Last season, Busch berated ESPN reporter Dr. Jerry Punch during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The tirade would ultimately lead to Busch’s release from Penske Racing. He also reportedly had run ins with the Associate Press’s Jenna Fryer and NASCAR.com’s Joe Menzer.

In the latest incident, Busch was asked by Sporting News reporter Bob Pockrass about his incident and discussion with Justin Allgaier after the 5-Hour Energy 200. Busch and Allgaier made contact, but there was no retaliation.

Busch responded:

[The probation] refrains me from beating the (expletive) out of you right now, because you ask me stupid questions. But since I’m on probation, I suppose that that’s improper to say as well.

Busch is on probation for doing a burnout in Ryan Newman’s pitbox after the Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway.

Update: NASCAR has suspended Kurt Busch until June 13th, meaning he will miss this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway. He will be eligible to return for the June 17 race at Michigan International Speedway. His probation, which was set to be lifted on July 25th, will now be extended until the end of the season.

The sanctioning body found that Busch violated Section 12-1 (Actions detrimental to stock car racing; violation of probation; verbal abuse to a media member) of the 2012 NASCAR Rule Book.

Busch said in a statement:

I accept NASCAR’s decision. I put them in a box, they had to take action and it’s my fault for putting them in this position. I apologize for the comments I made to Bob Pockrass.

Phoenix Racing owner James Finch indicated that Busch may not return to the team. He said he will sit down with Busch over the next few days to determine whether or not they will move forward together.

In the meantime, Finch is looking for a driver to replace Busch at Pocono. Brian Vickers is said to be a candidate. David Reutimann is also said to be in the mix, but he is slated to drive Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 10 in the race.

Update: James Finch, owner of Phoenix Racing, said that Kurt Busch would be retained, and would not be released, as some had hoped after his latest outburst. In a statement, Finch said:

We have met with Kurt. At the end of the day, we are racers so we’re going racing together with Kurt and the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. We know adjustments have to be made, but how we fix that is between Kurt and myself.

Related Stories

• Busch Fined, Placed On Probation For Darlington Incident
• Busch To Drive For Phoenix Racing In 2012
• Allmendinger To Drive Penske Racing’s No. 22 In 2012
• Richard Petty Motorsports Considering Kurt Busch?
• Busch Situation Proves That Sponsorship Drives NASCAR
• It’s Official: Busch, Penske Agree To Part Ways
• NASCAR Fines Kurt Busch For Actions At Homestead

Shaving weight off of the body panels could reduce the weight of the car by up to 75 pounds. If that weight is added back to the bottom of the car in the form of lead weights, it could help the car turn in the corner.

Vickers and and car owner Dietrich Mateschitz are expected to incur heavy fines and points penalties, and crew chief Kevin Hamlin could be suspended.

Mike Wallace will replace Carpentier in this weekend’s Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger will take over driving duties of the No. 10 GEM Dodge for the remaining races.

Mark McArdle, GEM VP and managing director of competition, said:

We certainly appreciate all the effort that Patrick Carpentier made for us this year. But our job is to put ourselves in a position to win races, plus we’re striving to get the No. 10 into the top 35 in [owner] points. We feel A.J. gives us the best chance to do both.

Being 338 points out of the top 35 does not bode well for the team. After this weekend’s race, Allmendinger will have five races to make up those points, which is highly unlikely.

After confiscating nine Nationwide cars earlier in the season and checking their horsepower, NASCAR discovered that some Toyotas had as much as three percent more horsepower than the other makes.

As a result, NASCAR issued a technical bulletin that amended section 20A — 5.10.4 as follows:

At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing less than 4.470 inches must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.125-inch diameter holes. At all Events, unless otherwise specified, all engines with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more must compete using a tapered spacer with four (4) 1.100-inch diameter holes. Unless otherwise authorized, the carburetor restrictor will be issued by NASCAR.

After the Carfax 250, NASCAR found that Joe Gibbs Racing manipulated the throttle of its Toyotas so the tests would not be accurate.

NASCAR’s VP of competition, Robin Pemberton said:

In our post-race inspection, our inspectors discovered some shims that were placed on the gas-pedal stop. They were magnets that were about a quarter-inch thick that prevented the accelerator from going 100 percent wide open.

Today, NASCAR announced that seven JGR team members are suspended indefinitely — including crew chiefs Dave Rogers, of the No. 20, and Jason Ratcliff, of the No. 18.

Additional penalties are as follows:

• Tony Stewart and Joey Logano each will be penalized with a loss of 150 championship points and placed on probation until the end of the year. Joe Gibbs was also penalized 150 owner’s points for each of those entries.
• Ratcliff and Rogers were indefinitely suspended and fined $50,000 each.
• Dorien Thorsen, Michael Johnson, and Toby Bigelow, all of the No. 18, and Richard Bray, and Dan Bajek, of the No. 20, have been placed on indefinite suspension.

ESPN adds that JGR would not appeal the penalties and indicated it would also fine the crew members involved and suspend them through the end of the season. Joe Gibbs also made it clear that he had no knowledge of the cheating attempt.

The AP quotes Ratcliff as saying in response to the ammouncement:

I would like to apologize to the employees and partners of Joe Gibbs Racing. Because of poor decision making, I have failed you as the leader of this team and I am solely responsible for this situation. Secondly, I apologize to the men and women of NASCAR for my dishonesty and interference during a testing event.

Rogers said:

I accept the penalties imposed by NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing and make no excuses.

Racing One carried Toyota’s statement which said:

Toyota respects NASCAR’s rules and regulations and accepts the sanctions that were imposed against Joe Gibbs Racing. It is NASCAR’s responsibility to enforce their rules and we respect their decisions. Toyota always has, and will continue to, abide by all NASCAR-mandated policies.

Toyota also commended JGR for the way it handled the situation and quickly owned up to the penalties.

Also of note, NASCAR fined Donnie Wingo, crew chief of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 41 Sprint Cup entry, driven by Reed Sorenson, $25,000 after the car was found to have an improperly attached weight in Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 race at Michigan.

SceneDaily, the Charlotte Observer, and the Sporting News also covered the story.