| |  | | CIA Stock Photo | Burton, shown here pitting at Daytona, has long been one of NASCAR's most outspoken drivers when it comes to safety and the sport's need to continually stay on top of developments in that area. | | | | HEY NOW... | Jeff Burton pushing for paying more attention to safety | |
| | By SceneDaily Staff HAMPTON, GA -- Jeff Burton says Jeff Gordon's vicious crash into the wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was "inexcusable."
During the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas last weekend. Gordon careened into a portion of the wall shaped to allow entry into the infield. Burton says that history shows that type of wall is unacceptable and that Greg Moore's 1999 fatal CART crash at what is now Auto Club Speedway highlighted the problems with walls of that shape.
Still, Burton does not lay blame for that wall's existence on tracks, NASCAR or drivers individually. He says all three -- including himself -- bear some of the responsibility.
Burton has long been one of NASCAR's most outspoken drivers when it comes to safety and the sport's need to continually stay on top of developments in that area. He admits that he should have noticed the wall issue at Vegas. He also points to other tracks that need some changes in the name of safety and scoffs at the notion that Las Vegas was waiting for NASCAR direction when it came to moving the wall.
As to Gordon's hard crash on the backstretch last weekend at Las Vegas -- a hit so hard that the radiator shot out of his car -- Burton spread the blame equally but said this wall should not have been at the track.
"Without mincing words, last week's incident and how Jeff hit the wall is, in a word, inexcusable," he said Friday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will host Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. "I will give, and the race tracks deserve, a tremendous amount of credit for the investment they've put into the development of and installation of the barriers. They have looked extremely hard at making things safer for the fans, for the drivers, for the pit crew members. There has been a tremendous effort to make things better. The thing that I've been saying for six years is that we can never be as safe as we can be. If we ever get to the point where we quit looking to be better, we're going to quit being better. The wall last week is a good example of that."
Burton said that history showed the danger of that alignment, but that no one -- including himself -- took note.
"We know that a wall that is shaped like that is wrong. We know that, but yet it was still there," he said. "Our sport, NASCAR, our tracks, have rigorously looked at things to make them better. And the drivers and teams have, too. That's an example of all of us dropping the ball."
He said that when Moore's crash occurred, everyone in NASCAR should have taken a look at all the tracks and changed any that were similar immediately out of a concern for safety.
"We have to be willing as a sport to change things immediately and to never repeat the problem and when we don't let history teach us, then we're being hard-headed and that's what happened last week," he said.
Burton also said that NASCAR needs to move forward with implementing the SAFER barriers on interior walls at all tracks.
He also sees some problems with other tracks on the circuit.
Asked if he saw any changes needed at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Burton said he had not taken a close look at the track recently.
He did identify other areas of tracks that need some immediate work, though.
"There's a back straightaway at Charlotte, the inside wall needs work," he said. "Pocono is inexcusable with guard rails backed up by the state of Pennsylvania and also grass on the back straightaway. That's inexcusable, and that's been like that for years. Pocono has got to step up and fix that.
"We have to push to make ourselves better."
While he didn't blame anyone for last weekend's incident, Burton also said that people cannot skirt responsibility for making changes. He said that everyone -- drivers, the track and NASCAR -- are at fault in this situation, and one group should not be waiting to take direction from another when it comes to safety. Everyone should be proactive.
He also thinks that grass in any area of a track where there is a wall -- something that was not a factor in Gordon's crash but a condition that exists at some tracks -- is another area that needs to be changed immediately.
"There should never be grass," he said. "We should never have grass in an area that's near a wall. I am not opposed to grass in some places on the race track. We have not seen many cases where grass is a bad thing on the front straightaway like here. ... There should never be grass adjacent to a wall. ... Given my choice, I don't think should be any grass because grass doesn't slow a car down the way asphalt does. Grass at a race track is not a good thing."
| | Posted March 07, 2008 , 6:07 pm EST
Last Updated March 07, 2008 , 6:08 pm EST | | | | | | |
