By Keith Waltz

The AAA Texas 500 on Nov. 7, 2010, at Texas Motor Speedway was a milestone moment in the NASCAR era of “boys, have at it,” as a fight broke out between two normally mid-mannered drivers.

The confrontation followed an incident under the yellow flag on lap 192 when Jeff Burton drove into the back of Jeff Gordon’s Chevrolet, punting the four-time Cup Series champion hard into the outside wall.

After they had both exited their cars, Gordon approached Burton and shoved him. A hockey-style fight ensued with a lot of pushing, grabbing and swinging, but no serious punches.

“If somebody does something stupid, I’m going to be mad about it and I’m going to show him my frustration,” Gordon said.

Burton took full responsibility for the incident, which actually started nearly a full lap before the two crashed.

“He pulled up beside me to say we don’t need to be racing side by side right there, right now,” Burton explained. “I went to pull back up to acknowledge him … and we hooked somehow, and when we hooked around we went. I don’t blame him. Hell, I would have been mad too if I was him.”

Back on the track, Denny Hamlin led the final 29 laps as he scored his eighth victory of the season in the No. 11 Toyota. Matt Kenseth finished second.