Multiple witnesses tell SPEED there was a physical confrontation between Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after today’s NASCAR Truck Series race..RCR driver Joey Coulter and Kyle battled for position..Kyle hit Coulter’s truck on the cool-down lap..multiple sources say Childress took matters into his own hands…developing details on SPEED Center tonight at 8:30 ET after the Rolex race.(Facebook-SPEED Center)(6-4-2011)
UPDATE: None of the principals have confirmed it, but Ray Dunlap, pit reporter for SPEED, was confident in his sources to post a Twitter message that car owner Richard Childress and driver Kyle Busch had a physical altercation after Saturday’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. “There are some eyewitnesses, crew members who were there and another driver who were right there,” Dunlap said Saturday night after he arrived home in Charlotte. “There were some punches thrown.” Kerry Tharp, NASCAR director of communications for competition, said that NASCAR officials were investigating the reports. The source of Childress’ frustration was Busch’s damaging the right side of rookie Joey Coulter’s truck during the cool-down lap after Coulter, who finished fifth for Childress’ team, bumped Busch’s car while the two battled for position on the final lap. “His fender must have got caught in there and tore a bunch of the truck up,” Dunlap said. “Richard was aggravated about the fact (Busch) had caused damage postrace, when it wasn’t a racing accident, it was stupidity.” Dunlap said Childress, 65, went to Busch’s garage with the intention of talking to him, but “what my friends who were there told me, said Kyle lipped off to him, and said, ‘Don’t worry about it old man,’ or something like that, and that really fired him up. Apparently Childress had him in a headlock,” Dunlap said, “and there were multiple punches thrown but I don’t know if he was hitting him in the face or in the back of the head or what, but they said for sure, it was physical, he did throw physical punches.” Dunlap, who conducts the victory lane interviews, said he did not see any incidents on pit road. “That’s where it usually happens, guys jump out of the truck and have their words there,” he said, “but this spilled back into the garage, obviously.”(Kansas City Star)6-5-2011)
UPDATE 2: “NASCAR has reviewed the incident involving Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We have met with all parties involved and have determined what happened yesterday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by NASCAR. Richard Childress’s actions were not appropriate and fell far short of the standard we expect of owners in this sport. We have met with Childress this morning and made our position very clear to him. Further, we expect he will make it clear to all in his organization to ensure this situation does not escalate any further. We will announce our actions regarding this incident Monday. Kyle Busch remains on probation with NASCAR and we continue to watch his actions carefully. However, we have determined that Kyle’s involvement in this incident does not violate his probation and no further action is required.”(NASCAR PR)(6-5-2011)
UPDATE 3: NASCAR has fined owner Richard Childress $150,000 and placed him on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31 for violating Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing — involved in an altercation in the garage area) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book. The violation occurred following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race June 4 at Kansas Speedway. The probation includes all NASCAR-sanctioned events. STATEMENT FROM NASCAR: The penalty we have announced today for Richard Childress reflects NASCAR’s response to the incident at Kansas Speedway on Saturday. We feel this action is appropriate and are confident all parties involved understand our position on this matter and will move forward appropriately.(NASCAR Integrated Marketing PR)(6-6-2011)
UPDATE 4: The following is a statement by Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing, regarding the penalty announced today by NASCAR regarding an incident he was involved in June 4 incident at Kansas Speedway: First of all, I’m responsible for my actions, plain and simple. As you know, I am a very principled person and have a passion for what we do at Richard Childress Racing. I believe passionately in defending my race teams and my sponsor partners. In this instance, I let that passion and my emotions get the best of me. I accept the penalty NASCAR announced today and, as a company, we will now focus on this week’s races at Pocono Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway.(Richard Childress Racing PR)(6-6-2011)
UPDATE 5: Richard Childress, Owner of Richard Childress Racing, met with members of the media at Pocono Raceway. The transcript:
RICHARD CHILDRESS: “Here is the deal. I am going to make one statement on this deal. I appreciate everyone’s patience during the last week when I couldn’t talk to everyone. The main thing is I take all the responsibility for my actions last week. I am very passionate about this sport. I am passionate about my race teams, our fans and I let my emotions get and come in front of my passion. But that is behind us. I guess the next thing is the fine that was levied against me, I’m going to pay it personal. I agree that NASCAR should have done something with me. I don’t agree that they didn’t handle the situation that happened on the cool-down lap. With that said, we had a lot of fans to send in donations last week toward our fine, I am going to pay it personally. All that money that has been sent in, that is still coming in, we’re going to take and donate to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. At least in every bad situation, something good will come out of it. Hopefully Kyle (Busch) and myself will both end up learning something from this. Thank you all very much. Talk to you later. That’s it.”(Team Chevy)(6-10-2011)
