CUP: First-lap scuffle with Kyle Busch ends badly for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

PHOTO: Tino Pattigno III, @tinopattigno

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished last in Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway when his #47 Kroger Health / IcyHot Chevrolet crashed after 2 of 200 laps.

Stenhouse’s 2023 Daytona 500 victory locked him into this second-straight All-Star Race and fifth of his career. Earlier this month, he signed a multi-year contract extension to remain with the team. Coming into Sunday’s race, his season-best finish was a 4th in Talladega, followed by a 6th in the wild Atlanta event, continuing his success on the superspeedways. That said, this year’s 500 saw one of his only two DNFs, bringing a 31st-place finish. The other occurred two rounds ago at Dover, a crash that left him 35th. He entered the All-Star Race ranked 25th in points.

Continuing his rotating series of brands affiliated with Kroger, he’d debut a new paint scheme for IcyHot pain relievers. In opening practice, he ranked 19th of the 37 combined entries between the All-Star Open and the All-Star Main. After penalties were added, he ended up 16th of the 17 locked-in all-star entries in qualifying, completing his laps and pit stop in 103.314 seconds (54.335 mph), a full 13.5 seconds off Joey Logano’s pole. The two 60-lap heat races were cancelled due to Saturday’s massive rain storm, so Stenhouse would retain 16th on Sunday night.

Securing the 20th and final starting spot in Sunday’s main event was Noah Gragson, whose #10 Overstock.com Ford won the fan vote. He’d join Open winner Ty Gibbs in the #54 Monster Energy Toyota and Open runner-up Bubba Wallace in the #23 Alltroo Toyota at the tail end of the field. Joining them would be Kyle Larson, who after qualifying 5th for his first Indianapolis 500 arrived at the track by helicopter. The start of the race was moved back 16 minutes to allow Larson enough time to arrive, though he’d have to surrender the 12th-place spot that Kevin Harvick earned for him in qualifying.

When the race started, Larson was last across the stripe, 1.695 seconds back of the lead to Gragson’s 1.476. Through Turns 1 and 2, Kyle Busch ran the high line in his #8 Lenovo Chevrolet, climbing from 14th on the grid. This opened the door for Stenhouse, who found himself in the middle of a three-wide battle with Denny Hamlin’s #11 Mavis Tire Toyota to his inside. Coming off the corner, Busch bounced off the outside wall, then Stenhouse made contact with Busch’s left-front as he passed. A later replay showed Stenhouse didn’t make contact with Busch before the #8 hit the wall. Unaware of this, Busch then cut low to follow Stenhouse down the frontstretch. Entering Turn 1, Busch got into Stenhouse’s left-rear and stayed on it. Just past the apex, Stenhouse’s car snapped to the right and smacked the outside wall hard with the right-front.

2024 All-Star race @ North Wilkesboro, Ricky Stenhouse Jr's full race onboard. pic.twitter.com/4UJ0rS6sK0

— Andrew (@Basso488) May 20, 2024

Under this first caution of the race, Stenhouse pulled down pit road and parked in Busch’s pit stall. He then climbed out and confronted Busch’s crew chief Randall Burnett, who was sitting next to Andy Petree. Stenhouse was then checked and released from the infield care center as a tow truck brought the #47 behind the wall and to the team’s hauler, done for the night. Stenhouse’s on-board camera was turned off on Lap 9, and Busch cleared minimum speed on the Lap 11 restart. NASCAR declared Stenhouse the first car out on Lap 41. Unable to leave the track due to the track’s configuration, Stenhouse was still in the infield when Busch arrived, ultimately leading to Stenhouse fighting Busch.

Stenhouse getting a tow from Kyle Busch’s pit box. (SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive)

Finishing 19th was William Byron, whose #24 Raptor Chevrolet lost 14 laps due to a toe link change after he slapped the wall coming off Turn 4. A.J. Allmendinger finished in 18th, two laps down, and was off the pace as the leaders lapped him that second time in the final moments. Christopher Bell’s #20 Yahoo! Toyota took home 17th with Darlington winner Brad Keselowski rounding out the Bottom Five in his #6 Nexlizet Ford.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked Stenhouse’s second-straight last-place finish in the All-Star Race, meaning he’s finished last in both races held at North Wilkesboro. These are also the only two last-place runs for the #47 in the history of the All-Star Race itself.

*The two laps completed by Stenhouse are the fewest by a last-place finisher of the All-Star Race since May 18, 2013, when Brad Keselowski had transmission issues after 2 laps.

*Stenhouse is the first driver to finish last in consecutive All-Star Races.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

20) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 2 laps / crash

19) #24-William Byron / 186 laps / running

18) #16-A.J. Allmendinger / 198 laps / running

17) #20-Christopher Bell / 200 laps / running

16) #6-Brad Keselowski / 200 laps / running