Beyond the Flag
Fansided

NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Busch concerned about driver security

By Asher Fair

DARLINGTON, SC - AUGUST 31: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's White Chocolate Toyota, stands in the garage during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 31, 2018 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)
DARLINGTON, SC - AUGUST 31: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's White Chocolate Toyota, stands in the garage during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on August 31, 2018 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

2015 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has admitted that he is concerned about driver security following his recent run-in with a fan.

Following the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 18, a NASCAR Cup Series fan was not pleased with Kyle Busch and began to heckle him, leading to an altercation.

Busch left his golf cart to confront this fan and stayed in the fan’s face while the fan tried to back away. The fan then proceeded to shove the 2015 Cup Series champion before the two men were separated. After this, Busch returned to his golf cart and was driven away.

Here is a video of the altercation.

As a result of this incident, Busch has admitted that he is concerned about driver security moving forward and that he feels as though more needs to be done to improve it to prevent these kinds of altercations from taking place in the future.

Here is what Busch had to say about the matter when asked about it following practice at Darlington Raceway ahead of this Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, according to ESPN.

"“For me, yeah. I’m the No. 1 guy that needs security from anybody else here. I’ll admit it. [A fan incident] happened to Denny [Hamlin] at Martinsville, it happened to me at Bristol. How far are people going to go…to get their name in the news? It’s pathetic.“Some of the initiatives that we have come up with that we tried to implement didn’t really take hold because you don’t have enough security personnel that are trained at every racetrack to be able to cover the protocol.“The general public used to not walk through the area that drivers were allowed to go through. When they started opening that gate, I think it was two or three years ago, where the people blend in with the tunnel traffic and exit out the gate where the drivers go through the walkway area to go across [to the driver motor home lot]. Once that started happening, we all started getting back on the golf carts because there are supposed to stanchions [separating the fans from drivers]. That guy last week, he got through those stanchions.”"

More from NASCAR Cup Series

Busch is, of course, referring to the fact that he is one of the most disliked drivers if not the most disliked driver in the Cup Series by saying that he is the #1 driver who needs security from anybody else.

The incident to which Busch is referring by discussing Denny Hamlin took place last October in the round of 8 playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. With just over three laps to go, fan-favorite Chase Elliott looked to be on his way to winning his first career Cup Series race and securing a spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway because of it.

However, Hamlin spun him out, causing an upset fan to try to attack him in the pits after the race. Hamlin finished the race in seventh place after causing another accident in overtime after the incident involving him and Elliott. Neither driver ended up qualifying for the Championship 4.

Next. Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time. dark

Do you believe that driver security will be improved in the near future to prevent altercations like the one that happened two weeks ago involving Kyle Busch from happening again? Do you believe any more of these altercations will happen before the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season comes to an end?

Home/NASCAR Cup Series