NASCAR Suspends Top Driver Over Domestic Abuse

One of NASCAR's biggest races runs tomorrow, but one of NASCAR's biggest names will not be there when the Daytona 500 begins. The sport suspended Kurt Busch indefinitely yesterday over allegations that he beat and choked his then-girlfriend last fall, reports ESPN. The move came after a Family Court judge in Delaware concluded that Busch likely abused Patricia Driscoll, "manually strangling" her and causing her head to slam against a wall. What's more, he wrote that there was a "substantial likelihood" of more domestic violence from Busch.

The judge cited Busch's "propensity to lose control of his behavior and act out violently in response to stressful, disappointing and/or frustrating situations involving his racing," reports the News Journal. The ruling didn't come in a criminal trial but in a civil proceeding in which the judge awarded Driscoll an order of protection from Busch. He has denied the allegations and is appealing the NASCAR suspension. The alleged assault remains the subject of a separate criminal investigation, reports AP. (At a court hearing last month, Busch said Driscoll is a trained assassin.)