cola. 600 on Sunday.
Stenhouse was fined $75,000, the largest fine imposed in NASCAR history for a driver fight. Elliott seemed incredulous to learn the exact dollar figure.
“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 shocked reaction stems from the fact that NASCAR fined Stenhouse despite actively sharing footage of the fight on his social media channels. What Elliott took issue with is what he sees as a double standard in which NASCAR has promoted the fight several times, but not only penalized Stenhouse but did so by imposing a record fine.
“That seems like a lot for that situation,” Elliott said. “Are you going to fine him, but are you going to promote with that? What are we doing? That's a little strange to me.
“That's a lot of money to fine a guy. It's not cool, but we'll spread it all over the place to get more clicks. “I really don’t agree with that.”
Elliott isn't the only driver raising the issue. Daniel Suárez posted a similar sentiment on X.
“If it's so bad, why is it on all of NASCAR's social channels?” Suárez published. “We should be allowed to show our emotions, I don't understand.”
Stenhouse confronted Busch after the All-Star Race after Busch appeared to intentionally wreck him on the second lap of the non-points event for what Busch thought was an overly aggressive move on the first lap.
At the end of the race, Stenhouse waited for Busch in Busch's Richard Childress Racing truck, for more than 90 minutes from the time he crashed to the confrontation. After Stenhouse and Busch had a brief, heated exchange of words, Stenhouse hit Busch in the head. That sparked a fight between their respective teams, which included Stenhouse's father attacking Busch and starting a physical confrontation between them.
Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fight 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, while also suspending 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 hasn't always penalized drivers who fight, the difference, NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer explained Wednesday, was that Stenhouse had enough time to calm down before starting the fight.
“I will say that when you wait, you know, 198 laps and make the decisions that were made, we will react to that,” Sawyer said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Different decisions could have been made.
“We want the two drivers to have time to express their differences. But again, once it gets to a point where there has been a physical altercation, again we will react.”
Busch was not penalized because NASCAR could not determine that he intentionally wrecked Stenhouse.
NASCAR's decision to suspend Stenhouse Sr. was consistent with NASCAR's policy that non-competitors should not engage in confrontations.
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(Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
