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Kyle Busch found himself on the receiving end of the first punch by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after their incident during the All-Star race. As the RCR driver walked up to his hauler after his 10th-place finish in the exhibition race, he was confronted by Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
On the very first lap of the race, Stenhouse Jr. went up the racetrack, forcing Kyle Busch into the wall. The #8 driver made some contact with the wall, but it wasn't bad enough to cause significant damage to his car. However, Busch, on the very next lap, got behind Stenhouse, nudged his rear bumper, and drove straight on. While the RCR driver suffered no damage after Stenhouse's move, the JTG Daugherty driver hit the wall hard and his race was over within 2 laps.
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The JTG Daugherty driver wasted no time and immediately got into a heated conversation with Kyle Busch after the race. After exchanging a few dialogues, Stenhouse threw a punch at Busch and soon a fight broke out between the two drivers which involved their pit crews as well.
Stenhouse Jr. made his intentions pretty clear as he parked his car in front of Kyle Busch's pit box. And because the North Wilkesboro Speedway has no tunnel, he was stuck at the racetrack until the end of the race, where he finally confronted Busch and the fight ensued.
What Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said after the race
Before Kyle Busch was confronted by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in front of his hauler, he spoke about the on-track incident and his retaliation.
"[It's] the first lap of the race and we don't even have water temp. in the car yet and we're wrecking each other off of turn two," Busch told Bob Pockrass.
When the #8 driver was asked if he felt there was a need to retaliate, Busch said it's hard "to get run over" by everybody.
"But that's what everybody does. Everybody wrecks everybody to pass everybody."
On the other hand, Stenhouse Jr. claimed Busch left the door wide open and went through the middle. But when Michael McDowell ran up the track, leading to all the cars making contact, which Stenhouse Jr. felt was "nothing major", Busch tried to wreck him in turns 3 and 4.
Stenhouse Jr. said Busch ended up wrecking him finally in turns 1 and 2, adding that the 2x NASCAR Cup champion did "a poor job" on the start and got mad about it.
As per the JTG Daugherty Racing driver, that is the way the season has been for Kyle Busch.
