Retired NASCAR Cup champion Kurt Busch was arrested on Monday just before midnight in Iredell County, North Carolina. The 34-time race winner was initially pulled over for speeding, allegedly going 63 miles per hour in a 45 zone. In the course of the traffic stop Busch was breathalyzed and showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent, more than double North Carolina’s 0.08 percent limit. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless driving, and reckless driving, spent three hours in a jail cell and his driver’s license was revoked for 30 days.
Busch has provided a written promise that he would return to face judicial proceedings in September.
Busch, who won the 2004 Nextel NASCAR Cup Series championship and the 2017 Daytona 500, raced with Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota over the course of his career, running with high-profile teams like Penske, Roush, Furniture Row, Chip Ganassi, and Stewart-Haas, before retiring in 2022 after a career-ending crash at Pocono Raceway. At the time of his crash he was racing for the 23XI team, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. He remains an ambassador for the team.
Outside of his NASCAR career, Busch dabbled in other forms of motorsport, finishing on the podium with Penske at the Daytona 24 in 2008, and running the Indianapolis 500 in 2014 with Andretti Autosport, where he finished an impressive 6th.
This isn’t the first time Busch has faced legal recourse. In early 2015 Busch was accused of domestic assault by his former girlfriend. It is alleged that Busch bashed the woman’s head against a wall, and following the news he received an indefinite suspension from NASCAR, and was forced to sit out the first three races of the season. When no criminal charges were pressed, NASCAR reinstated Busch’s eligibility and his team welcomed him back to the series. A Delaware court ruled that he “likely” attacked his ex.
Busch has not made any public statements about his arrest. It’s difficult to put a pin in exactly how much money Busch has, but he’s definitely a multi-millionaire. He absolutely could have called an uber to pick him up from wherever he was and take him home. This was an incredibly dumb call from a guy who has every resource available to him in order to avoid a situation like this. Alcohol and driving don’t mix.
