FONTANA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 26: Kyle Busch at the NASCAR Cup Series Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2023 in Fontana, California. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUSA Copyright: xmpi34x
Amid their infamous penalty spree, NASCAR has yet again penalized one of their star drivers at Dover International Speedway! This time, it’s Kyle Busch that received the punishment. Even though the incident somehow went under the radar, the ‘bad boy’ had some blunt words for the unjust treatment from the organization.
During Monday’s exciting race, Richard Childress Racing found themselves at the wrong end as the #8 driver was slapped with a pit stop penalty.
USA Today via Reuters Apr 29, 2023; Dover, Delaware, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch stands behind the pit road wall during practice and qualifying for the Wurth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
The incident occurred at Stage 1 of the race when Busch, while returning to his pit lane, was found speeding. Surprisingly, the RCR team, including the ‘rowdy’ himself found the decision to be confusing while they talked on the radio.
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Kyle Busch shares his doubt and so does his team with NASCAR’s unjust ruling!
While the iconic track of Talladega gave Busch a last-minute victory, with him stealing the race win from Ryan Blaney, Monday’s race at Dover did not favor the driver as he struggled to stay at the top position.
He led almost 20 laps in stage 1 before the speeding incident. The commentary team elaborated on the incident saying, “speeding penalty as he just picked up his fourth and it happened in segment three of pit road which is on the curve and one of the shortest segments in, in all of pit lane.”
“He was too fast,” said the commentary team. On the other hand, the RCR driver genuinely shared his skepticism with his team, who seemed to be on the same page. With his spotter, Derek Kneeland mentioning the penalty, “All right, they got us for too fast right there.” Hearing this Busch said, “I don’t get it.” The RCR crew chief shared the emotion.
Randal Burnett said, “I don’t [get it] either, we didn’t do anything different there.”
After a great start, where did things exactly go wrong for Kyle Busch?
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While ‘Rowdy’ was at the forefront, leading the pack, things quickly went for a toss. Things were looking great for Busch until his red Chevy had to be pitted. With the rest of the roster battling it on the track, Busch had to pit for him to stay in the game.
And that’s where everything went wrong. His spotter gave him instructions into the pit lane, “Three, two, one, wheel straight, foot on the brake,” alongside his crew chief urging him to take back the lead, “go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. All the way out, no pressure.”
Busch stepped on the gas, looking to take back the lost time as he sped in the pit road. The officials caught his speed to be above the limit and handed him a penalty.
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Naturally, the race did not end well for the driver. Eventually he ended the Wurth 400 at 21st position, while his former rival, Martin Truex Jr took home the victory. However, with his team backing him, we hope that ‘rowdy’ can have more outings like the one he had at the Auto Club and Talladega.