The Busch/Spencer fued has boiled over. I think NASCAR realizes that. I think had Spencer crashed, they would have suspended Busch for a race, much like they did Harvick when he boiled over. They see trends and they stop them when they've gotten out of hand. And that's what they did with Spencer. He got out of hand and they've punished it for him. Personally, I think the punishments fit:

Spencer caused bodily harm (I read somewhere that it could take up to 3 months for all the damage to be repaired because Busch recently had surgery for a deviated septum) and was suspended for 1 race, fined, and place on probation.

Busch caused minor cosmetic damage and was placed on probation (in essense saying, "If you do it again, you're going to be suspended/fined.").

I think NASCAR would have opened a huge can of worms if they had suspended or fined Busch. At that point, they would have to look at each and every bump, we're not even talking crashes here, and determine if it was purposeful or not. And if it was, then they would have to slap a suspension/fine on the driver doing the bumping. That's when it just gets ridiculous. Every time Jeff Gordon taps Rusty Wallace (or vice versa), that's a fine and a suspension. Every time Dale Junior taps someone he got mad at on the track, that's a fine and a suspension.

The problem is that there's some media folks who want to make this a much bigger story than it is. "Oh, Kurt Busch said on the radio he wanted to damage Spencer's car. Oh no! We can't have that! We have to write a story!" So what? Who cares what Busch said? Why not base things on what he did? I can't believe I'm actually defending Busch, but I think some people are out for him just a tad too much. The guy did nothing, I repeat nothing, more than countless other drivers on countless other weekends. The only difference is that people don't like Busch, so they want to see punishment for him. Yeah, that's the way to run a fair sport. Start punishing people based on fan opinion.

As for Tony Stewart's comments, it's kind of hard to listen to a guy who was mandated by NASCAR to take anger management classes talk about anger management. But he is right in that NASCAR is telling the drivers to settle the score on the track. However, and this is a big however, NASCAR is also telling them to not get out of hand with the score settling. Again, remember Harvick? And I think this is fine. They let the drivers deal with it themselves (Think: fighting in hockey) and then they step in when it goes over the line (Think: McSorley in hockey). It happens in most major sports. Even baseball allows it to a certain extent (at least they did until they decided to baby the hitters).

You seem to think that NASCAR either has to be the "No Touch Series" or "WWE on Wheels" and I think there's a middle ground there that can exist to keep the fans excited, but not make them think the series is the equivalent of a Saturday night demolition derby with boxing matches in the garage area afterwards or make them think the series is just a bunch of guys driving in circles and being Ms. Manners to each other.

As for the safety of drivers, I'm not being cavalier any more than those bringing up the potential for Jimmy Spencer's death are being melodramatic. There is obviously a middle ground (somehow, this middle ground concept seems to be getting lost across many topics here) where yes, Jimmy Spencer's life was in danger, but no, it was not really in any more danger than it normally is. These drivers race at high speeds week in and week out. That alone is dangerous and life-threatening.

The point of all this is that we can speculate forever, but it's just speculation. The fact is that a) Jimmy Spencer did not crash and b) Jimmy Spencer is alive and well and c) Kurt Busch, despite what his intentions may have been did not do any significant damage to Spencer's car. And you guy's think he deserves more than probation for this? Geez, I hope you're never on my jury if I get arrested for saying, "I want to punch that guy SO bad" and then don't do anything about it.

Lastly, yes, you're being overdramatic with regards to Earnhardt and Nadeau. First, Earnhardt died in an accident (nothing intentional) as a result of a number of freak circumstances, a lot of which might have been avoided with the current closed-helmet and head/neck restraints setups in place. In other words, comparing a current day situation to a situation at the start of 2001 is night and day.

With regards to Nadeau, last I heard he was alive and doing quite well after a lengthy hospital stay. Also, the last I heard, his accident was a single-car accident that happened during practice. I'm not sure what relevance this has on the Spencer/Busch incident. Or are we just going to bring up every accident that ever injured a NASCAR driver in every form of racing?

As for the bumping and punishment, the fact remains that the results of Busch's and Spencer's actions were far from similar. Thankfully, NASCAR saw this and didn't paint both drivers with the same brush, as you seem intent on doing. You seem intent on ignoring the middle ground where Spencer gets suspended for his actions and their results and Busch gets put on probation for his comments and lack of results.

Personally, I just don't see how punching a guy in the face and causing damage that will take months to fully recover from is the same as bumping another car on the track with nothing but cosmetic damage to the bumped car. Sure Busch said he wanted to do more, but the fact is that he didn't and I can't see punishing someone beyond probation for something they didn't do, regardless of if they attempted to or not. And punching someone in the face surely deserves more than a stern warning. But that's just me.

Unintentional bump: No penalty (like normal)

Intentional bump: Probation

"Like I said before, by issuing these differing penalties, NASCAR has just told all of their drivers that if you want to settle the score, do it on the racetrack, not off of it. Sure drivers have always done it on the track as well as off the track, but NASCAR has just taken away the less dangerous of the two avenues of evening things up." To an extent, I see this, but also realize that Spencer didn't just confront Busch or bump his car in the garage area. He punched what was essentially a defenseless driver. Surely this is a bit beyond NASCAR saying, "settle it on the track." To me, they're saying they won't put up with what amounts to a criminal act.

Further, I see the whole response as NASCAR saying if you intentionally bump someone, you can expect probation. If you intentionally crash someone, especially if there is a history of agressive driving and/or a boiling fued, you can expect suspension, like Harvick. What happens if Busch intentionally bumps another driver with no end result? Personally, I think he should be suspended for a race for agressive driving. Warn a driver once for agressive driving, then sit him. THAT, I can agree with.

1. He has a history in this department. A history that NASCAR needs to show it's not going to put up with. They need to set an example before they become the NWF (NASCAR Wrestling Federation). It's obvious his crew, crew chief, and owner can't get through to him, so maybe sitting him out will straighten him out for another year like it did last time.

2. Harvick had no business even being on pit road. This shows that he's out of control, literally. He made a purposeful move to go down pit road instead of to the garage like everyone else. Again, his crew, crew chief, and owner can't control him. They said, "Don't do anything stupid," on the radio and that was it. Sorry, but I think they, particularly Richard Childress, could have said/done more.

I agree that I'm far more interested in what happens to Rudd and his crew. I think Rudd was "just racin'" and had absolutely no intentions of crashing him. It was much like Burton/R.Gordon (BTW, what is it with RCR and hot-head drivers lately?) where Burton said it was his fault and just one of those things. Rudd said Harvick got into the brakes early and he tried to check up, but couldn't in time. From a veteran like Rudd, I have no doubt that's exactly what happened.

The only thing I could potentially see for Rudd and his crew are fines for the post-race incident AFTER Harvick and his crew damaged Rudd's car. I know they probably got into the "we're going to protect our car and driver" mode, and rightfully so, but that might be the only potential set of actions that NASCAR could fine them for. And even that I would have a hard time understanding.

Kurt Busch: No consensus

Jimmy Spencer: Should have been suspended

Kevin Harvick: Should have been suspended

Ricky Rudd: No punishment

The reason I find this interesting is that Busch and Rudd got into trouble on the track while Spencer and Harvick got into trouble off the track. It seems, despite what we all may be saying, that the general consensus is to leave the fighting on the track.

What I would like to see is, if a driver crashes the car in front of him as a result of physical contact between the cars then the bumping driver gets black flagged for a lap. Just like the "yellow line" rule, if the driver in back had no choice (like spinning tires, the car in front getting loose, he was sabotaged, etc.) then NASCAR would just ignore the incident.

I've thought about this a bit and actually think it could work. Here's why:

1. You keep the bumpin' and bangin' that we all know the fans love. You couldn't even have a race at Bristol or RIR if the rule did not allow contact of some sort. Plus, stuff like Kurt Busch becomes a non-issue, like I think it should. Only the times where there is an actual crash does the rule go into effect.

2. You keep aero-loose as part of racing. I think this is just like bumpin' and bangin' and needs to stay. I have no problem if a driver takes another driver's air and gets him loose. That's just physics and there really would be no way to regulate it anyhow.

3. You're telling the driver in back to watch himself. He can go bump and bang if he likes, but he better hope the driver in front doesn't crash. Kurt Busch probably wouldn't have tried to hit Spencer if this rule were in effect. I doubt he would want to risk a good run.

4. You prevent the driver in front from sabotaging the driver in back. Why? Because the driver in front would have to crash in order to get the driver in back black flagged. Who would want to do that?