- Kyle Busch had his driver's license suspended Tuesday in a North Carolina court.
- Busch pleaded guilty to going 128 mph in a 45-mph zone in a Lexus LFA sports car.
- He was also fined $1,000 and sentenced to serve 30 hours of community service.
STATESVILLE, North Carolina — Two days after winning his fourth Sprint Cup victory of the season, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch pleaded guilty to going 128 mph in a 45-mph speed zone and had his North Carolina driver's license suspended for 45 days.
The action will not affect Busch's status as a racing driver, as NASCAR does not stipulate that competitors must be licensed to drive on the highways. He is the winningest driver in all three national touring series over the past several years, scoring 101 victories since his first one in May 2004.
Busch's wife, Samantha, was riding with him in the car, a Lexus LFA, on May 24. As he sped along the two-lane road, Busch overtook three police cars, and began slowing the LFA after passing the first one.
He pleaded guilty to speeding and no contest to reckless and careless driving in North Carolina District Court in Iredell County. His sentence included a $1,000 fine, 30 hours of community service and one year of unsupervised probation.
Busch was apologetic for his actions in the bright yellow LFA sports car on loan from Lexus. Busch drives Toyotas in Sprint Cup competition for Joe Gibbs Racing and in the Nationwide and Camping World truck series for his own race team.
"I'm certainly sorry that it happened," he said. "It wasn't a toy, it's a high-performance vehicle. It should be driven with caution. Obviously, I didn't have caution and I had a lack of judgment."
Busch, who had made a flippant remark about the hand-built car being "a toy" after he was cited three months ago, noted that television commercials showing high-performance driving always have a disclaimer that states "professional driver, closed course," and that he was not driving under controlled conditions.
"Again, I apologize sincerely. All I can do is make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.
His attorney, Cliff Homesley, was not nearly as contrite.
"In 25 years of practicing law, I've never seen someone not being offered better than this," Homesley told the judge. "All I am asking is to treat Kyle Busch like any other citizen that appears before the court."
Inside Line says: Busch reportedly will perform his community service by sponsoring 300 teens in a safe-driving program initiated by drag racer Doug Herbert of Cherryville, North Carolina, who lost two sons in a high-speed highway crash.
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tbone85 says:
06:42 PM, 08/25/2011
Your 53% number on teenagers is absurd because it means the average teenager would get into more than 2 accidents per week. My oldest daughter drove 3 years as a teenager without an accident. That would be nigh on impossible based on that bogus number.
It also sounds like you are absolving blame, not placing it where it belongs. What happened in THIS case was a man vastly exceeded the speed limit. No matter what his driving skill, he did in reverse what we hate from people who dawdle on the road, he created a massive speed differential with other traffic creating a safety hazzard. He's been punished for it by the law. I'd think NASCAR would have some sort of formal discipline, but I don't think they're all that concerned about the safety of their drivers so it probably won't happen.
orbit09 says:
09:57 AM, 08/25/2011
Did I miss the part where it said he was street racing?
Don't get me wrong, I've lectured plenty of people on the evils of street racing and been to too many funerals for people lost in accidents but unless we're missing part of the story, it doesn't say he wasn't racing anyone. Sure, he was driving way too fast for conditions; no doubt, but that's something that many of us do on a daily basis without incident.
Remember that this guy gets paid millions because of his ability to control a car at speed and I'm willing to bet that LFA was nowwhere near it's performance envelope. Even 130mph in my lowly muscle car doesn't feel that fast. In the LFA it probably feels like 80MPH. Basically, even a speeding racecar driver is about 1000 times safter than your average 18 year old on an errand. Yes, speed is dangerous but so is having a heated conversation with a passenger, looking for something in your purse or texting. Teenagers have a 53% chance of getting into an accident every time they leave the house so let's put blame where it belongs before we damn the entire sport of motor racing.
bmw__m5 says:
06:49 AM, 08/25/2011
You'ld think he would have gotten urge to speed out on the race track; guess not.
cinzio says:
05:55 AM, 08/25/2011
To Joe Gibbs: We mourne the loss of our children every day on the east coast racing corridor and we are constantly reminded by their empty seats at our dinner tables, their roadside memorials, and their grave markers. Your driver obviously doesn't care about our losses or the valuable lives that are taken every day on the "race-coast", so please remind him that professional racing is only "sanctioned" on the racetrack. Your priveledges and sanctioned status are waning and wanting and our children are paying with their lives.
I lost my beautiful18 year old daugher to a racing "incident" in 2005 and the driver of the car was the BFF of a very young Indycar driver- who just turned 18 himself. The young driver was also killed instantly- actually he lived 10 minutes with a traumatic head injury. No High school graduations just funerals.
No condolences from the racing community at that time, of course they all came to their friends funeral and their shallow condolences were heard by all of our community friends... The professional racing industry keeps falling back on their "sanctioned" status. What Mr. Busch was doing was illegal street racing and NASCAR should have their own penalties and fines for this behaviour, since they are "sanctioned." Shame on Kyle Busch and shame on NASCAR if they don't impose the appropriate fines.
Speed kills, No Excuses!
RIP
Emily Jasmine (18 years- 1month-1day & 14 hours old)
Marker 27 Beachline Orlando 04-02-2005
and all others who have been killed for the love of Speed.
Speed kills, No Excuses!
cz_75 says:
07:18 PM, 08/24/2011
A 2-lane NC road not blocked by 'tards on cruiser bikes or in motor homes - refreshing. You can barely do 28, let alone 128.
wjtinatl says:
03:59 PM, 08/24/2011
Passing 3 cruisers in a 400k supercar on a 2-lane North Carolina road. All that was missing from this story was Roscoe P Coltrane! After passing the first one, 'ol Kyle should have kept the hammer down and become the source of new NASCAR legend, they could sure use it.