Ryan Newman says Kurt Busch 'blew a fuse again'
By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY
DARLINGTON, S.C. NASCAR is reviewing a postrace scuffle between the crews of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch that left a Sprint Cup official splayed across the hood of Busch's Chevrolet.
The official had interceded in the shoving match and was trying to restrain Andy Rueger, the gas man for Newman's No. 39 Chevrolet of Stewart-Haas Racing. Video showed that Rueger lunged toward a Phoenix Racing crewmember, and the official fell backward.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the sanctioning body was looking at film of the incident and had talked to Ryan Newman, Rueger and Tony Gibson, Newman's crew chief.
"We're getting all the facts straight," Pemberton said. "Nobody said anything other than (the official) fell back on the hood. We didn't see anything aggressive toward one of our officials. There was a lot of people trying to occupy the same space."
Asked if punishment was forthcoming, Pemberton said NASCAR likely wouldn't know for a few days. Penalties usually are announced the Tuesday or Wednesday following a race.
The fracas began after Busch ran into Newman on pit road after the race. Busch was unavailable for comment after the race, but Newman told NASCAR what Busch told him was his side of the story.
"Ryan (said) Kurt said he didn't mean to hit him and was taking his helmet off, looked up and run in the back of him," Pemberton said.
In an interview with SI.com, Newman indicated he wasn't buying that explanation. Newman and his team also were upset with Busch because they said he had peeled through their pit at an unsafe speed on his last pit stop after crashing late in the race.
"It's easy to say that Kurt blew a fuse again," Newman told SI.com. "I'm not sure why he did it and tried to run over our guys and NASCAR officials. And nobody is. I think the chemical imbalance speaks for itself. Kurt drilled me in pit lane and said that he was taking his helmet off, and he didn't see where he was going. I'm pretty sure there were 42 other guys that are taking their helmets off and doing whatever for the last 10 years, and that's the first time that's happened to me.
"Circumstances I think are that he lied and was so frustrated that he doesn't know how to deal with his anger."
Tony Gibson, the crew chief for Newman, said several of his crewmembers had to jump aside to avoid being hit when Busch left the pits.
"Our guys were scared, hot and mad," Gibson said. "NASCAR sat and talked with them. They're going to handle everything. We have to keep our cool, stay focused and go on."
Gibson said the team had no qualms with James Finch's Phoenix Racing, which is a customer of Hendrick Motorsports chassis and engines just like Stewart-Haas is.
"Got nothing against Finch's bunch; we're friends with those guys," Gibson said. "We've worked with them. Can't do nothing about a driver.
"It's dangerous enough doing normal pit stops. When you come ripping through someone's pit box like that, (Busch) could have took out five or six guys, plus the officials, pretty easy. I don't know how someone didn't get run over. It's a miracle no one got hit."
Nick Harrison, the crew chief for Busch, said he could tell Newman's crewmembers were angry after "Kurt burned out of our pit stall" and was expecting postrace retribution.
"We were really just trying to finish the race," Harrison said. "The gas man come in wanting to fight Kurt, raising hell. I'm just trying to call the race and not worry about everyone's drama on pit road. After the race, the boys wanted to come down and raise Cain with Kurt, and that's what they did."
Harrison said Busch had said he was "plenty clear" of the crewmembers while leaving the pits.
"That's between them and Kurt," Harrison said. "As far as on-track racing, I don't know there's any hard feelings with (Newman's team) and us. We were trying to finish our day the best we could with our bad luck. They come down there with a bunch of drama.
"I think that's just great for our sport. If they're mad and want to fight, so be it. We're here racing with Kurt Busch. We're going to defend Kurt Busch, and that's our job. You go racing in any part of America, and you don't back your driver up, you don't deserve to be there with that driver."
Harrison said no punches were thrown in the altercation.
"Just one of those deals when people get bunched up, someone fell down," he said. "A lot of mouthing. Just frustration getting took out. It's Cup racing at its best. If people didn't get mad and didn't care, they wouldn't come here."
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