By Caleb Slouha
In the late stages of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, with multiple pairs of drivers showing frustration during and after.
Although several words were exchanged throughout the day, one incident resulted in a physical altercation between Jeb Burton and Chandler Smith. Shortly after, Burton ended up in a headlock by Kaulig Racing team president, Chris Rice.
With four laps to go in the event, Smith made contact with Burton several times, and Burton eventually went off into the grass. Burton was frustrated on the radio after the incident saying, “He’s going to get a broke f*cking nose after the race.” The two found each other on pit road and had a heated exchange before shoving commenced.
The frustration for Burton continued after the altercation in an interview and later on social media, telling the media “I respect that team and don’t want to crash their cars so I had to hit him upside the head a couple times to get his attention. I let my fists do the talking.”
On Twitter, Burton doubled-down on the fight responding to multiple Tweets:
Ram him down bc he drives like a tool bag. He got 3 fist in his head bc of it. Have a good night don’t mess with the country boy u will get the fist 👊🏻 https://t.co/PKVaWHjCJ6
— Jeb Burton (@JebBurtonRacing) June 4, 2023
Smith responded to it with a video posted over his social media accounts Sunday:
🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/rnRk7Ihp6d pic.twitter.com/8w7Ib1cN8F
— Chandler Smith (@CSmithDrive) June 4, 2023
Sheldon Creed and John Hunter Nemechek also exchanged contact, when Nemechek spun Creed and the favor was later returned.
Nemechek also had a run-in with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sammy Smith. He went for another spin after Smith drove in deep and they made contact. Nemechek would return to drive Smith into the grass and stated on the radio “we will fight after the race. That’s not how teammates race.”
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns on Saturday, June 10th at another road course, Sonoma Raceway in California.
