By Steve Ginsburg
(Reuters) - No criminal charges will be filed against suspended NASCAR driver Kurt Busch in a domestic abuse case involving his former girlfriend, prosecutors in Delaware said on Thursday.
Patricia Driscoll said Busch grabbed her by the neck inside his motor home at Dover International Speedway in Delaware on Sept. 26 and repeatedly slammed her head against a wall.
Bush, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion currently on an indefinite suspension by NASCAR over the incident, admits to cupping Driscoll's cheeks but said he never hit her head.
"It is determined that the admissible evidence and available witnesses would likely be insufficient to meet the burden of establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Busch committed a crime," the Delaware Department of Justice said in a statement.
Busch, 36, has portrayed Driscoll, 37, as seeking revenge after he tried to end their relationship.
Kent County (Delaware) Court Commissioner David Jones ruled last month in favor of Driscoll's request for a no-contact order, saying Busch had likely physically abused Driscoll.
The ruling prompted NASCAR to suspend Busch and forced the mercurial driver known as The Outlaw to miss the Daytona 500, the premier event on the schedule.
He appealed the suspension on Feb. 21 - the day after the sanction was announced and the day before the Daytona 500 - but the bid was denied. Earlier this week, NASCAR said Busch had formally accepted its terms to be eligible for reinstatement.
Regan Smith has filled in for Busch as driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet during the first two Sprint Cup races of the season.
Smith drove to a 16th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 and a 17th-place finish Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He will drive for Bush this weekend in Las Vegas.
Neither Busch, Driscoll, nor NASCAR representatives were immediately available for comment.