Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick Fined by NASCAR for On-Track Confrontation

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were both punished by NASCAR Tuesday for a serious confrontation on the track that took place during Saturday's Cup race at Darlington, fining both drivers and placing them on probation. Darlington Raceway seemed like it was about to turn into a demolition derby toward the end of the race, and NASCAR ended up making a decision that most analysts felt was well deserved.

According to ESPN, both Busch and Harvick received $25,000 fines and were placed on probation for the next four weeks. Both racers will have to be on their best behavior until June 15, and it will apply to all three of the NASCAR series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck). The punishment comes on the heels of two significant confrontations, one during the race and one after the race, which took place Saturday.

With the pair already on bad terms with each other, Busch clipped the back of Harvick's car on a straightaway with about five laps to go. It sent Harvick into the wall, narrowly missing about a dozen other cars that were on the track at the time. There is debate about whether it was an intentional "nudging" or not, but that incident might not have led to any punishment from NASCAR if it ended right there.

As the drivers were exiting the track at the end of the race, it seemed like Busch was trying to avoid confrontation by keeping his car on the track while Harvick went into the pits. At the last instant, Harvick zipped back on to the track and pulled up beside Busch. It was then that Busch tried to put his car in reverse and get out of the way, but Harvick wasn't going to let him. Busch damaged his transmission, breaking the reverse gear that wouldn't allow him to back up any further.

Harvick backed his car into the front of Busch's and got out to confront him, but Busch didn't want anything to do with it. With no reverse, he decided to use his car to push Harvick's unmanned car out of the way and into the retaining wall. This final action was what forced NASCAR to step in; someone could have potentially been hurt by a driver-less car getting shoved down pit row. It was lucky that nobody did get hurt, and, rather than picking sides, NASCAR just decided to punish both drivers.

It's probably a god thing that neither driver was docked any points for his actions, but Busch and Harvick really need to heed this final warning. That will require some very clean driving over the next few weeks, and should make for an interesting sub-story for race analysts to talk about for some time.

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