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Burton isn't criticizing Earnhardt for contact with Vickers

Feb 20, 2009

FONTANA, Calif. – Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton is not offering any criticism concerning the multicar wreck sparked by contact between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers in last Sunday's Daytona 500.

While Burton deems it to have been a mistake when Earnhardt Jr. tagged Vickers as he attempted to come back up onto the track, he also sees this as just a typical restrictor-plate racing incident. Take out the names of those involved, and Burton thinks this is just another incident caused by a track on which blocking has become a way of life and when instant decisions can spark crashes.

"I thought it was a typical Daytona/Talladega wreck, where one guys tries to protect his spot and the other guy needs that spot, and you misjudge by six inches, and there's a wreck," Burton said Friday at Auto Club Speedway in California. "Take out who the participants were, and at the end of the day, that's what happened."

"Vickers put a big block on, and Junior had to come back across to get above the yellow line, he couldn't go under him, and when he did, he caught him. You can say Vickers shouldn't have done that, you can say Earnhardt shouldn't have hit him, but at the end of the day I don't think either one of them meant to cause a wreck. Blocking is part of speedway racing … I think that's all there is to it. Same kind of wreck you see at a lot of restrictor plates."

"The 88 [of Earnhardt Jr.] didn't mean to wreck him … He just misjudged him; he just made a mistake. He got blocked, and he was trying to get back in line. It happened so quickly. That's one thing that's hard to explain … On TV, it's like, 'Well that was easy, I wouldn't have done that if I was driving the car.' You've got to understand that in real life, behind the wheel, those things happen at a really high rate. It's a wreck that was avoidable, but it wasn't an intentional wreck."

Burton says that people shouldn't be overreacting when it comes to blaming Hendrick Motorsports' Earnhardt Jr. for the incident. After making a pair of pit-road errors and then being caught up in the crash, the sport’s most popular driver has drawn quite a bit of criticism this week.

Not from Burton. He says that he spoke with Earnhardt Jr. following the 500 about another incident they had because he feels that the two of them can talk when they need to. He says that talking privately with other drivers - once emotions have settled down following an incident - is the best way to diffuse any situation.

As far as the fan reaction to Earnhardt Jr. following the crash is concerned - Internet message boards and comment sections have been filled with discussion of the incident and a significant amount of blame and criticism has been heaped on the driver - Burton says people need to consider the situation.

While it's easy to jump on a driver when he makes a mistake, Burton says that people need to recognize that every driver has erred at some point and to keep some perspective on this.

"We all make mistakes ... ," Burton said. "There's not a driver in this garage that hasn't caused a wreck, that hasn't been in a wreck that they were responsible for … We are people, we make mistakes, we are trying exceptionally hard to succeed in the sport. When you put [in] a lot of effort and a lot of desire and a lot of dedication, you're going to have accidents. And that's what happens.

"I don't think people ought to be critical of him. I think it is what it is. It's not like Junior's a constant problem. It's not like Junior causes a bunch of wrecks. It's not like he doesn't have respect; he's one of the most respectful race car drivers out there. He and I had an incident in the 500. I was upset about it. He and I had a great conversation because I respect him, and he respects me … He's going to make mistakes the same way Jimmie Johnson is, the same way Tony Stewart is, the same way I am. We make mistakes, and the question is how many do you make. And Junior doesn't make a lot of them."