NASCAR lifts Kurt Busch’s roadblocks

Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Kurt Busch was cleared Wednesday to get back in his race car and attempt to rebuild a career that was halted two days before the Daytona 500 when NASCAR suspended him for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

“It’s been torture sitting out of the car,” Busch said in a conference call. He called the allegations against him “a complete fabrication.”

“I never did anything of the things I was accused of,” he added. “I never wavered in this whole process because of the confidence in the truth.”

Busch missed the season’s first three races during the suspension, the third of his career. In reinstating the 2004 champion, NASCAR ruled he will be eligible for the title-deciding Chase should he qualify. He will return to competition this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway in the No. 41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.

He said he will replace his longtime nickname “The Outlaw” with his signature above the door of his car.

Busch remains on indefinite probation.

“We have made it very clear to Kurt Busch our expectations for him moving forward, which includes participation in a treatment program and full compliance with all judicial requirements as a result of his off-track behavior,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said.

Busch was suspended Feb. 20 when a Delaware judge ruled he likely assaulted ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll in his motorhome in September at Dover International Speedway. He lost two rounds of appeals on the eve of the season-opening Daytona 500.

Last week, the Delaware attorney general declined to charge Busch for the incident with Driscoll — a move O’Donnell said “removed a significant impediment” to reinstatement.

Busch said he had been led to believe that criminal charges would be the determining factor in NASCAR taking action, and was surprised when he was suspended before the attorney general made its decision.

“The way that NASCAR reacted, it was different than what we had been told,” Busch said. “They were more focused on the criminal side, as were we. But the commissioner’s ruling was not necessarily what was the important factor here. The important factor is that what I was accused of was a complete fabrication.”

Busch has also complied with NASCAR’s reinstatement requirements, the terms of which have not been disclosed. O’Donnell said a health care expert recommended Busch’s immediate return.

Driscoll questioned NASCAR’s decision to make Busch championship-eligible this season.

“I’m deeply concerned about the message NASCAR is sending by letting him compete for the championship after he was found by a judge to have committed an act of domestic violence,” Driscoll said in a statement. “But I am gratified, at least, that NASCAR’s decision comes with the mandatory condition that he follow through on the treatment he so clearly needs.”

Busch did not reveal what he did to satisfy NASCAR, but indicated he wished he had participated in such a program earlier in his career. He also said he had been encouraged by NASCAR chairman Brian France, who urged him not to change as a driver.