NASCAR: Ranking The 10 Biggest Fights In NASCAR History
Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
In NASCAR drivers are stuck in their cars driving at speeds of 165+ MPH for hours at a time. Sometimes things go wrong and sometimes it leads to drivers being upset with other drivers.
With sport comes competition and with competition comes a full range of other emotions that sometimes boil over and can lead to a fight. One of the worst feelings in the world is when someone else ruins your day, this happens all of the time in the world of NASCAR.
Now think about that feeling when you believe that the person who ruined your day did it on purpose. That right there is a whole other level of emotion and it’s that emotion that often fuels a lot of the fight that we see in NASCAR.
Here is a look at the 10 biggest fights in NASCAR history, I am sure that longtime NASCAR fans will remember each and every one of these.
No. 10 – Greg Biffle and Jay Sauter (2011)
Greg Biffle gives Jay Sauter no time to think about what is going to happen in this altercation. Biffle is out of his car and delivering a “Superman” like punch before you can even blink. The sheer greatness in the form of his punch got him onto this list.
Sometimes in a fight the greatness comes from the person who threw the punch first and that’s the case here. Poor Sauter is just chilling in his car, maybe he knew the punch was coming, maybe he didn’t. Either way Biffle really unloaded on him.
And to think some people say that Biffle is soft.
No. 9 – Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch (2003)
The Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch feud was about two years in the making. The feud came to a head in 2003 when Spencer went after Busch in the garage area and connected with a few punches.
Spencer wound up being suspended for a race by NASCAR and the local authorities were even called to investigate. The footage of the fight is not available but here is a nice summary of the feud that led up to that fight.
Busch has since toned down his perceived bad-boy image. This fight and this feud happened at the height of what some would consider a dark time in the NASCAR career of Busch. Since joining SHR Busch has been a model citizen on the track.
No. 8 – Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle (2002)
Kevin Harvick channeled his inner WWE Superstar when he confronted Greg Biffle after this race at Bristol. After stalking and waiting for his moment Harvick attacked by coming over the top of a car, pretty impressive.
What’s even more impressive is the fact that nobody was able to stop Harvick from making his move. It had to be clear down there on pit road that Harvick was going to do something and while scaling a car is not the easiest thing to defend, Harvick isn’t Spider-Man.
Again, I go back to Biffle being considered soft by some fans, he has now been on this list twice, just saying.
No. 7 – Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton (2010)
Jeff Gordon walked a long way to get to Jeff Burton and by the time he got there he had nothing to say. The interesting part of all of this was that after they trade blows NASCAR makes them get into the same ambulance to go to the infield care center. I wonder what that ambulance ride was like.
I also wonder what was going through Gordon’s mind on that long walk to Burton. Is he getting more and more upset with each step? Or, does Gordon have to keep replaying the incident over and over in his head to keep himself hyped for the confrontation that he is walking towards.
Regardless, the ambulance ride was the most interesting part of all of this, I dare say it might have been a pretty quiet ride.
No. 6 – Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose (2014)
The cool thing about this fight was that it came out of nowhere. NASCAR was simply doing its post-race coverage and they more or less stumbled upon this confrontation. Next thing you know there is shoving and then Ambrose lands the hook square to the face of Mears.
Did Ambrose and Mears intend to trade blows? I would guess not as it appeared to start off as a conversation that became heated quickly.
In the end Ambrose was the one who ended it with a Aussie-sized hook that any Australian boxer would surely be proud of.
No. 5 – Tony Stewart and Joey Logano (2013)
Whenever Tony Stewart is involved you know you are going to get a great quote and this time was no different. Logano on the other hand was doing his best to stay collected after the confrontation.
Can you imagine a kid like Joey Logano coming to blows with someone like Stewart? I am sure Logano was just trying to run for his life and get out of there because Stewart looks like a guy who could easily beat down Logano.
The interviews after the brawl made it clear who the winner of the fight was just in case you’re not sure after watching it yourself.
No. 4 – Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski (2014)
Before Matt Kenseth went after Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin tried to get himself a piece. Before any of that happened Tony Stewart pancaked the front end of the No. 2 car after Keselowski accidentally made contact with him. It was a rough night for Keselowski that is for sure.
Can you imagine was Keselowski is thinking as he walks between the haulers after getting hit by Smoke on the track and almost coming to blows with Hamlin on pit road.
Then after all of that, Kenseth goes backstage-WWE on Kes and jumps him in between the haulers. I am not saying Keselowski didn’t deserve it or that Kenseth was right or wrong for doing what he did. All I am saying is that there is no way Kes saw this coming after avoiding what he did with the other two drivers just moments before.
No. 3 – Darrell Waltrip’s team vs. Rusty Wallace’s team (1989)
The entire infield ended up in a fight when this one was all over. There was a lot of passion and anger in the garage area on this day and that is putting it mildly.
This right here is what we call a NASCAR brawl.
Sometimes in these fights you get two drivers going at it and other times you might get a couple of guys involved in the commotion. However, it’s rare to see as many people involved in a fight as there were on this day in 1989.
So, who do you think won the brawl?
No. 2 – Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer (2013)
This fight was pretty epic even though the ones involved in the on-track business never touched each other. After Gordon took out Bowyer in response to Bowyer taking out Gordon, Gordon was mobbed by Bowyer’s crew in the garage area. Moments later Bowyer sprinted through the garage area to find Gordon.
The scene of Bowyer running full-tilt through the garage area to get to Gordon is one of the greatest things in the history of NASCAR fights. There is a lot of anger in a man that after racing for as long as he did that day, he is going to full-charge sprint to get to another man so that he can inflict some kind of punishment.
The only bad thing here was that the two drivers never got to each other, or maybe in the end that’s actually a good thing.
No. 1 – Allison’s and Cale Yarborough (1979)
This was the first race that was nationally televised flag to flag and it might be the most famous fight in NASCAR history. It also happens to be the No. 1 fight in our top-10.
NASCAR being televised flag-to-flag helped put the sport on the map and this fight helped thrust the sport into the mainstream as it was something that was talked about for weeks and months after the race. When it comes to fights in the world of Motorsports, it truly doesn’t get at more iconic than this one.
Be sure to comment below to let us know what you thought of the countdown and which NASCAR fight you think should be on the top of the list!
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