NASCAR points leader Kyle Busch lost his driver’s license for 45  days on Tuesday in a case stemming from his high-speed joy ride in a luxury car.

The Sprint Cup star pleaded guilty to speeding and no contest to  reckless and careless driving in North Carolina District Court.

Busch, who doesn’t need a license to compete in NASCAR, also was fined $1,000, sentenced to 30 hours of community service and put on  one year of unsupervised probation.

   Busch addressed the court before his sentencing, apologizing again for driving at 128 mph in a 45 mph zone in a bright yellow 2012 Lexus on May 24.

   “I think you’ll be different in the future,” District Court Judge H. Thomas Church said.

   “I sure will, your honor,” Busch replied.

   Busch and his wife, Samantha, were in the car when he was pulled  over on a two-lane road in an area near a subdivision, a day-care center and a church. The hand-built LFA sports car is valued at nearly $400,000 and was on loan to Busch from Lexus.

   Busch’s attorney Cliff Homesley argued that his client wasn’t being treated the same as other people in similar circumstances, citing a July case of a 21-year-old convicted felon who was caught doing 128 mph and received a $300 and no loss of license.

   “All I am asking is to treat Kyle Busch like any other citizen that appears before the court,” Homesley argued before the court.

   Homesley, calling Busch one of the best drivers in the world, said: “He had full control of that vehicle at all times.

   “That automobile in his hands was like a scalpel in the hands of  a surgeon. Not a knife in the hands of a 5-year-old.”   

Busch is coming off his Sprint Cup series-best fourth victory at  Michigan on Sunday, and he holds a 10-point lead over five-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson in the standings. His next  scheduled race is Wednesday’s Trucks Series event at Bristol, where  he is the defending winner of Saturday night’s Cup race.

   Busch told the deputy who pulled him over the Lexus was “just a toy.”   

He apologised for that remark and the incident in a media session two days later.

   “I’m certainly sorry that it happened,” he said. “It wasn’t a toy, it’s a high-performance vehicle. It should be driven with caution. Obviously, I didn’t have caution and I had a lack of judgment.

   “There’s probably reason why on the TV commercials that they always show at the bottom, ’Professional driver, closed course.’ Mine was not that. Again, I apologize sincerely. All I can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again.”   

Busch will do his community service with the teen safe-driving program B.R.A.K.E.S., which was developed by drag racer Doug Herbert.

   Herbert’s two sons were killed in a 2008 accident attributed to speeding, and the drag racer established the “Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe” program to teach teenagers safety behind the wheel.

   Busch agreed to sponsor 300 students in the program, as well as participate in some of the sessions.