On the opening lap of the race, Busch hit the wall after Stenhouse went up the middle in a three-wide fight. Busch believed that Stenhouse had pushed him into the wall, although no contact was made.
During the following lap, Busch pushed into the left-rear of Stenhouse's car, who ended up slamming the outside wall nose-first.
A furious Stenhouse parked his wrecked car in the Richard Childress Racing pit, climbed the pitbox to speak to Busch's team and confronted Busch after the race. The two engaged in a heated argument before Stenhouse struck Busch with his right fist and a brawl erupted.
Both drivers went to the ground in the ensuing chaos, falling over tyres as they were quickly separated. Stenhouse's father then grabbed Busch and more punches were thrown.
Two JTG crew members put their hands on Busch, appearing to place him in a headlock before being pulled off of him by RCR crew members.
While Stenhouse picked up a fine, he has not been suspended, while Busch has avoided any penalties.
NASCAR has indefinitely suspended Stenhouse’s father for his involvement in the fight.
Two members of Stenhouse’s #47 JTG Daugherty team have also been suspended; engine tuner Keith Matthews has been suspended for the next four races and team mechanic Clint Myrick has been suspended for the next eight races.
Speaking after the fight, Stenhouse said: “I felt Kyle and I never had any issues and I wrecked him one time at Daytona and he kind of bad mouthed me ever since then.
“I’m not sure why he was so mad – yeah, I shoved it three-wide, but he hit the fence, kind of came off the fence and ran into me. When I was talking to him, he kept saying that I wrecked him. It was definitely built-up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about myself.
“I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run near as good as he used to.”
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, crew member Rowan Mason has been indefinitely suspended for a violation related to banned substance abuse.
