- Busch, 46, was pulled over for speeding at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in North Carolina.
- He admitted to drinking and officers reported he had “red, glassy eyes.”
Retired NASCAR driver Kurt Busch has been arrested on charges of drunk driving, speeding, and careless and reckless driving.
The stock car legend was pulled over for speeding at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in North Carolina when he was caught driving his 2024 Lexus at 63 mph in a 43 mph zone.
Iredell County deputies noticed that Busch “had red, glassy eyes” and “admitted to drinking before driving,” according to Free Iredell News.
A nearby North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper assisted in the traffic stop and registered Busch with a blood alcohol level of 0.17 percent, which far exceeds the state limit of 0.08 percent. As a result, Busch’s license has been suspended for 30 days.
Busch was taken to the Iredell County Detention Center until early Wednesday morning, when he was released after promising to appear at a court hearing on Sept. 19.
Busch was arrested for ‘drunk driving, speeding and careless and reckless driving’
Busch, who lives in Iredell County, has since issued an apology.
“I am very disappointed in myself and I apologize to my family, my racing family and my fans,” he said in a statement. “I will work with law enforcement to rectify the situation and will work with the county to make it a safer place in the future.”
It’s been a year since Busch retired from the sport in an emotional farewell while battling the after-effects of a concussion.
Busch held back tears as he announced his retirement on Aug. 26, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway. The 2004 series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner decided to retire largely because he couldn’t overcome the lingering effects of a major concussion that rocked stock car racing a year earlier.
“My body is fighting against time,” Busch said. “I’ve had arthritis for as long as I can remember. My gout has gotten so bad that some days I can barely walk. I just have to push through physical therapy and keep working out.”
A crew member talks with driver Kurt Busch at Martinsville Speedway in 2006
Busch joined a short list of drivers in recent years whose bodies helped drive the decision to retire: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussion) and four-time champion Jeff Gordon (lower back). Busch said he was taking pre-race injections last summer, before his concussion, “just so I could move my knee and move my feet.”
His younger brother, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, sat in the back of the Daytona media center during the announcement. NASCAR executives Jim France, Ben Kennedy, Steve O’Donnell and Mike Helton were also on hand along with countless Toyota officials and 23IX Racing drivers Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.
“It’s time to embark on a new journey and I’m excited to get started,” Busch said.
The Las Vegas native suffered a life-changing concussion during a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway in 2022. After slamming backward into the wall, the front end of his Toyota struck it with such G-force that it raised safety concerns about Next Gen cars.
NASCAR spent much of the 2022-23 offseason fine-tuning its car to try to limit the effects of rear-impact collisions that wreaked havoc on drivers in 2022. Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman missed five races with a concussion, and many other drivers complained about the violence of routine hits and wondered if they, too, had suffered head trauma.
Busch sits in his #97 Sharpie/Rubbermaid Rouch Ford during a 2001 race at Bristol
Busch said he was showing gradual improvement in retirement and intended to return to racing someday, but had no timetable.
And even if he does race again, it won’t be in NASCAR’s premier series.
“Racing at the highest level of NASCAR takes all of your focus, heart, endurance and determination,” Busch said. “And I know now that I can’t deliver what it takes to compete at that level week in and week out.”
“It’s difficult to know which paths will lead to what in the short-term future. I still want to get the doctor’s approval and be cleared. That’s the first step. That’s what I need to do personally. Then I’ll have opportunities to talk to different motorsport teams and sponsors about participating in other races.”