The NASCAR All-Star Race came to a heated end after a clash between two drivers following a crash.
Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got into a brawl in the garage area after the race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina.
Tempers flared on the first lap of the 200-lap event as Busch and Stenhouse were among those riding three wide on the short track.
Busch, on the outside, scraped the wall while Stenhouse was running in the middle. Busch then retaliated, hitting Stenhouse from behind and sending him into the wall.
The NASCAR race ended in a fight
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Stenhouse said: “I’m not sure why he was so mad…He hit the fence and came off the wall and ran into me. When I was talking to him, he kept saying I wrecked him.
“It’s built-up frustration with how he runs his mouth all the time about (me). I know he’s frustrated because he doesn’t run as good as he used to. I understand that.”
Joey Logano won the race and the $1million prize. He led all but one of the laps.
He said: “We were so fast…We came here before for testing and ran over 800 laps and really figured out what it was going to take to win the race.”
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Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 Alltroo Toyota, and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford
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Logano’s Ford stayed out front, but Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota fought door-to-door with Logano for 25 laps to stay on the lead, and it did when the second yellow flag, a scheduled one, waved at the halfway point for mandatory pit stops.
With the five cars on soft tires running equal or better times compared to everyone else, teams opted for the softer tires during the stop, just like they did to start the event’s 40th running.
Logano and Christopher Bell ran side-by-side with 92 laps to go, but Hamlin slipped into the mix and gained second behind Logano.
All-Star Open winner Ty Gibbs then spun for the third caution on Lap 119 after Busch tapped him.
Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, celebrates with the one million dollar check
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Kyle Larson, who leads NASCAR’s championship standings and posted a win at Kansas Speedway on May 5, will take the same route and transportation next Sunday to Charlotte, where he won in 2021.
Tony Stewart is the only one of the four drivers to previously attempt The Double and finish every lap of both races when he achieved the feat in 2001.