Kurt Busch won’t face criminal charges for the incident in Delaware that prompted NASCAR to suspend the Sprint Cup driver indefinitely.
In a Thursday morning release from public information officer Carl Kanefsky, the Delaware Department of Justice said it “has carefully reviewed the complaint made of an alleged act of domestic violence involving Kurt Busch in Dover on September 26, 2014, which was reported to the Dover Police Department on November 5, 2014 and investigated.
“After a thorough consideration of all of the available information about the case, it is determined that the admissible evidence and available witnesses would likely be insufficient to meet the burden of establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Busch committed a crime during the September 26th incident. Likelihood of meeting that high burden of proof is the standard for prosecutors in bringing a case. For this reason, the Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges in this case.”
Requests for comment from NASCAR and Stewart-Haas Racing weren’t returned immediately.
Busch indefinitely was suspended Feb. 20 by NASCAR after a Kent County (Del.) Family Court Commissioner concluded that “it is more likely than not” that Busch committed an act of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend in September. The Commissioner’s comments came in explaining his decision to grant a protective order against Busch.
Busch is appealing the commissioner’s decision. He also appealed NASCAR’s suspension twice but was denied.
Last week, Busch signed NASCAR’s terms and conditions for consideration of reinstatement. On Monday, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications vice president David Higdon told NASCAR Talk there is no timetable for Busch to complete the requirements for reinstatement.
For the third consecutive race, Regan Smith will drive the No. 41 Chevrolet in place of Busch this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which also happens to be in Busch’s hometown.