Busch Receives Penalty

Kyle Busch penalized for actions during this past weekends race. By Carly Signor

(Tom Pennington/Getty Images/NASCAR)

NASCAR handed out a rare penalty this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch was parked for the weekend for his actions during Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race.

The decision was made Saturday morning after Busch intentionally forced Truck driver and Championship contender, Ron Hornaday, into the outside wall under caution. The two had been battling for position on lap 15 when both trucks scraped the wall, bringing out the caution. It was the retaliation under caution that violated NASCAR’s rules. Busch was parked for the remainder of the race. The damage done to the No. 33 car of Hornaday could not be repaired and most likely ended any chances of Hornaday winning the Truck Series championship. Before the race, he was only 15 points behind the leader, Austin Dillon. He is now 48 points back.

Mike Helton, President of NASCAR, held a press conference on Saturday morning where he announced the penalty.

“Following the event and after a good deal of conversation and discussion, NASCAR has decided to maintain that parked position on the driver of the 18 truck for the balance of the weekend,” Helton said. “So basically what that means is Kyle Busch will not be participating today or tomorrow in the NASCAR event here in Texas.”

Busch’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, decided to have Denny Hamlin fill in for the Nationwide Series race on Saturday and Michael McDowell to fill in for Sunday’s Cup race. Hamlin finished 2nd and McDowell finished 33rd.

Busch sent out a letter of apology Saturday night.

“I understand why I was taken out of the car for the rest of the weekend. NASCAR officials had to act, and I accept their punishment and take full responsibility for my actions,” Busch wrote.

On Monday, NASCAR additionally added penalties of a $50,000 fine and probation for the rest of the year.