Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has developed a bit of a notoriety over the course of his career. Who can forget his dust-up with Kyle Busch at the 2024 All-Star race? The duo were seen aggressively arguing after the race before Stenhouse Jr. swung a right hook and connected with Busch’s face. So while entering the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray, known for its nature of causing wrecks and fights, the spotlight was on Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
To no one’s surprise, Stenhouse Jr. was in the thick of it all yet again. However, this time, he messed with the wrong driver. During the Last Chance Qualifier, he punted rival Burt Myers, sending him across the infield to the outside wall. Now, under normal circumstances, people would just dismiss it as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. being himself. Sadly for the #47 driver, Myers is a Bowman Gray legend, with 11 modified championships on the track and a family legacy of drivers who have amassed countless wins. It’s safe to say, the crowd didn’t appreciate this.
Burt Myers is also the youngest Bowman Gray Stadium champion in history. Stenhouse Jr. punting him out was as bad as someone crashing into Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, in front of his home crowd. Dissecting this incident on the Door Bumper Clear podcast with Ryan Blaney, Freddie Kraft shared a hilarious story that led up to the incident.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. might have jinxed himself
Freddie Kraft, Bubba Wallace’s spotter, told Door Bumper Clear, “The funny thing about Stenhouse for me was. We were right before the Clash, he was over by Bubba [Wallace], we were hanging out and talking. I said, ‘What you got planned here?’ ’cause he was starting deep. He’s like, ‘Man! I just want to not have any damage on my race car. Not p–s anybody off, just get the hell out of here.’ Then you got 15,000-30,000 people flipping you off by the time it’s over.”
The crowd did not take lightly Stenhouse Jr. ending Burt Myers’ race. The Stadium echoed with boos and rowdy fans flipping the bird towards the Hyak Motorsports #47. Although Myers said “I shoved him out, but I was getting shoved from behind, just like everybody else was, and ended up getting turned around,” admitting that it wasn’t entirely Stenhouse Jr.’s fault, the crowd didn’t care one bit.
Ryan Blaney had a similar thought process and was trying to avoid clashing with the local heroes. “My main thing going into Bowman Gray was, don’t touch Burt, don’t touch Tim Brown,” said Blaney. Tim Brown is another Bowman Gray legend with 101 wins in the modified division at ‘The Madhouse’. Brown was asked before the race how many fights he has been in and he said “Ten”. When asked how many he won, he replied, “All of them.” So Stenhouse Jr. is lucky he didn’t wreck the other Bowman Gray legend.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Image Credits: Imago
In the end, karmic justice bit Stenhouse Jr. because he also failed to make it past the Last Chance Qualifier. At the end of the day, all of his aggressive stunts were for nothing, so the Bowman Gray fans were probably a little happy.
NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft was hoping for fireworks
In the end, Freddie Kraft only had one regret about the ordeal, that there was no post-race confrontation. As it turns out, the track is nicknamed the ‘Madhouse’, owing to so many crazy antics during the races. So could anyone blame Freddie Kraft for wanting to see Burt Myers lose his cool at Stenhouse Jr.? In his words, “The only thing that would’ve been better, is if Burt went full ‘Madhouse’ and f–king ran across the football field and jumped on the hood.”
As it happened, he was not alone in his line of thinking. Even Ryan Blaney seriously wondered if Myers would see red and do it. He said, “I thought he was going to, for a second. Cause I was watching it, I was parked at the time. I’m watching it in 3 and 4… I couldn’t see Burt because he was in 1 and 2. I was watching the monitor. He stepped towards the ambulance, stepped away from it, started walking like, ‘Oh boy! Here we go!’ Then he went to another ambulance.” Ryan Blaney jokingly let out a disappointed sigh when he saw Burt choose not to retaliate. However, for Burt Myers, this was much more than just a race.
Myers was making his Cup Series debut at a track that his family has called home for generations. Despite the outcome, Myers was grateful that he got this opportunity. The veteran said before the Clash, “I never thought I’d be making my first ever Cup start at 49 years old.” Ultimately, Myers achieved his dream and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. copped loads of abuse from a raging stadium that wanted to celebrate their champion.
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