Busch gets big fine for angry toss

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Kyle Busch felt the sting of his angry toss in his wallet Wednesday, when NASCAR fined him $50,000 for throwing a safety device at Casey Mears' passing car.
Busch was also docked 25 driver points and placed on probation until the end of the year, and car owner Rick Hendrick was docked 25 championship points.
The monetary fine ties several others for second-highest in NASCAR history, behind only the $60,000 that Ray Evernham was fined in 1995.
It signifies that NASCAR is running out of a patience with the 21-year-old Busch, who overreacted when Mears accidentally wrecked him late in Sunday's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The two were running with the leaders when Mears bobbled, hit the wall, and bounced into Busch's car.
As a pair of NASCAR officials tried to help Busch take the mandatory ride to the care center, Busch tried to break free from them to get at Mears' car. He then feebly threw a safety device, which missed its target, before being pulled off the track surface.
In penalizing him, NASCAR said Busch "disobeyed a directive from a NASCAR official, entered the racing surface without authorization and threw an object at another competitor's car during the event."
Busch was contrite Wednesday.
"I lost my composure and disrespected NASCAR, especially its officials, and put my own team in a difficult position," he said. "The bottom line is I made a mistake that's a poor reflection on everyone I care about and there isn't anything that justifies it."
Meanwhile, NASCAR also penalized Jeremy Mayfield's team for failing inspection after the race.
Mayfield's car was too low, resulting in a $35,000 fine for crew chief Ted Andrews and the loss of 25 driver points for Mayfield and 25 championship points for car owner Evernham.
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