Source: NASCAR to suspend Kurt Busch for Pocono race-UPDATED
Quote selected text Published June 6th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Sources have told AutoRacingSport.com that NASCAR will suspend Penske Racing Dodge driver Kurt Busch for this weekends’ Nextel Cup Pocono race for his actions following a crash between himself and Joe Gibbs driver Tony Stewart. The penalty is expected to be handed down today.
Busch and Stewart wrecked out of Turn 4 on Lap 270 of last Monday’s rain-delayed Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway. Not surprisingly, the drivers blamed each other for the accident, which dropped two of top-10 cars to 40th (Stewart) and 42nd (Busch). Stewart pointed out that Busch hadn’t cleared him when the No. 2 Dodge moved up the track to complete a pass. Busch, of course, blamed Stewart for the incident.
The real source of concern, however, is what happened on pit road after the wreck. As Stewart’s No. 20 Chevrolet sat in its pit stall, Busch drove his Dodge alongside and appeared to graze Stewart’s car just narrowly missing Gibbs jackman Jason Lee, who had to jump over the right front quarter of Stewart’s Chevy to avoid a hit from Busch’s car.
UPDATE: We hear that NASCAR may not hand down a penalty until as late as Friday.
Bookmark to:
- Kurt Busch responds to penalty by NASCAR
- Johnson tops first practice at Pocono, Busch wrecks
- Kurt Busch honored for his foundation
- ESPN rating down for Pocono
- Dish Network to sponsor Yates/Kvapil No 28 at Pocono
If this is true, effing RIGHT. Nascar’s actually doing it right for
once. It’s almost too good to believe. o.O Should be for more than
one race and there should be one hellacious fine/docking of points,
but atleast they’re doing SOMETHING. S’more than usual.
Just ONE race????
i’m no Tony fan, but Kurt is a punk and he deserves whatever he gets and more.
Kurt needs some time to think and understand how lucky he is to be driving at all.
I’m still waiting to see something official..
I am a Kurt Busch fan !
Kurt made a mistake..He let Stewart push his buttons.
He’d been after Kurt for a few races and he won.
Congratulations Tony aren’t you a big man ,
the Godfather of Nascar..Who is next on your hit list?
Kurt will be back stronger than ever and ALL of you
that say you hate Kurt,do me this favour
Go to any of the tracks on race day
you will see Kurt at his souvie hauler signing autographs
He is one of the few drivers that still do that..
If you can meet him and still say you hate him then fine
but until then I don’t want to hear it..
GO KURT !!!
Even if you are a Kurt fan you should realized that this is not about what happened between Tony and Kurt on the track, Kurt endangered a pit crew member, come on grow up and realize this deserves being parked a race and I too think that is not enough. Kurt has been in the sport long enough now to know that you can’t do that and say I’m sorry I was wrong and that will make it go away. I don’t care who the driver was, if they do this they need to be parked for awhile.
Oh and I am not a Tony or Kurt fan so don’t go thinking that is why I am saying this.
My son and I watch the race D.V.R. What happened on the track was racing. But what happened off was not. Kurt is to be a roll model for kids, but when I have my son asking me if that idiot is drunk. MIND you he is six, he drives the beer car that you drink daddy!! I have never driven my car at someone. Or get behind the wheel after I had a few. I t
Jr. gets fines and points taken away for something stupid in the shop. Kurt Almost Kills somebody, maybe Roger should switch to chevy so someone with respect and who sighs autographs like Rusty use to. HE could bring the BLUE 2 back to were it should be. Not in the dirt , ( I think I just switched my beer to BUD !!!! )
Did your ’source’ tell you who will drive the 2 car?
No word on who will drive the #2. We’re getting a little suspicious that NASCAR hasn’t made this official. Looks like there’s some hard campaigning going on (read Penske’s pressing Helton and Pemberton) to keep Kurt outta trouble!
KK
Well here’s a link to a statement on Kurt’s site
http://www.kurtbusch.com/schedule/read_article.php?id=71
What we saw on TV wasn’t everything that happened ..
just a small part.
That’s why I prefer to go to the races and a friend of
mine asked me after the Lowes race what Tony had against
Kurt. She had been listening to Tony and Zippy talking
crap about Kurt on the scanner..All I could think of is
that Kurt wasn’t going to Eldora. Well at the end of the
statement on Kurt’s site basically says that Tony might
feel snubbed by Kurt.
What I don’t understand is why Carl Edwards didn’t get
suspended after last years Aug MIS Busch race..He could
have taken off Jr’s hand when he side slammed into his
car under caution..noone seemed to care.
Kurt will bounce back..He’s made mistakes but he picks
himself up and I admire him for that.
I agree with you Sunmom13.
Kurt is a nice guy who let his emotions get the best of him. He did wrong, he will get some sort of punishment, we all know that.
Kurt never meant to put anyone in harms way. He did take responsibility for his actions in a race interview but that not going to be enough. He will receive punishment from NASCAR.
I just hope that when any other driver does anything remotely similar that I hear just as much outcry from NASCAR and NASCAR fans.
I think John Andretti said it best, “lets stop and think about this, are we calling for all this punishment because it’s Kurt Busch and he is not well liked? Would you people want the same penalties if Jr did this?”
Thanks and good luck to everyone’s favorite driver this weekend!
To quote Busch’s press release, “I raced the guy all day long and for some reason he just didn’t give an inch.” That is what is called racing, sir. If your car is so similar in speed to another than you can’t pass him easily, then you have to race him to get the spot. You can’t expect the other driver to just give up the spot because you want it. It’s a competition.
That was the most sanctimonious press release that I’ve ever seen, and I worked in the racing media for several years. I’ve seen my fair share of idiotic press releases, but that takes the cake.
We’ve all seen drivers take emotions out on each other (Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth, to name one). I think it’s stupid, but it’s been done. But to speed up next to a parked vehicle and nearly hit a crew member is irresponsible, stupid, and reckless. The drivers are strapped in, with thousands upon thousands of dollars of safety equipment keeping them alive in case of wreck. The crew members are the ones in the most danger, as they have nothing between them and danger than a helmet. If this had been the other way around, Tony attempting to ram Kurt, I’d be all for a suspension for Tony, and I’m a fan of his. I’d be saying this about any single driver in NASCAR, IRL, Champ Car, F1, etc.
they should have started doin this a long time, enough special treatment for these guys, my driver
(harvick) got suspended in 02 for aggressive driving, so why are they just NOW thinkin of this?
man this pisses me off it took them that long.
Sunmom and CelticHouse you 2 hit the nail on the head, IMO.
Kurt is a guy who shows the fire and passion that many of us feel are missing from the sport. Yeah, he made a mistake. As a Kurt fan, I feel the whole pit road incident was the dumbest thing he’s ever done. No argument there.
But think about all of the other incidents that have happened on pit road…Carl almost takin Jr’s hand off? Didn’t Carl spin someone on pit road? What punishment did he get? Diddly squat. Would you guys be calling for Jr’s head (or Gordons, Stewarts, Johnsons, etc) if he made the same mistake?
I dont disagree that Kurt screwed up. And he will have to pay. No matter what, you can be guarenteed that he will bounce back and this wont stop him. That’s something we’ve seen out of him before…and that’s part of the reason I cheer for him every Sunday. The man learns from his mistakes.
I personally think that Nascar should suspend Kurt Bush for more than 1 race to teach him a lesson. Kurt could have hurt Tony’s jackman Jason Lee. What was he thinking? Did he honestly think because he’s one of the Busch brothers that nothing would happen to him. Mommy and daddy can’t help him this time. I’m glad that Nascar isn’t taking this lightly.
Like I already said sunmon13, I don’t care what happened on the track and I don’t care if they want to punch each other, Kurt or any driver should NOT take it to pit road and mess around when there are crew memebers, officials, etc.
I know they are both hotheads and they both screw up, does that mean they get to keep doing this crap and get by with it??? NO!!!
I also agree if crew chiefs are getting suspended for cheating then what Kurt did should be for more than 1 race.
And yes I would be calling for any driver to be parked if he did this, even Jr. and Gordon and Stewart, etc. doesn’t matter to me. I thought Carl was wrong and shouldn’t have gotten away with it either. To me it’s not because it’s Kurt Busch.
In the case of NASCAR dealing out the right punishment for the crime, this fits the bill perfectly.
I don’t have anything against Kurt. He is a good driver. He really needs some time to think about this. Nascar has done the right thing.
One race is not enough. The right punishment for him would be the REST OF THE SEASON. Then fine Penske ALL POINTS earned so far plus 10K more then hit Kurt and Rodger 2 Millon in the pocket book each. That way Nascar will show that going after another drivers PITCREW during the race will not be tolerated at all.
I cannot believe that he only got one race. He almost hit a crew member. How stupid can Kurt Busch get??!! He didn’t even have anything to do with the wreck!! He should get at least two or three races, not one. This is by far an understatement on NASCAR. They need to wake up and smell the motor oil!!!!
This is crazy. Dont get me wrong Im glad to see NASCAR doing something about Busch almost hitting a crew member… BUT ONE RACE? Give me a break that is a slap on the wrist. They arrest fans for throwing things on the track and charge them with disorderly conduct. They hit DALE JR with a $100,000 fine, plus 100 points, and lost Tony Jr for races. He needs more than one race!
Kurt always spins the story to suit his needs. When his brother wrecked him, Kurt said he wasn’t about to give Kyle an inch. Then he goes and whines when Tony won’t give him an inch. Does Kurt have brain fade about wrecking Tony at Daytona? It’s always one sided with Kurt. And Kyle for that matter. They both ought to be 86′d from Nascar. I refer to them as the Busch Brats.
Nascar has still not come to a verdict..
This is true….the suspensioni is not official. We think there is still alot of ‘lobbying’ going on right now.
BTW everyone, sorry if you’ve had trouble getting on the site. We’ve had more traffic than usual (
) and some server issues. we are working to get them fixed.
The problem with Tony is that he wants everyone to pull over for him even though he won’t pull over for anyone else.
I agree Kurt should sit AT LEAST a race, and if NASCAR doesn’t mandate it, he should volunteer to do it. And on his day off he should play jack man for the #12 team.
AutoRacingSport.com Editor Do you know for a fact that Nascar has
gotten together today to discuss this matter..I’m not seeing anywhere
where they have. They usually post it on Nascar.com
Well two wrongs dont make a right but they were racing pretty hard and niether one gave an inch after bush came up on stewart whether it was bush trying to slam the door on him or lack of spotters seeing what was going on but to me it looked like stewart drove through bush after he had spun maybe in retalliation for the start of the crash???or just stewart being a hot head and mad that he wasnt given the entire track to race like he likes it seems that if anyone tries to challenge the stewart the great they either get crashed or he will talk trash about them well hummm we may never know what the story is we can only make our own cuz nascar will never tell us what goes on its like the billon dollar boys club and were not worthy…
thank you all for listening to my ranting and raving.
chris kelley
racing fan.
sunmom13,
We do not know ‘for a fact’ that they have met other than our sources telling us they have been discudding what to do regarding Busch’s penalty. What’s peculiar is that NASCAR usually announces a penalty by this point in the week.
It’s possible that nothing will be announced and there will not be a penalty. In this editor’s opinion that would be absurd.
I’ll tell you this: they were going to suspend him…now something has happened apparently.
Roger Penske is a powerful and persuasive person so we’ll see.
$$$…that’s what probably happend!! This sucks….they better do something!! It’s crazy to think you can be as crazy of a driver on pit road as he was & nothing will happen!! If I was that pit crew member I would be pissed!!!!
I think anyone that has a problem with the possibility of ONLY ONE RACE needs to contact NASCAR in some form or matter.
That crew member could of lost both his legs if he wasnt paying attention, its one thing to spin somebody out on pit road, but to slam into someone elses car while a crew guy is looking at damage is worse than wrecking someone on track.
No no no no… I believe there will be a penalty and I believe it will be stiff and severe! Kurt is not popular, in fact he is pretty much hated by the majority of Nascar fans. If his penalty is not severe, there will be a huge outcry from Nascar Nation. Maybe even some boycotting going on. Nascar ratings are already starting to suffer. Lack of a penalty towards Busch would drop them more.
sunmom13-I met him at Watkins. I’m the one who got him to come over,
actually. He signed autographs while NBC’s cameras were on them, and
then didn’t even give a wave or even a backward glance to the fans
as he left simultaneously with the cameras.
nascar needs to let tony just beat the ever livin dog snot out of him
interesting, isn’t it, that there is a delay on a suspension/penalty announcement of a driver whose owner sits on the board of directors of ISC, the sister corporation of NASCAR?
This is baffling Editor. You would think they would say
something one way or the other..Many would like to know
I just hope when they do make their decision known that
they explain themselves thoroughly.
nah, 26fan…if kurt busch wants to be a 3400 lbs bully, fine. then put busch in a room with Coach Gibbs and 3400 lbs of the Redskin lineup and give him a taste of him own medicine.
they should show the burton kenseth races from texas an dover on how to races cleanly then none of this mess would have happened. kurt should sit out one race for that shit he pulled. if he pulled that shit at a local track he wooda been kicked out for the year. i hope nascar does somthin about this officially. id have the whole restr of the competition boycott if they dont do nothin. bill jrs funeral stuff might be delayin them. which is understandable.
Yes, IMHO it would be very disappointing if they end up doing nothing.
But we’re going to stand by our story…I think we’ll see something coming down on KB.
to sunmom13, google this story and read what all the other sites have written and the posts on them. Your BRAT boy Busch is in some serious “dog snot” already! No explanation is necessary. Put your glasses on and watch the video again. What Busch did was wreckless endangerment!! I vote that his current points get a negative sign in front! As well as be suspended for the rest of the season and I hope Penske comes to the relization they need to replace the bozo Busch if they want to salvage their reputation. Miller Lite should pull their sponsorship. That’s my 2 cents.
Oh, and FYI, I’m a major Jr fan. If he pulled a complete d__khead
move like that, I’d be lobbying for his season-long suspension as well.
When someone does something like this, it’s not a matter of driver
favorites. It’s a matter of common sense, his ultimate lack of use of
it, and what it could of done to Tony’s jackman. And, I hate to use
him as an example because it opens the window for people to say “Ah
see, you want them to go easier on Jr”, but it IS true that Jr gets
fined/docked/loses his crewman so hard [[or any other driver in that
position]] for a minor mistake, and Kurt Busch endangers someone’s
life and gets a one race sit-down? I’m not even saying anything about
lessening Jr’s penalty, just saying that doesn’t quite balance out.
Remember the last time Busch pulled a brainless stunt? Crown Royal didn’t want anything more to do with the punk. I’ll guess the delay is that Lite is having the same concerns. You can’t be an alcohol sponsor and have your Driver driving wrecklessly.
Stretch: That was a beautiful example of give & take between Burton & Kenseth . . .
what is up with this delay? poor roger penske needs to find a sub if kurt is indeed suspended.
this is getting right suspicious.
Breanna and Solly I NEVER said what Kurt did was right..
Jeez..take a deep breath and chill..My goodness..READ my posts..
No matter what you say I’m still a fan of Kurt’s..I just want to know
what’s happening..
Breanna when Carl Edwards side slammed Jr during that Busch race
at MIS last August during a caution and just missed hitting his hand..
What did Nascar do? I honestly don’t remember..
O.K. so I have met Kurt more times then you can count on your house’s centipede so I guess (according to his few fans) that gives me the right to talk about him any way I want. Why is he more fan friendly than any other driver just because he signs autographs? Actually Miller Lite makes him do those hauler signings and if you don’t believe me then why is a PR person paid by Miller always with him? Lets get to that other only remaining ace you KBFans always throw out at Jr fans. Yes he has got the single title that Jack helped him win in ‘04. BUT we are not talking about the talent Kurt has today now are we?
When will Kurt learn that he just can’t do what he wants to others? He has lost many fans over the years and from what I understand they are dropping like flies over this last incident. To those remaining fans go ahead and stick by him all you want. Just remember while you are defending him the next time I will be rooting for a driver who lets his professional driving record speak for itself. Some of you non Kurt fans should join his free site at kurtbusch.com and read all the crap his few fans think about Tony, Kevin, Jeff, Jr and even his little brother. Thats right they bash Kyle on that site every other day it seems. That is unexcusable and the reason why most Kurt fans are deserving of a little hazing the next time you see one. Tell them Kyle is better and watch them drop their head because they know its true. Ask Kurt because he will admit his brother is better. Ask people who raced them in Las Vegas and they will tell you Kyle has always been better then Kurt including the respect that Tony now has for him and not Kurt.
It would be absurd to sit KB down a race. Stewart was beating and banging all day and Kurt finally had enough! I dont condone what Busch did on pitrow, but he saw the jackman working on the car. He was never in any danger..
I recall several incidents in the past couple of years that were far worse and Nascar did nothing. If there is any justice, Nascar will leave this alone!
after reading several post,on this site,i have figured it out…Kurt Bush simply ran out of cars to hit, so he decided to hit a human ,maybe he didnt see him,[not a chance],as an avid nascar fan for 15yrs, if never seen drivers as reckless as kurt and kyle bush,i think the senoir EARNHARDT would definatley have somethuing to say to nascar about these two non racecar driving ,goofy looking ,wannabees,..if nascar thinks one race is enough,shame on them [lets see mike helton on pit road with a racecar aimming for him,move his feet that fast]i dont think he wouldnt think it is not serious ,is his life worth more than 1 race.kurt would be drving go-carts again…cmon nascar get this 1 right……our thoughts and prayers go out to the FRANCE FAMILY on the loss of a great man,,nascar will never be the same..gods speed
RJ - Nascar does not need fans like you, Why don’t you and your budy Busch go have your own pity party.
No no no dear, I realize that, I wasn’t trying to sound like I was
bashing you and I’m sorry if I did;; I have no problem with you being
a fan of whomever you please. I just meant that I have indeed met him
and that’s a large part of why I don’t like him.
I actually don’t think I saw that race. Our local dirt track runs on
Saturday, so I miss more Busch races than I’d like because we can’t
always afford tapes to record them on. I don’t believe they did
anything at all though, which also wasn’t right on their part.
Nascar’s really not good at all with keeping a level playing field in
regards to penalties dealt.
No, if there is any justice Nascar will get off it’s a__ and start
here because this is a very serious incident, and will continue to
penalize drivers accordingly.
And don’t worry, I’m sure Mr. [[a__hole]] Penske is doing a great job
of threatening and bribing Nascar and nothing is going to come of this
anyway.
ughhh ESPN2 has just announced that Nascar will NOT announce a decision until
FRIDAY..
I like Kurt, but this can’t go unpunished. NASCAR has been preaching safety every since Big
E passed. Love the comments on how Smoke should beat him up and everything. Also, why not get
Harvick and Spencer involved as well. That would look really good. Isn’t that what we are
aiming for here? Beating up Kurt. Dude, no one has to lay a hand on him because he gets it from
the media, fans, and other drivers constantly. Yeah, he brings it on himself with his antics,
but he is….or was getting much better. But if anyone…and I mean ANYONE…doesn’t think that
there is a double standard in NASCAR, you need to pull your head out of your (fill in the blank).
Would this public outcry happen if it was Junior…Harvick….or just go ahead and fill in any
“good ole boy” and get back to me. Were people screaming when Harvick was dancing on hoods? No,
that was Harvick being Harvick. Fans were petitioning to lighten the punishment on Spencer when
he punched Kurt. I agree what he did is unexcusable, and needs to be punished, but the season
suspension stuff is rediculous. Also, don’t give me the stuff about Kurt walking away with the
media when signing autographs. That may have happened, and I am sorry for you Breanna, but Kurt
is always at his hauler signing autographs and was sick as a dog the day he stayed out for
around 2 hours to sign my autograph. Hot temper, short fuse, but a good guy. Kind a sounds like
someone else huh?
The reason this is all being made such a big deal is the fact that he is one of the Busch Brothers. If it had of been Jeff Gordon or Dale, Jr. they would swept it under the rug a long time ago. Kurt is being made the scapegoat and Tony is coming off as usual as Mother Theresa. I realize that was kind of dumb to go on pit road like he did but the thing is he didn’t hit anybody and what ifs aren’t worth a damn. His having to sit out and lose points on Monday was enough. My guess is everyone is feeling the heat from the #2 Miller Lite Dodge so if we get him out of the way they maybe Jeffy and Little D or maybe even Tony could win one.
All you people should stop bashing Kurt Busch He is a great Driver and should not be suspended Go KURT BUSCH You RULE!!!!!
Solly why don’t you take your two cents and go buy a Jr. or Gordo jacket
Hey former Busch fan….little Busch envy there. Talk about your haters.
yes mergie that would be better
I think Kurt is a punk, and what he did was definetely wrong. But, how many times over just the last few years have we seen someone do the same exact thing? We have seen Tony spin Jeff Gordon out on pit road just a few years ago, mind you this was after the race when it was filled with crew members, officials, media, and drivers. NASCAR needs to be consistent. PS. Kurt needs to stop messing with these bigger guys. See Jimmy Spencer.
Anthony are you blind. he could have seriously hurt Stewarts Jackman. Kurt should be sat down for at least 4 races and docked points. Thats way he wil learn. This isnt the first time he has done stupid shit. Remember back 2 years ago when he got booted from roush?
MWR Racing Fan that was back in 2000 or 2001 long time ago……..but yes stewart got penalized for it even tough nascar wasnt nearly as concearned with safety cause earnhardt hadnt died yet.
I have seen where its been reported that Kurt will sit out one race…..there has been no confirmation of that so that kinda worries me. He was way out of line and deserves to sit for more than one race. I hope Nascar does the right thing and penalize him for his actions on pit road. And by the way, Jr. has enough sense not to put himself in such a situation SC Boy!!
James he wanted out of Roush, and Roush let him. Although, he was sat the last two races for arguing with a Jeff Gordon loving cop who said he had alcohol on his breath. He blew under the legal limit, and still got hammered. Another example of double standard. Is anyone aware of Michael Waltrips recent drunk driving incident? No? Hmmmm, I didn’t think so. Wonder why people don’t hear about guys like little Mikey. Yes, what he did was stupid. He will get punished, but you can’t deny the double standard in NASCAR. If his name was Kurt Waltrip or Kurt Earnhardt, this would have ended after the race Monday.