NASCAR security behind Kyle Busch-Stenhouse All-Star brawl gets real about chaotic duties

Allen Taylor and Stan Ruffin, two members of NASCAR's security team, reflected on the chaos that unfolded at North Wilkesboro Speedway one year ago. The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race ended in fireworks when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch came to blows after the race.

Stenhouse punched Busch in the face amid a confrontation after contact in the race left the driver of the #47 with a wrecked racecar. Taylor and Ruffin have been involved in breaking up some of the most recent NASCAR scuffles, including Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson's Kansas 2023 confrontation. The two were also involved in breaking up the Busch-Stenhouse brawl in 2024.

Taylor, the head of NASCAR security, said when it comes to defusing post-race confrontations, watching a driver's posture when they get out of their cars is key to whether they're going to start a fight.

“It’s all about anticipating and seeing how they’re reacting. Because sometimes drivers are nice and calm and they go to the other driver, and then that’s when they blow up. Sometimes the blow-up doesn’t happen until the other person says something. It’s not always immediately that the fighting occurs. You just have to be aware," Allen Taylor said via The Athletic.

It's when the drivers get physical, like how Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse did last year, Taylor and Ruffin get involved. Ruffin explained that they feel a need to step up when things go to blows as they can't allow drivers to get injured in confrontations.

“You can’t let the drivers get hurt," Ruffin said via The Athletic. "Because if you go too far and a driver gets hurt, then it becomes, ‘Why didn’t you stop them?’"

Kyle Busch won the NASCAR All-Star Race back in 2017 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Since the All-Star event moved to North Wilkesboro, Busch finished 22nd in 2023 and placed 10th in the 2024 event.

Kyle Busch recently made a guest appearance on Denny Hamlin's podcast

After a difficult 21st-place finish last Sunday at Kansas, Kyle Busch sat down to talk with Denny Hamlin on the latter's recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. The two are former teammates together at Joe Gibbs Racing from 2008-2022.

Dirty Mo Media posted to Instagram promoting Busch's appearance on the podcast. They wrote:

"Life’s a circus, and we’re all just clowns... 🤡 Don’t miss this week’s Actions Detrimental with Kyle Busch — out now! 🎧"

The "clown" reference in Dirty Mo Media's caption was to something Busch said on the podcast in regards to how today's drivers race each other. Busch pulled no punches in saying that today's NASCAR field doesn't know how to drive.

"We're all clowns. Every one of us. We don't know how to fricking drive. It's the composite bodies. That's what it is. Like everybody just runs into everybody and runs over everybody and hits everybody," Kyle Busch said.

Kyle Busch is amid his third full-time Cup Series season behind the wheel of the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The Las Vegas native is currently in a winless slump with his last victory coming in June 2023.

In 2025, Busch has tallied one top-five finish that came at COTA and currently sits 17th in the overall Cup standings, seven points below the playoff cut line.