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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had an eventful start to his 2024 NASCAR campaign as he found himself amid the chaos in the pre-season Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Memorial. He was involved in separate incidents with Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, and John Hunter Nemechek in the 150-lap event.
The defending Daytona 500 winner was involved in race long tussle with McDowell. On a restart in the second half of the race, the duo was jostling for 16th position when the #34 Ford driver divebombed to the inside, shoving Stenhouse Jr. into Chastain, resulting in the latter spinning around.
Stenhouse Jr. retaliated with the McDowell, bumping into the side panels under yellow flag conditions. He also expressed his frustration over the radio, saying:
"I mean they just go three wide no reason. Give people some room!"
Watch Stenhouse's retaliation in the below video.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell came together in the final laps of the race. McDowell initially made a pass on the inside, with Stenhouse Jr. later pushing the #34 Ford driver out of his way to regain the position. The action came to a halt when Ty Gibbs' spin brought out the caution.
Stenhouse Jr. was classified 16th, behind Ross Chastain at the end of the event, with McDowell settling for a 19th-place finish.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. calls out J.H. Nemechek and Michael McDowell's 'pinball' move
Before his exchanges with Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was upset with how Cup Series returnee John Hunter Nemechek drove on the restarts in the first half of the race.
During the mid-race break, Stenhouse Jr. confronted the #42 Legacy Motor Club driver, who was still seated in his Toyota. The duo seemed to have a heated exchange, discussing their on-track confrontations.
The #47 JTG Daugherty Racing driver explained why he was agitated by Nemechek's driving, as he told Frontstretch post-race:
"Yeah, just dive-bombing me three wide for no reason on a restart. So that was it just go and talk to him about that because you know we were both a lap down he was actually two laps down I was one lap down and there was just no reason for it.
"I mean it’s you know smaller than a quarter mile and playing pinball out there so... then the 34 kind of did the same thing exactly the same thing."
Stenhouse Jr added that Michael McDowell was also guilty of pulling the same move:
"And we talked afterwards and he said that uh he just really wanted to try and finish you know 15th or 10th and I was like well it doesn’t really matter where you finish unless you win this race..."
Putting the pre-season event behind him, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will be looking forward to defending his crown at the Daytona 500 on February 18.
