Kyle Busch has his day in court

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

You may remember the headlines, Kyle Busch was arrested and cited for speeding in a new car. See: Busch cited for careless and reckless driving. The abridged version; Kyle Busch was testing driving a 2012 Lexus when he went in excess of 128 mph while in a 45 mph zone, charged with both careless and reckless driving.

Having his day in front of the judge, Busch pleaded guilty of driving 128 mph, but pleaded no contest on the charge of reckless driving. The sentence handed down to the current Sprint Cup points leader was a 30-day suspended jail sentence, one year unsupervised probation, 30 hours of community service and fined $1,000. In addition, his drivers license has been revoked for 45 days, which does not impact his NASCAR status in any way since a valid driver’s license is not required to race in NASCAR.

According to reports, Busch’s sentence could have been much worse. Maximum sentence in North Carolina for a person convicted of speeding over 75 mph over the given limit can be a loss of driver’s license for a year. Had Busch also been sentenced for the reckless driving charge as well, he could have faced an additional 60 days of revocation for his driver's license.

Looking to put this behind him, Busch said afterward, “This is closure.”

Busch’s attorney, Cliff Homesley, also spoke after sentencing and said: “Kyle has from day one accepted his responsibility in his case. If you were sitting in the courtroom you heard him very eloquently state that he accepts his responsibility and is regretful of what happened. What we’re appreciative of is that even though Kyle is going to lose his license for 45 days with no operation of his vehicle, we’re appreciate that the judge recognized that Kyle should be treated at least close to how we would treat anybody else out here in society and as such the judge entered a prayer for judgment continued on the reckless driving charge. We never acknowledged reckless driving on Kyle’s’ part, and we don’t think he was being reckless. He certainly was speeding, and he’s accepted responsibility for that. On his behalf, l I’m excited for the upcoming Chase for the Championship.”