NASCAR

NASCAR owner Richard Childress reportedly fights Kyle Busch

It's high time for NASCAR lawmakers to pin on their sheriff's badges and distribute a little justice, especially after Saturday's Fistfight at the OK Garage stretched "Boys, have at it" to the extreme.


Frustrations can sometimes boil over at this level of racing. In less than a year, we've seen Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton square off at Texas, Ryan Newman reportedly punch Juan Montoya in the Cup hauler and Kevin Harvick try to toss a right hook through the window net at Kyle Busch after Darlington.


But when 65-year-old car owner Richard Childress decides to take matters into his own fists against 26-year-old Busch in the Truck Series garage, it's obvious NASCAR needs to step in. Because without saying it directly, Childress' actions show implicitly he doesn't believe the sanctioning body's policymakers are policing the sport correctly right now.


That means it's up to NASCAR president Mike Helton and the rest to show they're still in charge instead of handing out fines that are pocket change to today's millionaires and idle threats through probation that obviously don't act as any deterrent at all.


"I think that throughout the history of NASCAR we've gone through cycles of everything, including tempers in the garage area and on the race track," NASCAR president Mike Helton said Sunday morning. "I think our responsibility lies in reacting to those trends and if it is a trend we feel escalates, we have a history of stepping in and turning those trends around."


NASCAR absolved Busch of any wrongdoing in this case, but whatever his actions on the track toward RCR driver Joey Coulter after the checkered flag, they certainly got Childress' attention. And when a post-race garage area incident -- without video, audio or even quoted sources -- gets more airplay than a pair of thrilling race finishes at Kansas and Chicagoland, the cart is pulling the horse.


Sure, the idea of Childress handing his watch to his grandkid and putting Busch in a headlock elicits some giggles and smart-aleck comments, like "beating around the Busch" and "Grandpa trimming the Shrub." But once you get away from the humorousness of the moment, it's a dangerous precedent for a sport that quite often struggles with credibility issues.


Childress has been a team owner for four decades, and won six stock-car championships with the late Dale Earnhardt, the sport's iconic "Intimidator." His current drivers are Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Paul Menard.


Childress' frustration with Busch also might have stemmed from an incident last month when Harvick and Busch tangled after the race in Darlington, S.C., in which Harvick threw a punch into Busch's window on pit road and Busch responded by using his car to push Harvick's car out of the way.


Both drivers were placed on probation until June 15, but NASCAR said Sunday that Busch's involvement in the incident with Childress did not violate his probation "and no further action is required."


NASCAR last year introduced the "Boys, have at it" philosophy whereby drivers were given more leeway to be aggressive and show emotion without fear of penalties. But drivers still have been penalized in some cases for what NASCAR deemed egregious behavior.