3 moments when Kyle Busch went too far feat. Martin Truex Jr.

Kyle Busch has never been one to shy away from controversy. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, known for his intense racing style and fiery temperament, has frequently found himself at the center of drama on and off the track. He managed to earn himself a lot of haters very early in his career due to a very particular incident at the 2008 spring Race at Richmond when he spun out fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the final laps of the race.

It led to him receiving booing from the fans for years whenever he won a race in the following seasons. The situation got to a point in 2008 and for some part of the 2009 season that Kyle Busch was receiving several death threats as he once shared in a conversation with Dale Jr. on his podcast Dale Jr. Download as reported by NBC Sports back in April of 2018.

All things considered, the incident at Richmond wasn't even a big one, other than the fact that he took out the most popular NASCAR driver of the time. There have been times when Busch has gone a little too far. Here are three moments when Kyle Busch took things a bit too far.

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#3 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocked Kyle Busch down with a punch

One of the most heated incidents in the career of Kyle Busch occurred during the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina. Right at the start of the race, tension got high between Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as they bumped into each other multiple times. Things reached a tipping point on Lap 2 when Busch appeared to intentionally cause Stenhouse’s No. 47 car to spin out, taking him out of the race.

Since the speedway lacks a tunnel, drivers who drop out of the race must wait until its conclusion to leave the infield. With no immediate exit available, Stenhouse waited for Busch. After a brief exchange near pit road, Stenhouse landed a punch on Busch’s face. Chaos soon erupted as members from both teams intervened until Busch eventually walked away.

Video footage of the brawl revealed that it was Busch, who walked over to Stenhouse Jr. and effectively blamed him for wrecking himself stating that he had nothing to do with the wreck. On the other hand, Stenhouse claimed that Busch had hit him and asked him to go and watch the footage. The right hook from Stenhouse Jr. came when Busch kept refusing to take ownership of the incident.

A few days later, NASCAR released a statement that they had fined the driver of the No. 47 car with $75,000 for hitting Busch.

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#2 Kyle Busch took it too far with Martin Truex Jr.

After failing to qualify for the 2022 playoffs, Martin Truex Jr. made a strong comeback in 2023 by winning the Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum. Richard Childress Racing drivers Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch completed the podium, taking second and third places, respectively.

However, Kyle Busch being Kyle Busch, took things a little too far with Truex Jr. as they made their way to the podium celebrations. A video footage of Busch posted on X showed him walking up the stairs to join his fellow podium finishers.

The weird part was that as Busch approached Truex Jr. from behind, out of nowhere, he seemingly reached his hand out to touch the race winner's groin area to get his attention albeit it was not meant in a confrontational manner. It was just a friendly poke from Busch and Truex Jr. took it as such, turning around to shake hands with the third-place man.

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#1 Kyle Busch regrets the decision that cost him a broken leg in 2015

Kyle Busch’s desire to win cost him dearly during the 2015 season-opening Xfinity Series race, held at Daytona International Speedway. Just one day before the Daytona 500, Busch was involved in a terrifying crash that left him with a broken right leg and left foot.

The resulting injury and the surgery that followed meant that he had to miss the first 11 Cup Series races in 2015, a season in which he went on to claim his first Cup Series Championship. However, in a recent video shared on Instagram by @brracing, Busch looked back at the incident and admitted that he had a role to play in that horrific crash as he pushed his teammate a little too hard too early while trying to gain the final few positions for the race victory.

"Coming through the trial, there’s about eight laps to go and I see a hole through the middle and I’m pushing my teammate who’s right in front of me and I bump him a little bit too early and I get him squirreled up in the tri-oval, and he turns back, right. I missed him, but the air off of his car spun my car out and it darted me towards the infield and I hit the infield wall at 90 miles an hour at 90G’s and hurt really bad," Busch shared.

However, he also felt proud that he went from having a broken leg and a fractured foot to lifting the championship trophy at the end of the season.