"A lot of people would pay me $75,000 to punch him": Ricky Stenhouse Jr. reacts on 'excessive' NASCAR penalty verdict for Kyle Busch fight

NASCAR announced a $75,000 fine for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. following his feud with Kyle Busch after the North Wilkesboro All-Star race. The JTG Daugherty driver's father was suspended indefinitely, while two of his crew members also received suspensions.

Stenhouse Jr. was penalized for breaking the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct (Sections 4.4.D in the NASCAR Rule Book). Kyle Busch eliminated the 2023 Daytona 500 winner in the second lap of the race after which, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. waited outside Busch's hauler all race to confront the #8 RCR driver.

Things quickly escalated following which, Stenhouse threw a punch at Kyle Busch. Moreover, in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR radio, Stenhouse said that he was surprised by NASCAR's decision to punish him.

"It's a bit excessive. But at the same time, that's NASCAR's decision. Us and our team are just trying to figure everything out"

He added:

"We're super focused on making sure that we're all prepared and ready for Charlotte this weekend. Everybody's been working hard, and that's really all we're focused on."

"There'd be a lot of people paying me $75k to do that. It seems I've had a lot of support on the backhand side."

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NASCAR VP explains Ricky Stenhouse Jr's penalty amidst Kyle Busch fiasco

Elton Sawyer, the vice-president of NASCAR explained the reasoning behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr's penalty. He discussed the involvement of Stenhouse Sr. and the need to protect Kyle Busch and other drivers finding themselves in a similar position.

Elton Sawyer explained in the abovementioned source

"When you have crew members and family members that put their hands on our drivers, we’re going to react. We’ve been consistent about this, when crew members and family members get involved, we are going to react. That’s exactly what we did.”

He continued:

"When you wait 198 laps and you make those decisions that were made, again, we’re going to react to that.”

Joey Logano earned the $1 million prize reward after winning the All-Star race. The pole-sitter, though, was hardly the topic of discussion following the events that took place later that night.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. vowed to wreck Busch in the next race at Charlotte during the pair's confrontation. However, the penalties awarded to him might influence him to act otherwise. Either way, it remains interesting to see how the duo fare when they meet on track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Did NASCAR get the penalty right or should they have fined Kyle Busch as well?