NASCAR Clears Kyle Busch for the Daytona 500 Despite Being Sentenced to Prison in Mexico
Kyle Busch will not be penalized by NASCAR for illegally bringing a gun to a Mexican airport, the series said Tuesday. While the driver has been convicted of the crime in Mexico and sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison—with a $1095 fine (20,748 pesos)—he will still be able to race in the upcoming Daytona 500, Autoweek reports.
Busch brought a pistol loaded with six hollow-point .38 caliber inside his baggage to an airport in Quintana Roo, Mexico, according to the official report dug up by our friends at Autoweek. A court in Mexico found him guilty of "carrying a firearm without a license and possession of cartridges for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces."
In a statement posted to Twitter after the news broke, Busch said that he had a valid concealed carry permit and forgot that the firearm was in his bag. He apologized and noted that he had dealt with the penalty, though it remains unclear how he handled the prison sentence. While the United States does have an extradition treaty with Mexico, countries often resist extraditing their own citizens for all but the most heinous crimes. And Busch was clearly allowed to leave Mexican soil.
Regardless, NASCAR doesn't see this as an issue it needs to address.
"We do have a Member Conduct policy," a NASCAR spokesman told Autoweek. "With the information we received, we did not feel that this warranted any disciplinary action."
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