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Sprint Cup
CUP: Gordon And Burton Crash, Then Scuffle
Hendrick driver hits the roof after Jeff Burton wrecks him under caution...
NASCAR officials prepare to break up a fight between Jeff Gordon (Left) and Jeff Burton (Right) after an on-track incident at Texas Motor Speedway. (Image: Speed)
The two Jeffs – Gordon and Burton – normally are two of NASCAR’s coolest and calmest drivers. During a moment of heat and fire during Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, that all changed.
And how.
Gordon and Burton wound up in a brief shoving match on the apron of the race track after Gordon became infuriated with a move by Burton near the race’s halfway point.
There apparently were no fists thrown, but, before the drivers climbed into the same ambulance, Gordon rushed up to Burton and shoved him with force, and they scuffled briefly before being separated by two NASCAR officials.
Gordon appeared to have a much rougher altercation in mind after Burton shoved his car hard into the outside wall. But Gordon settled down a bit before they reached each other.
“I was walking toward him, and I started going through all the scenarios in my mind,” Gordon said. “Thankfully, I had a long walk down there to him because I thought I did the least amount that I would have wanted to do. I wanted to show him how upset I was, but I wanted to do a lot more than that. I held back. I’m just still in disbelief.”
The on-track meeting between the two drivers occurred in the wake of a crash by Martin Truex Jr., an encounter with the wall that brought out a caution flag. At virtually the same moment, Gordon and Burton were wrestling for position.
As the field slowed under the caution, Burton drove behind Gordon, hit his car in the rear and sent it hard into the outside wall. Both cars were mangled, although Burton later returned to the race.
Burton took the blame for the incident, but that barely seemed to impact Gordon. He did say, however, that their disagreement is over.
“I like Jeff,” Gordon said. “He’s a guy that usually is very rational, and I respect his opinion. He apologized and said it was his fault and that he didn’t mean to do it. Whatever. It’s over.”
Burton said the original on-track problem was a result of a misunderstanding.
“We came off turn four, and it’s really hard to see coming off four [because of the sun],” Burton said. “He dove underneath me. I should have let him go, and I didn’t. He pulled up beside me to let me know he was upset at me. Then he went on.
“I went to pull up next to him to acknowledge him and to say he was right. I turned left and he was turning left and we hung up, and when we hung up off we went. I honestly don’t know what happened. It was my fault. One hundred percent of it was my fault. It was like once we got together I couldn’t get off him. I didn’t mean to hit him.
“I meant to pull up to him and tell him that he was right for being upset at what happened off turn four. I should have let him go. You can’t see there, and you don’t need to be side by side. I don’t blame him for being mad. I would have been mad, too.
“I don’t have a bit of a problem with what he did. He was mad, and he should have been mad. I have a lot of respect for Jeff, and I think he has a lot of respect for me. He understands more what happened now. It is what it is.”
Gordon said Burton came across several lanes to reach him.
“There were four car lengths between us, and he drove all the way from the wall down to me,” Gordon said. “I didn’t understand why. The caution came out, and I went down and drove up beside him. I didn’t even touch him. I guess he was frustrated with the way his car was handling or something.
“He just drove into my right rear and put me into the wall under caution. Of all the people, I never would have thought that would happen with Jeff Burton. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for him, but I certainly lost a lot of respect today.
“He went up to the wall where he was running and I went down to about the second groove where I was running and by the time we got in the middle of the corner, he just turned left and got on my door and got me really loose. He said the sun got in his eyes. Then the caution came out and we got down into one, and I just drove up next to him to show him my displeasure about what went on and he just wrecked us, just flat-out wrecked us and turned us right into the wall and collected himself.
“It was pretty stupid, and he admitted it later. But I certainly wanted to show him how upset I was, and I’m not ashamed of anything I did.”
Gordon admitted that he showed an unusually high level of intensity after the incident.
“Well, he deserved a lot more than that, I can tell you that,” Gordon said of Burton. “That kind of stuff is just ridiculous and uncalled for. I just like the guy too much, and we’ll be able to go on and race one another and stuff like that.
“Sometimes I can’t hold my emotions back, and, believe it or not, I was holding them back right there.”
Gordon has been involved in numerous incidents this season, including a controversial on-track meeting with Kurt Busch recently at Martinsville.
“If somebody does something stupid, I’m going to be mad about it, and I’m going to show him my frustration,” Gordon said. “If I could have gotten to Kurt Busch after Martinsville, it would have been the same thing. I didn’t see him. And I had time to calm down. And I walked down there hoping I would see Jeff, and I did. I’m lucky I had a long-enough walk to think about what I wanted to say and do because if I hadn’t of had that long a walk, I would have done something I would have regretted.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
And how.
Gordon and Burton wound up in a brief shoving match on the apron of the race track after Gordon became infuriated with a move by Burton near the race’s halfway point.
There apparently were no fists thrown, but, before the drivers climbed into the same ambulance, Gordon rushed up to Burton and shoved him with force, and they scuffled briefly before being separated by two NASCAR officials.
Gordon appeared to have a much rougher altercation in mind after Burton shoved his car hard into the outside wall. But Gordon settled down a bit before they reached each other.
“I was walking toward him, and I started going through all the scenarios in my mind,” Gordon said. “Thankfully, I had a long walk down there to him because I thought I did the least amount that I would have wanted to do. I wanted to show him how upset I was, but I wanted to do a lot more than that. I held back. I’m just still in disbelief.”
The on-track meeting between the two drivers occurred in the wake of a crash by Martin Truex Jr., an encounter with the wall that brought out a caution flag. At virtually the same moment, Gordon and Burton were wrestling for position.
As the field slowed under the caution, Burton drove behind Gordon, hit his car in the rear and sent it hard into the outside wall. Both cars were mangled, although Burton later returned to the race.
Burton took the blame for the incident, but that barely seemed to impact Gordon. He did say, however, that their disagreement is over.
“I like Jeff,” Gordon said. “He’s a guy that usually is very rational, and I respect his opinion. He apologized and said it was his fault and that he didn’t mean to do it. Whatever. It’s over.”
Burton said the original on-track problem was a result of a misunderstanding.
“We came off turn four, and it’s really hard to see coming off four [because of the sun],” Burton said. “He dove underneath me. I should have let him go, and I didn’t. He pulled up beside me to let me know he was upset at me. Then he went on.
“I went to pull up next to him to acknowledge him and to say he was right. I turned left and he was turning left and we hung up, and when we hung up off we went. I honestly don’t know what happened. It was my fault. One hundred percent of it was my fault. It was like once we got together I couldn’t get off him. I didn’t mean to hit him.
“I meant to pull up to him and tell him that he was right for being upset at what happened off turn four. I should have let him go. You can’t see there, and you don’t need to be side by side. I don’t blame him for being mad. I would have been mad, too.
“I don’t have a bit of a problem with what he did. He was mad, and he should have been mad. I have a lot of respect for Jeff, and I think he has a lot of respect for me. He understands more what happened now. It is what it is.”
Gordon said Burton came across several lanes to reach him.
“There were four car lengths between us, and he drove all the way from the wall down to me,” Gordon said. “I didn’t understand why. The caution came out, and I went down and drove up beside him. I didn’t even touch him. I guess he was frustrated with the way his car was handling or something.
“He just drove into my right rear and put me into the wall under caution. Of all the people, I never would have thought that would happen with Jeff Burton. I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for him, but I certainly lost a lot of respect today.
“He went up to the wall where he was running and I went down to about the second groove where I was running and by the time we got in the middle of the corner, he just turned left and got on my door and got me really loose. He said the sun got in his eyes. Then the caution came out and we got down into one, and I just drove up next to him to show him my displeasure about what went on and he just wrecked us, just flat-out wrecked us and turned us right into the wall and collected himself.
“It was pretty stupid, and he admitted it later. But I certainly wanted to show him how upset I was, and I’m not ashamed of anything I did.”
Gordon admitted that he showed an unusually high level of intensity after the incident.
“Well, he deserved a lot more than that, I can tell you that,” Gordon said of Burton. “That kind of stuff is just ridiculous and uncalled for. I just like the guy too much, and we’ll be able to go on and race one another and stuff like that.
“Sometimes I can’t hold my emotions back, and, believe it or not, I was holding them back right there.”
Gordon has been involved in numerous incidents this season, including a controversial on-track meeting with Kurt Busch recently at Martinsville.
“If somebody does something stupid, I’m going to be mad about it, and I’m going to show him my frustration,” Gordon said. “If I could have gotten to Kurt Busch after Martinsville, it would have been the same thing. I didn’t see him. And I had time to calm down. And I walked down there hoping I would see Jeff, and I did. I’m lucky I had a long-enough walk to think about what I wanted to say and do because if I hadn’t of had that long a walk, I would have done something I would have regretted.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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