Organization acknowledges team has contingency plan in place
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch said Thursday that he has no timetable for a possible resolution to the legal issues that have shrouded his offseason, but that his team has a contingency plan in place should the matter impact his racing career.
Busch spoke at length about the legal proceedings Thursday at the annual NASCAR Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, expressing some mild frustration that the case is now entering its third month. Allegations of domestic assault brought by Busch's ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, first surfaced over 90 days ago.
"The days in court, and now that we're going close to Day 100 as far as all of the proceedings go, normal situations that happen around these type of situations take 30 minutes, so sometimes preferential treatment can go the wrong way," Busch said. "… So we all have to be patient, we all have to understand that there's a process that we have to respect, and the fact that no announcement has come out, each day that goes by continues to be good news.
"And with the team and their support -- they've been fantastic, (team co-owner) Gene Haas especially -- it's amazing to have the comfort level that I have, as well as to have told them the truth and understanding of everything, it's easy to be here and be pumped up about the season that's 10 days away."
Busch will have racing on his mind with starting Friday with the opening of on-track activity at Daytona, heading to Saturday's Sprint Unlimited (8 p.m. ET, FOX) and the Feb. 22 Daytona 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). But in the interim, the 36-year-old driver has made multiple offseason trips to a Delaware courtroom for hearings.
Driscoll has sought a no-contact order in court related to her claim of an alleged physical confrontation at Dover International Speedway last September. The Delaware state attorney general's office has yet to rule on the alleged altercation and whether any charges will be handed down.
Team co-owner Tony Stewart -- like Busch, a former Sprint Cup Series champion -- said that his Stewart-Haas Racing team has prepared a backup plan in case the legal proceedings involving Kurt Busch have an unfavorable outcome. Neither NASCAR nor the team have made movement toward removing Busch from his role as full-time driver of the Stewart-Haas No. 41 Chevrolet, opting to let the legal process play out before taking any action.
Stewart said that while the team has a contingency plan, he hopes it doesn't come to that.
"We do, but we're kind of waiting to see, and I'm very hopeful that we won't have to worry about it," Stewart said. "I feel bad that he's in that situation right now -- that they're both in that situation -- so we have to be smart and we have to have a plan in place if it doesn't work out for whatever reason."
Busch first spoke publicly about the case late last month at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom. Thursday in Daytona, he reiterated the theme of his comments from January.
"It's a matter of knowing that the truth has been told and we'll see how things unfold," Busch said. "The process, we have to wait on what their decision's going to be."