Aug 17, 2014; Brooklyn, MI, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch with girlfriend Patricia Driscoll and stepson Houston Driscoll during the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday and Wednesday were the first two days of testimony in Delaware during a hearing on NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kurt Busch’s ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll’s request for a no-contact order against Busch. The hearing is not completed, but will not continue until January 12. The hearing is separate from an ongoing investigation of Busch by Dover police because of Driscoll’s allegations.
Driscoll was on the stand for some six hours on the first day of testimony and returned to the stand on Thursday. Busch was also among those to testify on Thursday.
Driscoll testified that Busch choked her and smashed her head into the bedroom wall of his motorhome three times during an arguement at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sept. 26.
"“He sprung up from the bed, grabbed me by the throat with one hand and face with the other and smashed my face into the wall three times,” Driscoll said. “It scared me, because he just snapped.”"
Driscoll also claimed that Busch was depressed and had a problem with alcohol. She said she reached out to Busch’s mother to discuss his drinking and alcohol problems.
Busch testified that there was an arguement in the motorhome at Dover, during which he was naked. Busch, though, claims that there was no assult. He said he cupped his hands around her cheeks and asked her five times to leave the motorhome.
"“I took my hands and cupped her cheeks and I looked at her eye to eye and I said, ‘You need to leave.’ I was defusing the situation,” Busch said."
According to Busch, Driscoll showed up, uninvited, with her son in Dover, demanding that Busch tell her son to his face that their relationship was over.
Busch, through his attorney Rusty Hardin, claims that he ended the relationship with Driscoll, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The couple had broken up prior to the Dover incident, but Driscoll claims that she visited Busch at Dover out concern for him after receiving a series of text messages in which Busch said he was laying on the floor, crying, and that the world was “crashing down” on him.
She said that she and her son made the trip to Dover to comfort Busch and she let herself into the motorhome.
Busch admitted to crying earlier the night of the incident while watching the Brad Pitt movie, “Seven Years in Tibet.” Busch said that he was reflecting on his life while watching the film.
“It was a moving experience,” Busch said. “There were some tearjerker moments.”
Busch and Driscoll both touched on a previous exchange following a race in Loudon, N.H., that included Busch damaging a rental car and Driscoll leaving him stranded at an airport in Boston. Busch said he told Driscoll “bye forever” after the New Hampshire incident but acknowledged texting her about a month later.
Driscoll also claimed that Busch wrapped the seatbelt around he neck in the incident following the New Hampshire race.
Witnesses testifying during the hearing, so far, included Michael Doncheff, Busch’s motorhome driver. According to Doncheff’s testimony, Busch treated him well, but had a temper. Meanwhile, he described Driscoll as “high maintenance.”
Doncheff testified that Driscoll sent him a screen shot of the texts she received from Busch the night of the Dover incident and he thought it would be a good idea for her to visit Busch at Dover. Doncheff also said that he believed Driscoll’s claim that Busch assaulted her, even though he considered previous claims made by her unbelievable.
Those claims Doncheff considered unbelievable included Driscoll claiming such things as, “I own Washington,” and that she was a “trained assassin.”
Doncheff also recounted Driscoll seeming to be stiff during the New Hampshire race weekend. He said when he asked her about her condition, she told him that she was slammed to the ground by a large man while rounding up illegal immigrants at the Mexican border. On the stand, Doncheff said he thought that story was “farfetched.”
Driscoll heads the Armed Forces Foundation and Frontline Defense Systems, LLC.
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