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    • After getting a reprieve from NASCAR, Kyle Busch's good fortune quickly disappeared after he was caught in a crash just laps after he had a pit road penalty rescinded during Saturday night's race at Richmond.

      When the caution flag flew for oil on the track from Travis Kvapil's blown engine on lap 309, the yellow presented a dilemma for many cars on the lead lap. It had been just 11 laps since the previous caution (for Kvapil hitting the wall), and the entire field had been to pit road then. Do you stay out and gain track position or do you come into the pits for more fresh tires?

      Busch made the decision to come to pit road, and in an attempt to not show the team's choice too early, Busch made a late dive to pit road. A dive that initially was viewed as too late by NASCAR officials. That meant instead of restarting sixth, Busch would restart in 26th, the last car on the lead lap.

      The entrance to pit road at the 3/4 mile oval is on the apron of turn four, and the close proximity means that

      Read More »from Craziest Moment: Kyle Busch’s pit road penalty gets rescinded and then he gets caught in a crash
    • Unhappy with contact from Kurt Busch late in Saturday night's Toyota Owners 400, Tony Stewart and Busch rubbed doors down the backstretch on the cool-down lap and exchanged shouts over Busch's car after they emerged from their vehicles at their haulers.

      But unlike Friday night, the disagreement on the cool-down lap didn't lead to any (low) blows.

      Stewart restarted fifth after taking two tires on pit road while Busch restarted 10th on four fresh tires. On the penultimate lap, Busch made contact with Stewart's rear bumper, contact that sent Stewart up the racetrack and out of the groove.

      "You cold just tell. Green-white-checker, everybody's going to put on tires, some guys were going to do two, some guys stayed out, and it's just a free-for-all," Busch said. "There's rubber buildup in the outside groove, there's cars sliding up with old tires, so I don't know what the 14's upset about. I got hit from behind, I got hit from every which way, so did he."

      Stewart, who left the track without

      Read More »from Tony Stewart unhappy with Kurt Busch after late race contact
    • Kevin Harvick celebrates in victory lane. (Getty)

      Kevin Harvick darted from seventh to the lead in less than a lap and pulled away for the win in Saturday night's Toyota Owners 400 after a frenetic green-white-checker restart.

      Before the caution flag flew with six laps to go, Harvick found himself chasing Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead in the Toyota Owners 400. While Harvick had done well on fresher tires to close the gap between himself and Montoya, his chances of getting close enough to make a move for the win dwindled with every lap.

      When Brian Vickers crashed to bring out that yellow flag, Harvick had his chance to pounce. It just ended up being a little more complicated than originally anticipated.

      He and Montoya, along with most of the rest of the race's lead cars, dove to pit road to take fresh tires, and the two of them were the first drivers off pit road with four tires. However, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and AJ Allmendinger stayed out and Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart took two tires.

      That put Harvick fourth on the inside line

      Read More »from Kevin Harvick charges from seventh during green-white-checker finish to win at Richmond
    • What happened on pit road between Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Scott. (Getty)

      The dispute between the teams of Nelson Piquet Jr. and Brian Scott wasn't settled on pit road after Friday night's Nationwide race.

      Two crewmembers from Scott's No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team were arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault charges after an altercation in the driver/owner lot at Richmond International Raceway Friday night.

      According to the Sporting News, the fight involved Piquet, who was uninjured, though a person did sustain a shoulder injury.. After the two made contact on the track, Piquet kicked Scott in the groin on pit road following the race when Scott confronted Piquet.

      From the Sporting News:

      Michael Searce, listed on the RCR website as a mechanic on the Scott team, was arrested on two charges of misdemeanor assault. Thomas Costello, an interior specialist for Scott, was arrested on one count of misdemeanor assault, according to Lt. Linda Toney of the Henrico County Police.

      Searce, 50, and Costello, 35, were released following booking, according to Toney.

      Read More »from Two RCR crewmembers arrested after Nationwide Series race
    • Do we now have a new go-to move to settle all pit road driver confrontations?

      Nelson Piquet and Brian Scott's on-track disagreement spilled over to pit road after Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Richmond when Scott got out of his car and approached Piquet. After the two talked helmet-to-helmet, brief pushes were exchanged before Piquet ended the physical confrontation with a kick towards Scott's lower body parts before crew members got between the two.

      [Also: Two RCR crewmembers arrested after post-race fight]

      How did we get to that point? Scott and Piquet made contact while racing for position in the top 20 during the waning laps of the race. After the race, Scott drove alongside Piquet to show his displeasure and as the two approached pit road on the cool-down lap, Piquet turned Scott into the inside wall.

      "This isn't a just this race deal," Scott said. "He's got an issue with me from I don't know when and he runs into me every week and I've kind of had it. A little part of me

      Read More »from Nelson Piquet kicks Brian Scott below the waist after Richmond Nationwide race
    • Matt Kenseth and Jason Ratcliff (Getty Images)

      Uhh, take that NASCAR?

      In an ultimate bit of irony, Matt Kenseth won the pole for Saturday night's Toyota Owner's 400, doing so just two days after NASCAR slammed him and his team with a massive 50-point penalty and a monster $200,000 fine when Kenseth's engine failed inspection following his win at Kansas.

      Thursday, Kenseth called the sanctions "grossly unfair," and Lee White, president of Toyota Development and Research, took full responsibility for the issue, saying it was their fault – not Joe Gibbs Racing – that a connecting rod in the engine was too light.

      No matter for NASCAR, where there are no gray areas, only black and white. To be fair, it's impossible to judge intent, only outcomes, and in this case Kenseth did win a race with an unapproved part.

      Should JGR be held accountable for a mistake made by the engine manufacturer? Well, if not the team racing the engine, then who?

      Should the penalty have been so harsh considering it wasn't their mistake? If NASCAR starts down that road,

      Read More »from Sit on it, NASCAR, Kenseth wins Richmond pole
    • (Getty)You know the drill. Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

      You thought the penalty train in NASCAR was over didn't you? It keeps rolling. Johnny Sauter's 25 point penalty in the Camping World Truck Series seems like a pittance compared to the whopper that was laid down on Matt Kenseth.

      On Thursday, Kenseth said that the 50 point penalty and $200,000 fine and six-race suspension for crew chief Jason Ratcliff (among other penalties) was "grossly unfair. Do you agree with him? John leads off Happy Hour this week, and he was accurate in his prediction.

      Yikes! Matt Kenseth's race-winning engine failed inspection? This is going to be HUGE. I like Matt and hate to see him in trouble, but NASCAR will have to hand out some severe penalties. Considering the

      Read More »from Happy Hour: Matt Kenseth and his penalty
    • (Getty)Welcome to Warped Wednesday. On this, we'll put out the rush to judgment mat, go a little too far and have a little fun. Will it be funny? Sometimes. Will it be crazy and largely unbelievable? Probably. Will not everyone get it? Definitely.

      While the Sprint Cup Series garage's plans of fielding strictly stock cars for the rest of the season was squashed by the sanctioning body, there's a movement afoot to run pedal cars at this week's race at Richmond.

      Just like teams were fearing penalties after what happened to the Penske teams at Texas, they're now in panic mode about Matt Kenseth's engine penalty. Teams are fearing they will now have to be incredibly precise with their measurement, something they haven't had to worry about in the past. One source said that there was a team in the field on Sunday that ran an engine that was a whopping 15 grams too light. Can you imagine the penalty they would have received after a further inspection?

      So with a short track race coming up, pedal cars

      Read More »from Warped Wednesday: Are pedal cars the next step?
    • Denny Hamlin (R) confers with Brian Vickers. (Getty)

      Denny Hamlin will not make his return to the No. 11 at Richmond on Saturday night.

      Hamlin had expressed optimism at Kansas that he could be cleared to drive at his hometown track, but after conferring with doctors, the decision was made for Hamlin to wait at least another week before coming back.

      "Unfortunately I won't be racing this weekend at Richmond. It kills me to not be in the car for my team and sponsors but after long discussions with the doctors we have decided to wait on my return back to racing. Thanks to all of my fans who have sent encouraging messages over the last month. I'll be back in no time," Hamlin tweeted.

      After sustaining a compression fracture to his L1 vertebra in a last lap crash March 24 at California, Hamlin was initially diagnosed to be out of the car five races, a six-week span that penciled his return in at Darlington on May 11. However, Hamlin has said that the healing process is going well and has talked about his desire to at least start the May 5 race at

      Read More »from Denny Hamlin not returning to car at Richmond
    • Matt Kenseth (R) could be losing points and the services of Jason Ratcliff (L) for a while. (Getty)

      This is a big one. Matt Kenseth was penalized 50 points and crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended six races, among other penalties, after Kenseth's engine failed inspection after his win Sunday at Kansas Speedway

      "It is our understanding that one of the eight connecting rods on the engine was ruled too light," Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement. The team will appeal the penalty.

      "The No. 20 car was found to have violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-5.5.3 (E) (Only magnetic steel connecting rods with a minimum weight of 525.0 grams will be permitted; connecting rod failed to meet the minimum connecting rod weight) of the 2013 rule book," NASCAR said in a statement.

      In addition to losing 50 points, Kenseth will not receive the three bonus points for the win at the time of the Chase points reset if he makes the

      Read More »from Matt Kenseth loses 50 points and team penalized after Kansas engine fails inspection

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