Kurt Busch – Suspension to Redemption

On Friday November 7, 2014 Kurt Busch was accused by ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll of domestic violence for an incident that took place on September 26, 2014 in Busch’s motor-home at Dover International Speedway. After a very long and drawn out court preceding the Dover Delaware judge gave Kurt Busch a no contact order on February 16, 2015. Four days later Busch was placed on indefinite suspension by NASCAR and had his NASCAR License and hard card temporarily revoked. On March 5th the Delaware Attorney General’s office announced that there was not enough evidence to press charges against Busch. Following this announcement a lot of discussion took place as to when NASCAR would reinstate Busch and how this would affect his career. Six days later NASCAR announced his suspension was lifted and he would be eligible to compete at the CampingWorld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. NASCAR also grated Busch a waiver giving him eligibility for the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, as long as he wins a race before the cutoff race at Richmond in the fall. Shortly after the NASCAR announcement we heard from Stewart-HAAS Racing as well as Chevrolet, who both welcomed Busch back to competition. Busch competed in the March 15th race at Phoenix finishing 5th. He qualified 8th and was near the top of the charts for each of the three practice sessions that weekend. This put a major story-line to rest as Busch instantly was back to competitive form and was performing better than teammates Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick. Busch was strong late in the season last year and I look to see him continue the strong run he had this past week at Phoenix. Looking forward I would be extremely surprised if he did not get a victory or two this season, which will grant him a spot in the Chase. This past weekend while walking through the garage Busch received a warm welcome from his team, fellow drivers, NASCAR officials and members of other crews. It was much quicker than most people expected but the past month has been Kurt Busch’s journey from suspension to redemption. (Tim Woodward, Around The Track)