STATESVILLE, N.C. — NASCAR points leader Kyle Busch lost his driver’s license for 45 days Tuesday for driving 128 mph on a road close to a day-care center and church in a nearly $400,000 car.
Busch, who doesn’t need a license to compete in NASCAR, also was fined $1,000, sentenced to 30 hours of community service and put on one year of unsupervised probation. He pleaded guilty to speeding and no contest to reckless and careless driving.
Before sentencing, Busch apologized for driving 128 mph in a 45 mph zone May 24.
“I think you’ll be different in the future,” District Court Judge H. Thomas Church said.
“I sure will, your honor,” Busch replied.
Busch and his wife Samantha were in the car when he was pulled over on a two-lane road in an area near a subdivision, a day-care center and a church. The hand-built 2012 LFA sports car was on loan to Busch from Lexus for a 24-hour test drive.
Busch attorney Cliff Homesley argued his client wasn’t being treated the same as other people in similar circumstances, citing a July case of a 21-year-old convicted felon who was caught doing 128 mph and received a $300 fine and no loss of license.
Homesley, calling Busch one of the best drivers in the world, said: “He had full control of that vehicle at all times. That automobile in his hands was like a scalpel in the hands of a surgeon. Not a knife in the hands of a 5-year-old.”
Busch spoke only briefly outside court, where a hot dog vendor was set up roughly 100 feet away offering the “128 mph special.” The Associated Press
