A Mooresville, NC judge recently ruled that an athlete's drivers license should be revoked for 45 days for doing 128 in a 45. That's the not-very-interesting part.

That "athlete" was star NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. That's slightly more interesting. 

NASCAR has no rule saying that you have to have a drivers license to drive 200 mph in a small oval with many other drivers, also driving about 200 mph. That's pretty interesting. 

Lexus-LFA-Concept-005.jpg

I guess it makes sense that one doesn't need any sort of government license to compete on a closed course in something that really doesn't resemble day-to-day driving in any way, but it's still something of a surprise.  It turns out that NASCAR drivers don't really need any sort of license to compete. Rather, they simply need to be good enough to compete at the NASCAR level. Beyond that, the ruling commitee will give you the benefit of the doubt. 

I guess that makes sense. They have to pass a drug test and attend safety meetings, but there is probably little else that can be done to ensure "safe" driving with collisions and speeds that would make Lamborghini drivers blush. 

It probably didn't help that Busch was caught speeding in a 2012 yellow Lexus. Lest you think that he was bombing around in a GS or (shudder) a hybrid, it probably merits mentioning that the car was a $400,000 LFA sports car. 

Does that make him a reckless driver for so flagarantly ignoring the posted speed limit, or is the fact that he was taking advantage of the opportunity to really open up a cool car that was loaned to him by Lexus itself? 

Also, does Lexus get upset that their name is involved in this offense, or are they happy for the exposure. My guess is the latter. But I have to say I think a little less of the car maker since I found out that they make a $400,000 car in bright yellow. Jesus. How much attention is enough for buyers of this car?