Kurt Busch suspended for last two races

[ascarmarshal]

Taken from Yahoo sports


Busch suspended for season's last two races
Busch suspended for season's last two races

By MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer

November 13, 2005

AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Kurt Busch was suspended by his team Sunday for the last two races of the NASCAR season after police cited the reigning Nextel Cup champion for reckless driving.

Busch will be replaced in Sunday's race at Phoenix International Raceway by Kenny Wallace. He also will miss next week's Ford 400 in Homestead, Fla.

ADVERTISEMENT


``It's the last straw for Roush Racing,'' said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing. ``We're officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists effective today.''

Busch, not in contention for this season's title, has a history of run-ins on and off the track with drivers and NASCAR officials.

``He's a young man with great potential that has been realized to an extent, but he's got some challenges building relationships in the public and the sponsors community to realize that potential,'' Roush said. ``I wish him well.''

Busch was stopped near the track Friday night after trying to avoid another car and running a stop sign, police said. The police report said the officer who stopped Busch smelled alcohol on the driver's breath, although Busch was not cited for that. A breath test was not conclusive because the device failed.

Busch is under contract to the Roush team through the end of the season. He will not be allowed to drive for anyone else in 2005.

``He would have to get permission and we would be very reluctant to give it,'' Smith said. ``It's very offensive to us that he chose to take on the arresting officer the way he did verbally. And then the fact there was alcohol, even in the smallest way, involved.''

When asked Saturday about Busch's arrest and confrontation with police, team owner Jack Roush said it was no longer his problem since Busch is joining another team after this season. Roush later took a tougher stance once he learned of the response from the public and sponsors.

He said the sponsors felt he was ``in breach of my contract by allowing that notoriety and embarrassment to be out there without taking some action. And the only action I felt I could take, and the one that was agreed upon, was to suspend him for the balance of the season.''

Busch is eighth in points this season and qualified 17th for Sunday's race. He is joining Penske Racing South next season, taking over the No. 2 Dodge from retiring Rusty Wallace.

Roger Penske, who will be Busch's new boss, said he was not involved in the decision to suspend Busch.

``Roush Racing has their business decision to make,'' Penske said. ``This situation is unfortunate for high-profile athletes who are under significant scrutiny.

``Kurt made a public apology to the sheriff (Saturday night),'' he added. `` We support him 100 percent for the future and we will work with him to be a great driver.''

NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said sitting Busch was a team decision. Asked if NASCAR would take punitive action, Hunter said, ``We'll let the judicial process take its course. He's got a hearing set in December.

He said NASCAR has not yet spoken with Busch.

``This is not exactly the kind of publicity we like to have in connection with the Chase (for the championship) or the series itself,'' he said.

Busch was not available for comment Sunday.

NASCAR officials have said his behavior is not ``befitting of a champion.''

The 27-year-old driver from Las Vegas was punched in the face by Jimmy Spencer for trying to wreck him. He was called an ``arrogant punk'' by Kevin Harvick and is booed by fans who don't like his aggressive driving.

At Darlington in May, Busch refused to go where he was told after returning to the track following a crash. He then was called into the pits for a penalty and responded with expletives. He also tossed a water bottle that hit the NASCAR official in his pit.

Wallace, a full-time driver in the Busch Series, finished 12th on this track Saturday. He said he got a call about driving Busch's car about 9 a.m. Sunday.

``It's a sad situation, but I'm ready, willing and able to do this,'' Wallace said.

The 42-year-old Wallace, a younger brother of Rusty Wallace, has driven in 308 Cup races, including three this year, since making his debut in 1990. His last full season in Cup was 2003.

``I'm a Ford driver and I'm here,'' Wallace said when asked why he was chosen to fill in for Busch. ``It seems like everybody believes in my talent.''

Smith said the deal with Wallace most likely will be only for this race. Roush driver Todd Kluever, who currently races in the truck series, is expected to drive at Homestead.

AP Sports Writer Bob Baum contributed to this story

[BootsOntheSide]

Drunk driving isn't really acceptable behaviour from a racing driver - I'm glad Roush have chosen to send out a messaage on this one.

[kingfloopy]

Supposedly he wasn't really drunk and I don't think he was charged with DUI (although with Crown Royal as a sponsor this looks bad). But, with no offense to intended anyone who is Kurt Busch fan, he is kind of an idiot. He has routinely shown behavior that a NASCAR champion should not show. I'm glad Roush racing decided to give him the boot and not tolerate his behavior for even two more races. I wonder how Penske will handle this situation since he is moving to the #2. If Busch doesn't show any better behavior I doubt Penske will tolerate him for long.

J.D.

[Hazza]

The sooner he calms down a bit more and uses his head the better.

[belt driven]

If the police precinct's machine did not function, it was correct not to charge Busch with a DUI. 60 in a 35 (25 over) in an urban area can easily get you a reckless driving charge.

The allegations of DUI and belligerent response to the lawmen may have violated "personal service" provisions in Busch's contract with Roush. Jack Roush, a true genius engineer, racer, businessman, and gentleman in US racing, stated that Kurt's actions put Roush Racing in violation of provisions of his sponsor's contracts. He cut him loose; called Kenny (HA HA HA HA) Wallace to sub.

The reigning champion has been a good driver in great equipment. He has also been a real "cabeza ricardo" on and off the track.

[neilwaynesmith]

I find it ironic that in one part of the pre-race show we had Tony Stewart calling for more emotion and, yes, more fist-fights, yet in another part of the same show we had the hand-wringing and 'oh isn't it terrible' treatment of Kurt Busch.

Yes he's a hot-head. So what? It's called 'character'.

Personally I think he's more professional than many of the other drivers, especially when interviewed. He's always polite, he always establishes eye contact with the camera and/or interviewer. Compare that with the pre-race interview of Dale Jr, who droned on, looking thoroughly bored while staring at the scenery.....

I'm not condoning his actions, (although I can hardly pass judgement having wound a traffic cop up so tightly once I thought he was going to have a stroke.....) but for gods sake, he made a mistake, earnestly apologised LIVE in front of millions and admitted to being a bit of a jackass and accepted his punishment with grace and aplomb.

Let him be. Bring on 2006.

[gttouring]

penske might have done the same- a penske man needs an image and all...
look how he got sam hornish to shave the goat-ee...

[muggle not]

From the police report:

Busch League
Nasty NASCAR star ripped Arizona cops during traffic stop
NOVEMBER 18--When he was pulled over last week by a Phoenix cop, belligerent NASCAR driver Kurt Busch told the officer, "You're only doing this because you're a Jeff Gordon fan." That ridiculous gem is one highlight from three entertaining Maricopa County Sheriff's Office reports on the November 11 traffic stop near the Phoenix International Raceway (copies of the reports, which were released yesterday, can be found below). Busch, the 27-year-old reigning Nextel Cup champion, also made sure to tell sheriff's deputies, "You guys are a joke, punks. Aren't you supposed to be directing traffic somewhere?" And, of course, he repeatedly asked, "Do you know who I am?" The cop who pulled Busch over, Deputy Glenn Powe, reported that Busch followed that query up with a "long-winded dissertation about his celebrity status, listing his accomplishments as if he were reading me his resume." Powe, who cited Busch for reckless driving, a misdemeanor, explained that he did not follow stock car racing. Powe also noted that Busch exclaimed, "I'm not doing this gay-ass test," when asked to perform one sobriety test. Deputy J. McFarland noted that the combative Busch told officers "you guys are out of control," while Lieutenant Randy Brice reported that Busch, using the voice of an "impertinent child," exclaimed, "This is just a bunch of high school games!" Busch, Brice added, continued to "bluster and struggle" until he was handcuffed. At that point, Busch said, "You have no idea who I am! You have to be the dumbest cops I have ever met! You are going to regret this!" While Powe reported smelling alcohol on Busch, a preliminary breathalyzer test showed the driver to be far below the state's legal limit. Busch, who has apologized to cops for his combativeness, was suspended for the final two races of the NASCAR season by Roush Racing, for whom he has driven for the last five years. (8 pages)

[Joe Fan]

This ordeal with Busch appears to me to be a big PR smear job in my opinion. I have driven to Phoenix International Raceway and I think I know exactly where Busch got pulled over because there is really only one way to get into PIR. That whole area near the track is a flat barren desert wasteland with a few houses sprinkled here and there off the road and the road into PIR is for the most part is 55-60mph two-lane highway. You go from barren wasteland for quite a long ways, then all of a sudden, you start approaching an intersection that has a gas station (which is probably where it became 35mph and where he got pulled over). Then back to barren wasteland and 55-60mph for quite a ways before you finally arrive at the track.

You can see if cars are approaching that intersection for miles it seems because it is so flat and barren. I don't remember anything else being at that intersection except for the gas station and maybe a house off the road. I bet Busch didn't see any cars approaching that intersection and decided it wasn't worth slowing down for. I could see myself doing the same thing because there is really nothing out there. This is probably why Busch became so belligerent at getting pulled over for speeding.

[belt driven]

Sorry I'm late responding.

A little background on a newbie here. I went to road races for 18 years before I had available (cable TV) more than 5 broadcast Nascar races/year. I did go to Talladega a couple of times.

When I got to watch ALL the races; I immediately got hooked on Rusty Wallace. This talented road racer and short tracker, the 1989 Champion, was a bit of a hothead. I figured he would grow out of it. He didn't. Penske put up with it in later years.

I really hate to talk bad about a (most previous) Champion who drove for Jack Roush, the definition of class-act racing business. However, Kurt Busch chose to honor neither his contractual nor his personal obligation to BUST HIS AZZ for an owner/sponsors who were paying him many millions of dollars to do so. Instead; he chose to smart mouth himself out of 1-2 million dollars.

He will be driving for Roger Penske, the captain. Rotsa Ruck!