Kurt Busch Suspended After Citation for Reckless Driving

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/sports/ ^ | 11 13 05 | MIKE HARRIS

[Lurking in Kansas]

NASCAR Punk.

Yup, good riddance.

[RadioCirca1970]

Kurt Busch is the 2004 Nextel Cup Champion and always will be.

[RadioCirca1970]

Wow, I guess Kurt is in the clear, vis a vis, alcohol, heard Arpaio say that he blew a .017 on the breathalyzer and that he didn't refuse a sobriety test, hmmm imagine that...the Kurt bashers got it wrong...I await the apologies...

[Revolting cat!]

Busch's fault!

[RebelBanker]

You posting to me? I complimented Kenny Wallace on his sense of humor and brought up the contractual restriction on drivers whose sponsors are alcohol companies. Although I do not particularly care for Kurt Busch, I have not posted anything here that I would consider "bashing" him.

[RadioCirca1970]

Sorry RB,

It was more of a general musing, I meant to tag it to myself...no offense intended. I am a KB fan, but I like you, am also glad Herm got the ride...

[untrained skeptic]

"Kurt Busch is the 2004 Nextel Cup Champion and always will be."

Yes he is, and he eared it. He's an incredibly skilled driver.

He's still needs to grow up a lot if he wants to fill the shoes of someone like Rusty Wallace as a representative of Nascar, his racing team, and his sponsors.

[RadioCirca1970]

I agree that he needs to mature.
I don't think he is going to the 2 to Fill Rusty's shoes, but rather to define the ride for himself and to create his own racing identity. Oftentimes I hear on the NASCAR chat boards, and on Nascar Radio, all the Wallace fans, complaining that they won't root for KB in the 2. I say so what, what matters is that his 97 fans, of which I am one, root for him in the 2. I hope Rusty fans give him a chance, but if not, I totally understand how hard change can be.

BTW, I was very soured by Roush's decision to yank him for a speeding ticket from the last two races..especially when other drivers commit much worse on track incidents, and get no suspensions (remember Dale Jarrett ramming Ryan Newman at Bristol this year?)or (Jimmie Johnson's huge wreck at the second Dega race this year, when he blamed Dale Jr. for checking up--when Dale did no such thing?) But I also understand that it was Roush's call to make, since he owns the team.

[Hildy]

Nowhere do they mention an alcohol test. If he was over the legal limit...say it. If he wasn't then this is B..shit.

[avg_freeper]

Busch was pulled over near Phoenix International Raceway for trying to avoid another car and running a stop sign.

When did this become illegal?

[untrained skeptic]

" BTW, I was very soured by Roush's decision to yank him for a speeding ticket from the last two races."

It wasn't a speeding ticket. It was reckless driving.
It was his behavior to the police officer. It MAY have been related to the officer smelling alcohol on his breath. Apparently the equipment to test his blood alcohol malfunctioned. However, they spoke with the arresting officer before making their decision. They discussed things with their sponsors before suspending him.

I also doubt it was just over this one incident. They didn't just suspend him and then keep a respectful silence on the issue. They were very outspoken in their displeasure with Busch. That's something you don't see happen, so I expect that there was more to this falling out than just this incident.

They

[RadioCirca1970]

"It MAY have been related to the officer smelling alcohol on his breath. Apparently the equipment to test his blood alcohol malfunctioned."

Absolutely innacurrate.
From Today's AJC over at http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/1105/15busch.html

""Mr. Busch was administered a preliminary breath test at the command post which registered .017," Maricopa Sheriff's Lt. Paul Chagolla said.

In Arizona, a person can be charged with driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level at .08 or higher.

A 170-pound male who consumes two drinks in two hours will have a blood-alcohol content of .01, according to estimates from the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site."

Bottom line, THERE was no machine malfunction, that was a lie by the Maricopa Sherrif's department. The first in what I believe was a series of them. Bush was not intoxicated, regardless of what anyone says. So he got suspended for a ticket for wreckless driving, my point still stands.

[RadioCirca1970]

Amend my last sentence to read

So he got suspended for a ticket for reckless driving, my point still stands. Meant to type Reckless not Wreckless.

[untrained skeptic]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2005-11-12-busch-detained_x.htm

So the first reports were that the machine malfunctioned. Now there's a report of it reading what is basically a trivial amount of alcohol.

Either way there is no proof that he was driving while intoxicated, just that he was driving recklessly and being belligerent to a police officer.

"Bottom line, THERE was no machine malfunction, that was a lie by the Maricopa Sherrif's department. The first in what I believe was a series of them. Bush was not intoxicated, regardless of what anyone says."

Of course Bush is completely innocent of any wrongdoing. It was the evil sheriff deputy that sought him out and pulled him over for just casually driving down the road.

"So he got suspended for a ticket for wreckless driving, my point still stands."

Yea, they just suspended him over this one incident. They cam out and used strong words such as the following over a traffic ticket.

"Roush Racing is embarrassed. The sponsors are embarrassed," Roush said. "This really cuts it. We're embarrassed for all of the NASCAR community."

"It's the last straw for Roush Racing," Smith said. "We're officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists effective [Sunday]."

These are people who are used to dealing with young drivers who get cocky and get fired up during a race. They're used to dealing with young drivers doing stupid things from time to time. It's part of the business. As a rule they don't condone the actions, but they stand behind their drivers. Even when they part ways with a driver, they do so respectfully, because they want to be able to attract other talented drivers to their team.

That didn't happen in this case. Obviously the rift between Busch is over a lot more than him getting a traffic citation.

[RebelBanker]

Busch was pulled over near Phoenix International Raceway for trying to avoid another car and running a stop sign.
When did this become illegal?

When the "other car" is a police cruiser and the cop is trying to get you to pull over.

[RadioCirca1970]

exactly!