Charlotte.com reported tonight that Kurt Busch has been fired by Penske Racing following an obscenity-laced tirade in the season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
In that race, Busch broke a transmission early on and afterwards yelled at ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, who was waiting to interview Busch. “Can you get this motherf----r out of my face?” Busch said when Punch attempted to ask him a question. Punch later left after more obscenities were directed towards him. Busch subsequently was fined $50,000 by NASCAR for his actions.
Charlotte.com reported the formal announcement will come Monday. E-mails placed to Penske Racing Sunday night by SPEED.com were not immediately returned.
Homestead merely was the latest in a long list of controversies this season for Busch, who blew up at his crew and former Penske engineer Tom German at Richmond in May, in another obscenity heavy tirade on the team radio.
“I'm sorry, our day was done when Tom German decided he was in charge,” Busch told his team on the radio.
At Richmond in September, Busch had to be physically restrained from going after NASCAR.com reporter Joe Menzer, who asked Busch about an on-track incident with Jimmie Johnson. In his post-race interview a few minutes later, he had another angry confrontation, this one with Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer. At that time, Busch walked over to Fryer and tore up a transcript of a prior interview.
Busch has had other incidents in his past. In 2005, while he was the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, he was fired by Jack Roush following a traffic stop outside Phoenix International Raceway.
According to the police report filed after the incident, Busch told the police, “You guys are a joke, punks. Aren't you supposed to be directing traffic somewhere?”
Among the other statements Busch made during the stop, according to the police report: “You're only doing this because you're a Jeff Gordon fan,” and when asked to take a sobriety test, “I'm not doing this gay-ass test.” Busch eventually pled the case down to a misdemeanor traffic offense, after agreeing to a hefty donation for youth athletic equipment in the Phoenix area.
In 2002 at Michigan International Speedway, Busch had a confrontation with Jimmy Spencer, during which Busch allegedly told Spencer, “I’ll f--k up your family.” Spencer, who was walking away at the time, walked back to Busch’s car and backhanded him across the face, breaking his nose.
At Daytona in Feb. 2008, Tony Stewart and Busch were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after contact during practice for the Budweiser Shootout. During that meeting, Stewart allegedly punched Busch after Busch called Stewart fat and made remarks about Stewart’s haircut.
In that race, Busch broke a transmission early on and afterwards yelled at ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, who was waiting to interview Busch. “Can you get this motherf----r out of my face?” Busch said when Punch attempted to ask him a question. Punch later left after more obscenities were directed towards him. Busch subsequently was fined $50,000 by NASCAR for his actions.
Charlotte.com reported the formal announcement will come Monday. E-mails placed to Penske Racing Sunday night by SPEED.com were not immediately returned.
Homestead merely was the latest in a long list of controversies this season for Busch, who blew up at his crew and former Penske engineer Tom German at Richmond in May, in another obscenity heavy tirade on the team radio.
“I'm sorry, our day was done when Tom German decided he was in charge,” Busch told his team on the radio.
At Richmond in September, Busch had to be physically restrained from going after NASCAR.com reporter Joe Menzer, who asked Busch about an on-track incident with Jimmie Johnson. In his post-race interview a few minutes later, he had another angry confrontation, this one with Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer. At that time, Busch walked over to Fryer and tore up a transcript of a prior interview.
Busch has had other incidents in his past. In 2005, while he was the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, he was fired by Jack Roush following a traffic stop outside Phoenix International Raceway.
According to the police report filed after the incident, Busch told the police, “You guys are a joke, punks. Aren't you supposed to be directing traffic somewhere?”
Among the other statements Busch made during the stop, according to the police report: “You're only doing this because you're a Jeff Gordon fan,” and when asked to take a sobriety test, “I'm not doing this gay-ass test.” Busch eventually pled the case down to a misdemeanor traffic offense, after agreeing to a hefty donation for youth athletic equipment in the Phoenix area.
In 2002 at Michigan International Speedway, Busch had a confrontation with Jimmy Spencer, during which Busch allegedly told Spencer, “I’ll f--k up your family.” Spencer, who was walking away at the time, walked back to Busch’s car and backhanded him across the face, breaking his nose.
At Daytona in Feb. 2008, Tony Stewart and Busch were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after contact during practice for the Budweiser Shootout. During that meeting, Stewart allegedly punched Busch after Busch called Stewart fat and made remarks about Stewart’s haircut.
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