Kurt Busch Scheduled to Appear in Court for DWI, Reckless Driving Charges
Kurt Busch, who last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series during the 2022 season for 23XI Racing, was arrested on DWI, careless and reckless driving charges by the Iredell County Sheriff's Office on Monday evening, and his driver's license has been revoked for 30 days. Busch is scheduled to appear in court to face the charges on September 19.
According to court records, Busch was traveling 63 mph in a 45 mph zone in a 2024 Lexus, which prompted Busch to be pulled over by an Iredell County Sheriff's deputy. According to a report from IredellFreeNews.com, the Sheriff's Office has been conducting speed checks in the area due to complaints from citizens.
The court records show that Busch's blood-alcohol level at the time of his arrest was 0.17%. The legal limit for driving in the state of North Carolina is 0.08%.
Busch issued a statement about the arrest on Wednesday evening to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports.
"I'm very disappointed in myself and I apologize to my family, my racing family, and to my fans," Busch said. "I will work with the authorities to rectify the situation and work with the county to make it a safer place in the future."
Busch, 46, was the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion while driving for the Roush Racing team, now RFK Racing. Busch's tenure with Roush's team ended in November of 2005 when the racer was pulled over on suspicion of DUI in Maricopa County, AZ. Ultimately, Busch was cited only for reckless driving in that case.
Busch was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service in relation to that arrest in 2005. As a result of the arrest, Roush dropped Busch as a driver with two races remaining in the 2005 season. The following year, Busch landed at Team Penske, where he would win a race in his first season with the team, and a year after the citation in Maricopa County, Busch would become an honorary deputy for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
The driver would go on to amass 10 wins over a six-year period before being released by Team Penske.
Busch would spend the next couple of seasons trying to repair his image within the sport as he had stints with Phoenix Racing and Furniture Row Racing before landing back on his feet with Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.
The racer was on the move again in 2019 as he joined the Chip Ganassi Racing team. Busch would win a race in each of his three seasons with the Ganassi team, but at the end of the 2021 campaign, Ganassi sold his program to Trackhouse Racing, which left Busch without a ride.
He would land with 23XI Racing, a team co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, as the teammate to Bubba Wallace in 2022, and would score a win at Kansas Speedway that year. Unfortunately, Busch's tenure with 23XI Racing as a driver would only last 20 races due to a concussion sustained in a crash during qualifying at Pocono Raceway, a crash that would end Busch's competitive racing career.
Busch has served in an ambassador role for the 23XI Racing team since the Pocono crash derailed his driving career. An attempt to obtain a statement from the 23XI Racing team has gone unanswered at the time of publishing, but if a response is obtained it will be added to the story as an update.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.