NASCAR suspends driver Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch

NASCAR announced Friday afternoon that they have “indefinitely" suspended Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch amid allegations of a domestic altercation with his former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll at Dover International Raceway last September.

The decision comes just hours after a Delaware court released its findings concerning an order of protection that was granted on Monday by Kent County family court commissioner David Jones.

Busch has yet to be charged with any crime connected to the alleged assault.

NASCAR suspended Busch for “actions detrimental to stock car racing", and banned him from any further on-track activities until further notice.

“Given the serious nature of the findings and conclusions made by the Commissioner of the Family Court of the State of Delaware, NASCAR has indefinitely suspended driver Kurt Busch, effective immediately," NASCAR said in a statement. "He will not be allowed to race nor participate in any NASCAR activities until further notice."

A Delaware court ruled that Busch "more likely than not" assaulted Patricia Driscoll in his motor home, September 26th

NASCAR Vice President Steve O’Donnell says Busch has the right to appeal the ruling and that NASCAR would “expedite" the appeals process.

Chevrolet followed suit and said they are also suspending their relationship with Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing team.
Busch had qualified 24th for this Sunday’s Daytona 500 driving the no. 41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing. NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Regan Smith will pilot the car in Busch’s place.

Busch released no statement following NASCAR’s announcement, however in a statement released by Stewart-Haas Racing, SHR Executive Vice President Joe Custer said “We understand NASCAR’s position regarding Kurt Busch and accept their decision. We are in the midst of finalizing our plans for the Daytona 500 and we will announce those details as soon as we’re ready."

As part of the court’s ruling for issuing the order of protection, the findings released on Friday says that Jones believed a there was a “preponderance of evidence" that Busch had “more likely than not" assaulted Driscoll in his motorhome on the night of September 26 of last year.

“Respondent [Busch] committed an act of domestic violence against Petitioner [Driscoll] by manually strangling her by placing his left hand on her throat, while placing his right hand on her chin and face and smashing her head into the wall of his motor home," Jones said in his findings, further stating that an order of protection was “necessary and appropriate to reduce the likelihood of domestic violence."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Busch has long maintained his innocence and claimed Driscoll showed up at his motorhome unannounced and refused to leave, and further claimed Driscoll made up the allegations to hurt Busch’s career.

The court, however, did not believe Busch’s version of events.

“The Court finds (Driscoll’s) version of events….to be more credible based upon her demeanor when required to recall and describe the alleged acts of abuse", said Jones.

Also as part of the findings, Jones further stated that Busch be “evaluated by a licensed mental health professional" to “determine whether (Busch) suffers from a treatable mental health condition that causes him to lose control over his behavior and act violently in response to anger and frustration."

Busch and his legal team appealed to the court on Thursday to re-open the case. Jones has yet to rule on the appeal.