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Sprint Cup
CUP: Burton, Kyle Busch Move On
Jeff Burton angrily confronted Kyle Busch after the Coca-Cola 600...
Jeff Burton (Left) and Kyle Busch (Right) both say they have put their differences from the Coca-Cola 600 behind them. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Call it want you want: One of them racin’ deals. Boys havin’ at it. Angry young men squaring off. Whatever the description, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch insist they’re over it.
To recap: In the closing laps of Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch moved up the track during a double-file restart and his front splitter cut the left-rear tire of Burton’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Busch finished the race in third place, Burton 25th. And afterwards, Burton had an angry, finger-pointing discussion on pit road with Busch.
Friday at Pocono Raceway, though, both drivers said they have put the incident behind them.
In fact, Busch said he was unaware that he cut Burton’s tire and at first didn’t understand why Burton was upset.
“I just was for one, shocked where he came from because I didn’t know where he finished at the time,” Busch said. “And, I didn’t know what he was mad about. I thought that he still ran sixth or seventh. I didn’t know where he came from — finishing 25th or wherever he did normally you go to the garage area. I don’t know if he parked his car on pit road and he ran over to me or what. So, I was like, ‘Where did this guy come from?’”
Busch didn’t think there would be any issues going forward.
“It was just a spot of the heat of the moment and what transpired on the race track led to the incident on pit road after the race,” said Busch. “I think that we can both move forward and go on and put this behind us and just try to race each other with dignity and respect as much as we have before.”
Burton said he, too, had moved beyond the issue.
“He made a mistake and I paid the price for it,” Burton said. “My perspective is exactly what it was last week. Obviously, I was a lot madder about it last week than I am today. I’m not one of those people that believe that people are out to get me or that Kyle set out to go ruin my night. He didn’t mean to get into me. He was being aggressive and made a mistake.”
For Burton, though, it was merely the latest bad break in a season that he feels has had too many of them.
“I was mad because we’ve had great race cars, been in position to win a lot of races and had a lot of top-fives with not a lot to show for it,” Burton said. “It’s just getting frustrating. When you see a guy be as aggressive as he is and get into somebody then you tend to have little tolerance for it. It’s nothing personal. ... I like racing with Kyle and I don’t have any problems with Kyle. We won’t have any problems moving forward. He knows exactly how I feel and we can talk about it. Honestly, there’s not a whole lot to talk about.”
In fact, Burton said it was all no big deal.
“I was just pissed off, man,” he said. “I didn’t go looking for a fight; I was just pissed off. I had 15 laps or whatever it was to get calmed down and I didn’t. I felt like I needed to handle it and address it right then. I was just mad and it’s not more complicated than that.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
To recap: In the closing laps of Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch moved up the track during a double-file restart and his front splitter cut the left-rear tire of Burton’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Busch finished the race in third place, Burton 25th. And afterwards, Burton had an angry, finger-pointing discussion on pit road with Busch.
Friday at Pocono Raceway, though, both drivers said they have put the incident behind them.
In fact, Busch said he was unaware that he cut Burton’s tire and at first didn’t understand why Burton was upset.
“I just was for one, shocked where he came from because I didn’t know where he finished at the time,” Busch said. “And, I didn’t know what he was mad about. I thought that he still ran sixth or seventh. I didn’t know where he came from — finishing 25th or wherever he did normally you go to the garage area. I don’t know if he parked his car on pit road and he ran over to me or what. So, I was like, ‘Where did this guy come from?’”
Busch didn’t think there would be any issues going forward.
“It was just a spot of the heat of the moment and what transpired on the race track led to the incident on pit road after the race,” said Busch. “I think that we can both move forward and go on and put this behind us and just try to race each other with dignity and respect as much as we have before.”
Burton said he, too, had moved beyond the issue.
“He made a mistake and I paid the price for it,” Burton said. “My perspective is exactly what it was last week. Obviously, I was a lot madder about it last week than I am today. I’m not one of those people that believe that people are out to get me or that Kyle set out to go ruin my night. He didn’t mean to get into me. He was being aggressive and made a mistake.”
For Burton, though, it was merely the latest bad break in a season that he feels has had too many of them.
“I was mad because we’ve had great race cars, been in position to win a lot of races and had a lot of top-fives with not a lot to show for it,” Burton said. “It’s just getting frustrating. When you see a guy be as aggressive as he is and get into somebody then you tend to have little tolerance for it. It’s nothing personal. ... I like racing with Kyle and I don’t have any problems with Kyle. We won’t have any problems moving forward. He knows exactly how I feel and we can talk about it. Honestly, there’s not a whole lot to talk about.”
In fact, Burton said it was all no big deal.
“I was just pissed off, man,” he said. “I didn’t go looking for a fight; I was just pissed off. I had 15 laps or whatever it was to get calmed down and I didn’t. I felt like I needed to handle it and address it right then. I was just mad and it’s not more complicated than that.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
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