Nascar driver Kyle Busch avoids three-year prison sentence after gun found in his bag at Mexico airport

A local judge allowed conditional punishment for Mr Busch

Nascar driver Kyle Busch has avoided a possible Mexico prison sentence for weapon and ammunition charges.

Mr Busch, 37, was arrested by the National Guard on 27 January when staff at an airport in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo found a gun and ammunition in his luggage during a routine screening.

Last week, the two-time Nascar champion was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, the Associated Press reported,

The Mexico federal attorney’s office has since revealed that a local judge allowed conditional punishment for Mr Busch. He left the country after paying an undisclosed bond.

In a Twitter post on Monday, the two-time NASCAR champion said that he has a valid concealed carry permit from his local authority in the US and that he had made “a mistake by forgetting [the weapon and ammunition were] in his bag.”

“Discovery of the handgun led to my detainment while the situation was resolved. I was not aware of Mexican law and had no intention of bringing a handgun into Mexico,” Mr Busch wrote. “When it was discovered, I fully cooperated with the authorities, accepted the penalties, and returned to North Carolina.

“I apologize for my mistake and appreciate the respect shown by all parties as we resolved the matter. My family and I consider this issue closed.”

Nascar said in a statement to the AP that Mr Busch, who is in his first season driving for Richard Childress Racing, will not be sanctioned by the association.

Mr Busch was vacationing with his family in Quintana Roo before the incident at the airport unfolded. The .380 calibre pistol with six hollow-point bullets was found in his bag when it was being scanned at a terminal for a private aircraft, according to the AP.

A judge determined in late January that the charges could stand in court before Mr Busch was sentenced on 3 February.

Mr Busch, who is in his first season driving for Richard Childress Racing, is expected to attend another hearing in which a judge will set his conditional punishment.

He has been cleared for the Daytona 500 race on 13 February.