Burton doesn't regret Busch clash

Last Sunday, Busch made contact with Burton in the final restart of the race, while both were contending for a top five finish. The incident meant the Richard Childress Racing driver got a puncture.

Following the race Burton confronted the Joe Gibbs racer and accused him of ruining his day, something he now admits was unacceptable even though he does not regret it.

"[Racing] means a great deal to me and because of that and because of my passion for it, every now and then, I'm going to behave in a way I probably shouldn't," said Burton.

"I crossed the line a little bit last week, but I don't regret it... and could have been more productive by having a conversation on Monday rather than Sunday night."

Burton said he has not talked to Busch since last weekend and reiterated he does not have any personal issues with him. His view of what happened on the track in the closing laps of the race at Charlotte remains the same thus far.

"We haven't talked, not because I'm avoiding him or I think he's avoiding me," said Burton. "I was at Watkins Glen doing a tyre test for Goodyear the last two days and just honestly been really busy. I don't mind sitting down and talking to Kyle.

"I told you guys two weeks ago, I like racing with Kyle and I don't have any personal problem with Kyle, he's aggressive. Last week, my perspective was exactly what it was that week. Kyle tried to make it three-wide and got in my left rear.

"He didn't mean to do it, he didn't set out and say that he was going to cut the left rear tyre of the #31 car. He just did what he thought he needed to do to pick up a position. I have respect for that. He made a mistake and I paid the price for it."

The veteran says that he does not plan to race Busch any differently because of what happened last week and gave the 25-year-old credit for the way he handled things last Sunday, as Busch did not take their face-to-face confrontation any further.

"I won't race him any different and I don't think he'll race me any differently," Burton said. "I think that we're both professionals. Kyle's consistent and I think I'm consistent. I'm coming to Pocono to race Pocono, I'm not coming to Pocono to race Kyle. I'm not interested in a weekly confrontation. I don't like them. I don't like yearly confrontations much less weekly.

"I'm here to race Pocono and go out and win this race and that is what he's here to do too. I understand it was heated. To his credit, he handled that pretty well. It's hard when somebody is in your face, he handled it well, his crew handled it well. It's a new week."