Fallout From Kyle Busch’s Intentional Wreck At Texas Continues

For a moment on Friday, albeit a brief one, Kyle Busch appeared to get choked up.

After a week in which Busch was punished with the modern-day equivalent of being tarred and feathered following his intentional wreck of Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Texas trucks race, one person may have saved him from the lowest point of his career.

Denny Hamlin said he sees no point in lecturing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate or dispensing advice about Busch’s actions over the past week because Busch has already been through so much.

Hamlin said he turns to team owner Joe Gibbs when there’s an issue, and expects Busch would do the same instead of coming to a teammate for advice.

Kyle Busch didn’t rape or murder anyone. Nor did he molest children or rob someone at gunpoint. He didn’t fail a drug test or get caught drunk driving.

But based on the reaction to his intentional crash of Ron Hornaday Jr. at Texas, you would have thought Busch was right up there with Jerry Sandusky.

Kyle Busch has lost sponsor M&M’s for the last two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of this season due to his actions at Texas, but will still race at Phoenix and Homestead thanks to sponsorship from Interstate Batteries.

M&M’s isn’t breaking up with Busch for good, though. The company will return to sponsor Busch next season after sending what it believes is a strong message to Busch not to screw up again.

With sunset approaching in Phoenix, the decision over Kyle Busch’s fate for this weekend – and beyond – has yet to be officially made public.

But two sources confirmed to SB Nation that Busch would drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car after all this weekend – except with sponsorship from Interstate Batteries instead of M&M’s.

After suspending Kyle Busch for intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, NASCAR announced Monday it has fined Busch $50,000 and placed him on probation for the remainder of the season.

NASCAR also warned if Busch has another incident before the end of the year, an indefinite suspension from NASCAR will be the penalty.

Michael McDowell had a tremendous opportunity on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway: Driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car while the suspended Kyle Busch sat atop the team’s pit box and watched.

Unfortunately for McDowell, the driver change meant the No. 18 would have to start at the rear of the field. And with a long, green-flag run to open the race, McDowell and his temporary team never got much of a chance to work on the car.

The following is a letter written by Kyle Busch to his fans, sponsors, teammates, competitors and fellow members of the racing community.

Busch was suspended from NASCAR competition on Saturday morning for his actions in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Following NASCAR’s decision to suspend Kyle Busch for the remainder of the weekend’s events at Texas Motor Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing team owner Joe Gibbs met with the media to address the situation.

“We met this morning with NASCAR and they explained their situaton and decision, and after that sometimes in life you have to deal with real tough things,” he said. “This was a tough situation for us.”

NASCAR President Mike Helton addressed the media on Saturday morning at Texas Motor Speedway an informed reporters of Kyle Busch’s suspension for the remainder of the weekend.

Here are some of Helton’s selected comments as to why NASCAR elected to suspend Busch:

Kyle Busch’s intentional wreck of Ron Hornaday has resulted in the first NASCAR suspension for an on-track action toward another competitor since 2002.

NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Saturday morning the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been parked “for the balance of the weekend,” meaning he will not be able to participate in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race or today’s Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR parked Kyle Busch after an early incident in Friday evening’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, also calling him to the NASCAR hauler at the conclusion of the event.

The move came after Busch intentionally wrecked championship contender Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution 15 laps into the 147-lap event. The two made contact racing around a slower truck, forcing Busch up the track and into the wall.