Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski turned NASCAR's Sprint Cup AAA Texas 500 into a WrestleMania brawl over the weekend when the two racecar drivers and their crews got into a fight after Jimmie Johnson won the race.
Gordon was pushing for the lead during a restart at the Texas Motor Speedway Sunday when Keselowski hit him in the rear, causing
Gordon to spin, The Sporting News reported.
Gordon found Keselowski on pit row after the race, first yelling at him and then lunging at the driver, setting off a wild scuffle between the drivers and their crews.
"The way [Keselowski] races, I don't know how he ever won a
championship," Gordon later told The Associated Press. "This is why everyone is fighting with him. There wasn't any conversation. You can't have a conversation with him. There's big consequences. To me, it's just a bunch of crap. The kid is just doing stuff way over his head."
Keselowski defended his actions, telling reporters he was simply performing good, hard racing and car bumps are just everyday hazards of the sport — something Gordon should know as well as anyone.
"We were just racing for the win," Keselowski told the AP. "I didn't wreck him, and just raced him hard. He left a hole. Everything you watch in racing, you leave a hole, you're supposed to go for it. I don't want to ruin anyone's day. I wanted to win the race and that was the opportunity."
NASCAR officials told the Dallas Morning News it will review the fight.
"We knew the format was going to put a lot of pressure on people to perform, make aggressive moves on the racetrack," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, said in a statement. "You could see the result of that."
The incident was not the first time Keselowski found himself on the wrong side of a fellow NASCAR driver. Four weeks ago, Matt Kenseth went after him in Charlotte, North Carolina, in a struggle that resulted in a $50,000 fine for Keselowski.
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