NASCAR's preliminary investigation into
the post-race fight between Richard Childress and Kyle Busch has provisionally concluded that the fault for the "unacceptable" incident lies entirely with Childress.
NASCAR released an official statement on the incident that read:
NASCAR has reviewed the incident involving Richard Childress and Kyle Busch after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday at Kansas Speedway. We have met with all parties involved and have determined what happened yesterday is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by NASCAR.
Richard Childress's actions were not appropriate and fell far short of the standard we expect of owners in this sport. We have met with Childress this morning and made our position very clear to him. Further, we expect he will make it clear to all in his organization to ensure this situation does not escalate any further. We will announce our actions regarding this incident Monday.
Kyle Busch remains on probation with NASCAR and we continue to watch his actions carefully. However, we have determined that Kyle's involvement in this incident does not violate his probation and no further action is required.
NASCAR decided against immediately ejecting Richard Childress from Kansas Speedway, on the grounds that there was no one else from RCR senior management on hand to take over the team's operations for the Sunday Sprint Cup race.
"[Ejecting Childress] was considered in this case," admitted
NASCAR president Mike Helton. "What will happen today is that Richard will operate as the owner of Richard Childress Racing with some restrictions attached to it as to where he may go or not go.
"We decided to let Richard stay because there does need to be leadership of an organization, which historically we rely on crew chiefs, but since both organizations have multiple teams and we decided that it would be better if there was an authority from the team and there's not a second-level authority present this weekend for his organization. Joe Gibbs is here from Joe Gibbs Racing and we chose to allow Richard to participate today."
It's thought that Childress may be restricted to the team's hauler and not allowed into the pit lane or garage area for the remainder of the weekend, but when asked Helton said that the restrictions for today will be "territorial" and that the details are being worked out.
NASCAR are clearly concerned that simmering hostilities between the RCR and JGR camps may explode again into open confrontation and retaliation during the afternoon Cup race.