AAA Texas 500 notebook: Macho, macho men

 

NASCAR officials break up a fight between Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton  as seen on the Sprint Vision screen in the infield after an incident in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. (Photo:Getty Images for NASCAR)

 

FORT WORTH, Texas – Of all the people to exchange blows …

\Shortly after the halfway point in the AAA Texas 500, Chevy drivers Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton engaged in a fairly serious shoving match after Burton appeared to wreck Gordon after the caution flag was already out.

Burton said it wasn’t intentional and somewhat dismissed it as a misunderstanding. But Burton also took responsibility for the incident and said he didn’t blame Gordon for being mad.

“I just wanted to let him know it was cool, and I got into him and couldn’t get separated,” said Burton. “What he did once he got out of the car didn’t surprise me. That’s what I would have done.”

Though it was more shoving match than boxing match, the physical exchange was rather heated.

“There were four car lengths between us. I didn’t understand why he wrecked me,” said Gordon. “I just drove up beside him and we didn’t touch. Then he drove into me. Of all the people out there, he’s the last person I would have expected that from. I’ve always had a lot of respect for him, but I lost a lot of it today.

“I wanted to show him how upset I was, but I wanted to do a lot more than I did.”

* * *

ALWAYS THINKING, THAT CHAD--No sooner had Gordon’s crumpled No. 24 left the race than Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, confiscated his pit crew.

Gordon’s crew chief, Steve Letarte, dispatched the crew to the No. 48’s stall, and the Gordon crew pitted Johnson from that point on.

* * *

MATURING, HUH?-- Kyle Busch made a commonly known, but seldom discussed in polite society, gesture at a NASCAR official on pit road, thus earning a two-lap penalty and greatly diminishing his chances to excel in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

* * *

ODD--The first caution flag occurred when the engine apparently failed on Joe Nemechek’s Toyota. After spewing smoke all the way around the track, Nemechek pulled into the pits … and his crew changed tires. It wasn’t until after the tires were changed that the hood was raised on the No. 87.

Then the crew pushed it backward up pit road and into the garage. Perhaps new tires made it easier to push.

* * *

MIXED SIGNAL--A Foreigner sang the national anthem.

Seriously.

It was Kelly Hansen, Foreigner’s lead singer, and he performed it creditably.

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