Kyle Busch to officer: 'It's just a toy'
Kyle Busch issues an apology after being stopped, cited for doing 128 in a 45-mph zone
Tuesday, May. 24, 2011
Days before he is set to drive in NASCAR's longest race, driver Kyle Busch was flagged for speeding and reckless driving in Iredell County.
An Iredell County Sheriff's deputy stopped Busch on Tuesday around 2 p.m. He clocked him driving 128 mph in a 45-mph zone on Perth Road south of Troutman, according to the sheriff's office.
Busch, who lives in Iredell County, was driving a yellow Lexus LFA sports car, and his wife, Samantha, was a passenger.
Busch drives the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and will compete in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch also owns his own Truck series team. It's headquartered on Mazeppa Road in Mooresville, about four miles southeast of where he was stopped.
In a statement released Tuesday, Busch said he was test-driving a new sports car and "got carried away."
"I went beyond the speed I should have been going on a public road. I apologize to the public, my fans, sponsors, and race teams for my lack of judgment," he said.
A spokesman for JGR said the organization was aware of the incident and was looking into it.
According to the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles website, Busch could lose his driver's license for at least 60 days with a conviction.
That would not affect his NASCAR career, however. Competitors in NASCAR need a license from the organization but not a state driver's license to compete.
NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said the speeding ticket does not violate the probation Busch received from the sanctioning body for a pit road altercation at Darlington, S.C., this month.
"This is a matter that Kyle will have to handle with the authorities in Iredell County," Tharp said. "Based on what we know right now, this would not impact his status as a NASCAR driver."
This is not Busch's first speeding violation.
Court records show Busch was cited with speeding 55 mph in a 35 mph-zone in Iredell County in 2008. He was found "responsible" for speeding, according to records, but his speed was reduced to 44 mph.
The Charlotte Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since charlotteobserver.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Charlotte Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
