Ricky Stenhouse Jr. reveals he wasn't planning on punching Kyle Busch

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. opened up about his fight with Kyle Busch after the NASCAR All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. On the Stacking Pennies podcast, Stenhouse told fellow NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie that his plan was not to punch Busch during the confrontation on Sunday night.

“I went into it thinking if [Busch] de-escalates it, then everything will be fine,” Stenhouse said. “But I was still pretty fired up.” LoJoie then told Stenhouse that Busch was adamant that he ran him into the wall.

“And he kept on about that,” Stenhouse added. “He’s got the smirk on his face that he always does.”

The fight happened because Busch wrecked Stenhouse during the second lap of the race. Buch believes that Stenhouse hit him which led to him retaliating. Stenhouse’s car was wrecked, and he was unable to finish the race.

While Stenhouse was angry at Busch, he did feel bad for punching him. “The sucky part is you always feel bad after the fact,” Stenhouse said. “When you wake up the next day, you’re like ‘You know what, I probably shouldn’t have done that,’ because you got kids watching. …But [Busch] also shouldn’t have wrecked me on purpose just because I passed him.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. looks to have big second half to 2024 season

Stenhouse now has to move on and focus on the second half of the 2024 Cup Series season. The 36-year-old recorded just two top-10 finishes this year and has not won a race since placing first in the 2023 Daytona 500. Earlier this month, Stenhouse signed a contract extension with JTG Daugherty Racing to drive the No. 47 car.

“When I joined this team in 2020, I knew both the team and I were capable of putting the No. 47 in Victory Lane,” Stenhouse said. “Although I wish it came sooner, winning the Daytona 500 last year proved that we can win together. We have a fantastic group of guys at the shop, great management, solid partners, and an ever-improving program. I’m very excited to continue my relationship with the team. I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised to see what we have in store for the future.”

“I am looking forward to continuing with Ricky as our driver of the No. 47,” team owner Gordon Smith said in a release. “He has been an asset to our team on and off the race track since joining us in 2020. Winning the Daytona 500 was a huge accomplishment for our small team, and I know we have more trips to Victory Lane in our future with Ricky at the wheel.”