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Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s fight following the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro is the talk of the NASCAR world, but, it’s not the first time Busch has found himself in the eye of the storm. Busch has had numerous rivalries with some of the sports’ biggest names throughout his career. These are the biggest dust-ups Kyle Busch has had with other competitors.
Kyle Busch got off to a difficult start in 2017, finishing 38th at Daytona and 16th at Atlanta, but, Las Vegas looked to be a turnaround. He was easily in contention to nab a top-5 finish before making contact with Joey Logano trying to pass a slow Brad Keselowski on the final lap. Logano got loose on the bottom and spun Busch out, and Busch finished a disappointing 22nd.
Busch confronted Logano after the race and, without exchanging any words, punched Logano in the face. After the two were separated, Busch spoke to Fox Sports, saying he got “Dumped” and, “That’s how Joey [Logano] races.”
Then teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin fought for the lead late in the 2010 All-Star Race. When Busch tried to squeeze around the outside, Hamlin drifted up, and Busch hit the outside wall. Busch later wrecked out of the race entirely with two laps to go.
While there was no physical confrontation between the two caught on camera, Busch was seen walking into Hamlin’s hauler after crashing. Busch said over the radio, “Someone better keep me away from Denny Hamlin after this race…I had this race won! It was won!” One can only imagine how a run-in between Busch and Hamlin would go over today.
One year later, Kyle Busch once again found himself at odds with a future Hall of Famer. With 5 laps to go in the Southern 500, Busch and Kevin Harvick made contact while going three-wide off of turn four, causing an innocent Clint Bowyer to crash. Despite the two getting through unscathed, Busch proceeded to right-hook Harvick into the outside wall after the caution came out, a move Busch was surprisingly not penalized for.
After the checkered flag waved, Harvick hunted down Busch, with Busch trying everything to avoid Harvick. Eventually, Harvick parked his car directly in front of Busch and got out. As Harvick marched towards Busch, Busch accelerated with Harvick punching at the window net, sending Harvick’s car into the pit wall.
After a dominant Denny Hamlin fell out of contention late in the 2008 spring race at Richmond, it became a battle between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The two fought side-by-side until there were 3 laps to go when Busch bobbled and spun Earnhardt Jr. out. This move was part of what catapulted Busch into being NASCAR’s most disliked driver in this era.
The two didn’t meet on camera after the race. However, they would meet again in the fall race at Richmond that same year. Earnhardt Jr. spun Busch out while fighting for the lead just past halfway. Was it intentional?
Easily the most egregious move on this list, Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday were battling for 2nd early in the fall race at Texas in 2011. Hornaday was tied for 3rd in points, only 15 points out heading into this race, while Busch wasn’t even eligible for driver points. After the two made contact and hit the outside wall in turn two, Busch turned Hornaday into the outside wall in turn three.
NASCAR dropped the hammer on Busch the next day by suspending him from the Xfinity Series race on Saturday and the Cup Series race on Sunday. While Busch has had his share of moments since then, this was the big wake-up call. He later grew to be a two-time Cup Series Champion with the most National Touring Series wins of anyone in the modern era.
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