The All-Star incident boils over between Busch and Stenhouse

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. kept his promise to see Kyle Busch after the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

In addition to seeing Busch in the garage Sunday night, Stenhouse lashed out at the Richard Childress Racing driver as the two argued back and forth over their contact on the track. The night had ended for Stenhouse on the second lap after Busch destroyed him in Turn 2. But with no tunnel at North Wilkesboro, Stenhouse remained in the infield and waited for Busch as the No. 8 hauler after the race.

“Go back and watch the replay, I didn’t touch you. Not once,” Stenhouse was heard telling Busch.

“We all hit each other,” Busch replied.

“You hit the fence and then you hit me,” Stenhouse said, pointing to the track.

“I don’t believe it, but if that happened, that’s OK,” Busch said.

“Go back and look at it,” Stenhouse said before hitting Busch.

As soon as the punch landed, Stenhouse grabbed Busch and the two went to the ground before being separated. NASCAR security pulled Stenhouse away while Stenhouse’s father, Ricky Sr., pursued Busch.

Stenhouse repeatedly yelled “Dad” as the situation escalated and more people became involved. “Get my father.”

Busch eventually made it to the back of his truck, but he and Stenhouse continued to yell at each other about what had happened on the track.

“I don’t care,” Busch said. “I’m just as shitty as you.”

Stenhouse finished last in the 20-car field. Busch played no role in the 200-lap race and finished 10th.

“I feel like Kyle and I always hit each other really hard leading up to the (Xfinity) Series when we were fighting for wins week in and week out,” Stenhouse told Fox Sports after the fight. “We never had any problems and then I broke down once at Daytona and he’s kind of bad-mouthed me ever since, so I feel like we get along well off the track. “I talk to him quite a bit.

“I’m not sure why he was so angry that I pushed him three ways, but he hit the fence, jumped off the wall and ran into me… When I was talking to him, he kept saying , that I ruined him, so yeah, it’s definitely a built up frustration with how he talks about me all the time. But I know he’s frustrated because he’s not running nearly as well as he used to, and I understand that. We’re a one-car team here; We work really hard to get better every weekend and we’ve had a really good game plan (to date). Our car was really strong in practice on Friday; I was looking forward to running forward. I think we passed a few cars there and I was excited for the rest of the night and he ruined it.

“Being stuck here definitely doesn’t add to the frustration. If there was a tunnel, I probably would have been home watching the end of it. But here we are.”