CHARLOTTE, N.C -- Whether he was joking or not, NASCAR didn't think Kurt Busch's comments were very funny.

Busch was fined $10,000 for intentionally driving into Robby Gordon during The Winston last Saturday night. The thing is, no one would have known Busch deliberately spun out Gordon if he hadn't said so.

In two separate interviews, Busch said he caused the wreck because eventual winner Ryan Newman was running away from the field late in the race. Needing a caution to bunch the pack back up, Busch claimed he spun Gordon out to make the final five laps of the all-star race more competitive.

NASCAR caught wind and handed down the penalty on Friday after meeting with Busch, who has since backed off his comments.

''I never go out and intentionally take anybody out,'' he said. ''An accident happened ... and I feel I chose the wrong words to talk about it afterward. Now we're going to have to deal with the penalties as far as what comes up from it, whether it comes from NASCAR or the media.''

It looks like he'll also have to deal with fellow competitors, including Gordon and his car owner Richard Childress, who was irate about it and threatened to beat up the second-year driver if he wrecks another one of his cars.

''Write that down in the Bible because it's the gospel,'' Childress said. ''And I can do it, I'm that mad. For him to go out publicly in two separate interviews and run his mouth, he's not messing with just anybody. I've got enough on my mind besides some punk out there running his mouth.''

Gordon called Busch ''immature'' and said he was lucky he wasn't hurt in the accident.

''Then he'd have some serious problems,'' Gordon said.

NASCAR said they had to penalize Busch even though The Winston is a non-points event because it is still a sanctioned race. The sanctioning body noted that Busch also said he had carried a grudge with Gordon into the race from a previous event.

''We just can't have guys carrying scorecards around in their pockets,'' said Winston Cup director John Darby. ''It's just too dangerous.''