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NASCAR suspends driver Kurt Busch just before Daytona 500

FILE - In this May 17, 2014 file photo, Kurt Busch, left, walks with his girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, after arriving for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Attorneys for the NASCAR driver asked a Delaware judge on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, to reopen a Family Court hearing that resulted in Busch's ex-girlfriend Driscoll being granted a no-contact order. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File) FILE - In this May 17, 2014 file photo, Kurt Busch, left, walks with his girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, after arriving for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Attorneys for the NASCAR driver asked a Delaware judge on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, to reopen a Family Court hearing that resulted in Busch's ex-girlfriend Driscoll being granted a no-contact order. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)

By Associated Press February 20, 2015 1 min read

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch on Friday, just two days before the Daytona 500, hours after a Delaware judge said the former champion committed an act of domestic violence against an ex-girlfriend and there was a “substantial likelihood” of him doing it again.

In a 25-page opinion Friday explaining why he issued a no-contact order, the judge said it was more likely than not that Busch “strangled” Patricia Driscoll in his motorhome at Dover International Speedway in September and smashed her head into a wall.

Busch has denied the alleged assault. He becomes the first driver suspended by NASCAR for domestic violence.