CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kurt Busch was cleared Wednesday to get back in his race car and attempt to rebuild a career that was halted two days before the Daytona 500 when NASCAR suspended him for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
“It’s been torture sitting out of the car,” Busch said in a conference call. He called the allegations against him “a complete fabrication.”
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“I never did anything of the things I was accused of,” he said. “I never wavered in this whole process because of the confidence in the truth.”
Busch missed the season’s first three races during the suspension, the third of his career. In reinstating the 2004 champion, NASCAR ruled he will be eligible for the title-deciding Chase should he qualify. He will return to competition this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway in the No. 41 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing.
He said he will replace his longtime nickname “The Outlaw” with his signature above the door of his car.
Busch remains on indefinite probation.
“We have made it very clear to Kurt Busch our expectations for him moving forward, which includes participation in a treatment program and full compliance with all judicial requirements as a result of his off-track behavior,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said.
Busch was suspended Feb. 20 when a Delaware judge ruled he likely assaulted ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll in his motorhome in September at Dover International Speedway. He lost two rounds of appeals on the eve of the season-opening Daytona 500.
Last week the Delaware attorney general declined to charge Busch for the incident with Driscoll – a move O’Donnell said “removed a significant impediment” to reinstatement.
INDYCAR: Andretti Autosport named Simona de Silvestro its fourth driver for the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Florida.
Team owner Michael Andretti said he’d like to grow a program around de Silvestro that gets the Swiss driver in a full-time ride. For now she’s scheduled only for the March 29 IndyCar opening race.
Daytona International Speedway will install energy-absorbing SAFER barriers to the concrete wall that Kyle Busch hit last month before NASCAR returns in July.
Busch broke his right leg and left foot Feb. 20 when he crashed into a retaining wall that lacked a SAFER barrier.
The Daytona president, Joie Chitwood, said the track completed an extensive safety review after Busch’s accident and will make numerous changes before the race in July.
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