SHR driver discusses upcoming season
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch says he's had no problem focusing on preparations for the upcoming racing season in spite of an on-going case involving domestic assault that continues to hang over the 2004 premier series champion.
"I feel great," Busch, 36, said Tuesday during the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour. "It's easy to be here and stand on truth and have all the people and support from behind the scenes this offseason."
Ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll submitted a request for a no-contact order late last year, accusing Busch of physical harm during a race weekend in Dover, Del., last September.
No decision has been made concerning the protective order request and the Delaware state attorney general's office has yet to rule on the alleged altercation.
Until action is taken on those two issues, Busch will continue to prepare for the upcoming season, his second with Stewart-Haas Racing.
"I'm a racer. I love to go race … that's the easy part and that's where the focus stays," Busch said.
"When you have things going on in the offseason, that's the best time for different things to happen in your life and to make those changes. It's good to start moving forward and get a resolution to that."
A recent Goodyear tire test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he said, was a good way to not only get the new season started, but to turn the attention away from the on-going controversy.
"To put the helmet on, belt in and go out there and go 200 mph, that's the best feeling in the world,' he said. "It seems quieter out there (on the track); it's an amazing feeling. When you put the helmet on it all seems quiet and you're the only one out there."
Team co-owner Gene Haas has continued to stand behind his driver, but admitted he has considered the possibility of an unfavorable ruling against Busch.
"I've run that around in my mind a million times," Haas said, "and I don't know. I think we have to wait and see.
"The authorities are going to have an opinion about what they're going to do, and I have a feeling it's going to be something that no one expects, you know what I'm saying? … We have to kind of see what they come back with before we can respond."
To do otherwise, he said, would be a waste of time.
"We just don't want to speculate and add more fuel to the ol' fire," he said.