Kyle Busch references infamous Dale Earnhardt Sr. quote to justify Ricky Stenhouse retaliation

Days after getting punched in the face by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch has opened up for the first time about his violent altercation. The two-time Cup Series champion used legendary driver Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s infamous words from the 1999 Bristol Cup Series Race to jibe at his rival.

The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway birthed two memorable moments; Team Penske driver Joey Logano sealing his maiden win this season and the attention-grabbing post-race fight between Busch and Stenhouse Jr.

The drama between the two initiated on the opening lap when the JTG Daughtery driver tried to fit into the small room between the #8 Chevy and Michael McDowell, grazing Busch's Chevolet's front left side. In retaliation, the Richard Childress driver pulled a similar move on the next lap, ending Stenhouse Jr.'s million-dollar run on Lap 2.

Shortly after the race, the heated conversation followed by a fight spread like wildfire in the community and many people gave their take on it. Moving forward, Kyle Busch has opened up about the incident, referencing the Intimidator's infamous quote against Terry Labonte, “I didn’t mean to really turn him around, I meant to rattle his cage though.”

The Las Vegas native said (via Kenny Wallace on YouTube):

"You know, to me it's just [on] Lap 1, the water's not even hot, the tires aren't even hot, you're kind of slipping a little bit. I ran wide and turned, gave the opening to the middle and he [Stenhouse Jr.] took it. I gave room on the exit to make sure we didn't touch so I touched the fence a little bit. I was touching the fence and he still ran into me and brushed off my left front corner." (4.31)

"I wasn't too pleased about that and did come back and retaliated. As one guy once said, 'I meant to rattle his cage and spin him out' didn't mean for him to overcorrect and stuff it in the fence," Busch said while using Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s infamous words.

NASCAR has whacked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a $75000 penalty for not making "better decisions" and fighting with Kyle Busch

Days after several videos of the viral fight between Kyle Busch and Stenhouse Jr. did rounds in the NASCAR community, the officials slapped the latter with a whopping $75k fine. Additionally, JTG Daugherty's mechanic Clint Myrick got suspended for the next eight races, and the #47 Chevy's tuner Keith Matthews has been barred for four races.

Furthermore, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s father Richard Stenhouse has received an indefinite suspension by NASCAR for breaching the Member Code of Conduct. The 65-year-old also participated in the fight and pushed the Richard Childress Racing driver away from his son.

According to NASCAR VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer, the Mississippi native had abundant time, courtesy of his Lap 2 exit from the 200-lap run. On the contrary, Kyle Busch didn't have that luxury and was clueless about Stenhouse Jr.'s post-race warning, hence his misery-free exit from the drama.

While reasoning Stenhouse Jr.'s stringent penalty, Sawyer spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about the inability to make "better decisions" which attracted the penalty:

"Better decisions could have been made throughout that period of time that between the incident that happened on the racetrack and the incident that happened in the garage post race," the VP of competition said.

NASCAR hasn't slashed Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s points and he maintains his 26th place, while Kyle Busch holds his 13th spot in the standings.