Busch

LONG POND, Pa. — Kurt Busch paid a hefty price for his fit in the pit.

The former Nextel Cup champion was docked 100 driver points Friday, fined $100,000 and placed on probation until the end of the year for reckless driving and endangering one of Tony Stewart's crew members on pit road.

"It's a bit surprising, but safety on pit road can't be compromised," Busch said at Pocono Raceway. "I understand that. To me, it's a matter of making sure everyone is safe on pit road."

Busch should consider himself lucky NASCAR didn't park him for Sunday's Pocono 500. Officials considered that idea after parking him near the end of Monday's 400-mile race at Dover International Speedway.

"We felt like we got everybody's attention," Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition, said. "We felt like the 100-point penalty, the $100,000 was substantial."

With the penalty, Busch fell from 11th to 17th in the Chase standings, moving Martin Truex Jr., who was eight points out of 12th place, into the Chase standings. The top 12 drivers are in the final 10 races for the title.

Car owner Roger Penske also was penalized 100 owner points.

On Monday, Busch clipped Stewart as he went to make a pass in lap 271, with both drivers running in the top 10. Busch nosed into the wall, and Stewart was sent hard into the SAFER barrier on the outside retaining wall.

While Stewart's team checked the damage to the No. 20 Chevrolet in the pit stall, Busch pulled his No. 2 Dodge next to Stewart's car, forcing jackman Jason Lee to jump back and onto the hood.

NASCAR parked Busch, and he finished 42nd.

"Safety is one of our big issues," Pemberton said. "Accidents do happen, and we don't want to put ourselves in a position to allow an accident to happen like that."

Busch said he had a point for pulling up to the side of Stewart's car.

"I wanted him to look me in the whites of my eyes and realize how upset I was," he said. "You can do things. You can talk about things. But if right there in the heat of the moment you pull up next to somebody and you let them know, and he can look at you in the whites of your eyes and see how upset you are, it's pretty serious."

NASCAR's punishment showed just how serious it was. The penalty matched the ones handed down earlier this season to Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as one of the most severe in NASCAR history.

"We've fairly happy with what we've done," Pemberton said.