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Post Info TOPIC: Burton and "posse" unhappy with Said?


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Burton and "posse" unhappy with Said?


Jeff Burton, and his RCR crew members were none to happy with Boris Said after an on track incident at Infineon, and apparently headed right to Said's hauler after the checker fell to let him know about it. For more of the story from Nascar.com, read below:


 


In a scene that's a rare one in Nextel Cup racing, Jeff Burton and about eight of his Richard Childress Racing crewmen paid a visit to Boris Said's transporter after Sunday's Dodge/Save Mart 350


Burton apparently wanted to discuss an incident on the penultimate restart in the race, when he apparently felt contact from Said was responsible for Burton spinning at Turn 3a, which knocked Burton from 11th to 30th at the finish five laps later.


Said's MB/Sutton Motorsports crew chief Frank Stoddard said he heard news of the impending visit on his radio scanner, so after Said had entered his hauler, Stoddard locked the back doors.


Burton had parked at his own hauler and cut directly between the trucks to the back row of the garage, where the trucks of the series' part-time teams were located.


When he attempted to enter the back doors of Said's truck, they were locked, but after a few seconds the doors opened and Burton entered. His crewmen milled about without making any animated gestures or remarks, while Said's crew tended to its own business.


After several minutes inside, Burton left Said's hauler and left the racetrack without comment.


Some 10 minutes after Burton left, Said had changed and exited his truck to address the media


 "He accused me of not respecting the guys going for points, but he also should respect me because I'm going for a good finish and he wasn't going for the win," Said said.


"My take on it was he shouldn't be mad at me -- he should be mad at Scott Pruett, because Scott went up there and turned him around and they were dead in the water, so I went up the middle."


On the last restart, with five laps to go, Burton, Pruett and Said had gone up the hill to Turn 2 in 11th, 12th and 13th. Burton ended up 30th and remained 16th in the standings.


"I thought (Burton) was giving me the inside, because he was just getting going, but then he came down on me," Said said. "I tried to get in the brakes, but I just slid into him.


"That was my fault, but he should be mad at Scott, not me. Going up into Turn 2, they were both dead sideways, over the curbs, into each other and that's not my fault -- I just took advantage to go up the middle because I thought he was giving it to me.


 "That's what I would have done for him. I didn't mean to do it to him and I feel bad, but he should be mad at Scott Pruett."


Stoddard, who worked as Burton's crew chief for nearly six years and scored 14 wins with the Virginian when they were teammates at Roush Racing, said the RCR's team's action surprised and disappointed him.


"I just closed the doors, locked the doors and wouldn't let the guys in," Stoddard said. "We're not Saturday night racing or Friday night racing -- and I'm a little disappointed he acted that way.


"But once he got over here, and everybody was calm, I opened the door so he could go in and talk to Boris.


"I hate we got into the 31, absolutely hate that it happened, but you can look at it two different ways.


"Jeff looks at it that we're not racing for points and he is and we should be cognizant of that. But I can turn that around and say I've raced with him for years and we've also talked about how you have got to be smarter.


"If you know someone's not racing for points, they don't have anything to lose. The guy's who's racing for points has got to be the one to give a little more of a break because one spot doesn't mean anything to him.


"We were a lot faster than them -- they were running 18.40s and we were running 17.20s -- and everybody else, as we came up through the field was giving us breaks as soon as we got to them.


"Then again, we were in the wrong because any time you get in a wreck, it's at least 50 percent your fault. I hate we got into him, but at the same time it wasn't all our fault, because he can race smart, too.


"Both of them need to go review the videotape. It might be 70-30, it might be 50-50 -- but it ain't 90-10. There isn't a wreck that's 90-10. Again, I'm not saying it's his fault, because it's not.


"We were involved in it and I hate that it happened because it screwed us up, too."


 



-- Edited by openwheelracer at 15:53, 2005-06-28

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