NASCAR’s Kurt Busch denies domestic assault allegations in court

NASCAR driver Kurt Busch denied allegations of domestic assault on Monday, the third day of court hearings in Dover, Del., according to a Wilmington News Journal report.

Busch claimed he merely cupped his hands around his ex-girlfriend’s face and told her to leave.

Busch’s ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, alleged that Busch slammed her head against a bedroom wall three times on Sept. 26 at Busch’s motor home parked at Dover Downs International Speedway.

The hearing at the Kent County Family Court is related to a protection order filed by Driscoll last year.

Asked by his attorney, Rusty Hardin whether he pushed her head against the wall that night, Busch responded, “No, I did not.”

Then asked whether he slammed her head against the wall, Busch responded, “No sir.”

Asked by Hardin whether he slammed Driscoll’s head against the wall three times, Busch said, “No, I did not.”

Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup champion, said he asked Driscoll, who brought her 9-year-old son with her that night, to leave several times. Driscoll said she came to see Busch because of an argument two weeks earlier and because of an alarming text message from him.

Hardin disputed Driscoll’s allegations and questioned her credibility during Monday’s proceedings.

He painted Driscoll as a jilted ex-lover who was trying to destroy Busch’s reputation and showed up that night uninvited and refused to leave.

Several people, including Busch, testified that Driscoll claimed she was a trained assassin who had killed people, including drug lords.

When Hardin asked Busch how he would fare in a physical confrontation with Driscoll, Busch said he felt certain she could overpower him.

Earlier on Monday, NASCAR chaplain Nick Terry testified that Driscoll told him Busch had grabbed her by the neck and pushed her up against the wall, but nothing more.

He said that Driscoll asked him and his wife to look for marks on her neck, but found none.

Driscoll filed the protection order last year, claiming she feared for her safety. She is also asking for Busch to have a psychiatric evaluation and be evaluated by a certified domestic violence treatment agency, according to the court filings.