ESPN Sprint Cup

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Sprint Cup driver Jeff Burton called it "inexcusable" when asked about the scary impact Jeff Gordon had with an unprotected portion of the wall last weekend in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas.

"I'm not blaming Las Vegas Motor Speedway or NASCAR or the drivers," Burton said Friday. "I'm blaming all of us. We all dropped the ball. It's a failure at every level, and that includes me."

Fortunately, Gordon was not hurt when he made violent head-on impact with the inside barrier at the start of the LVMS backstretch.

That portion of the wall did not have the SAFER Barrier. Drivers also complained about the angle of the concrete wall, which allows safety vehicles to enter the backstretch.

"Greg Moore was killed [in a 1999 Champ Car event] hitting a wall shaped that way at California," Burton said. "When we don't let history teach us, we're being hard-headed. We have to continue to study the shape design and impact angles of a wall and move forward."

Bruton Smith, owner of Vegas Motor Speedway, said this week he would take whatever action is needed to fix the problem. Burton emphasizes that LVMS is not alone in needing to make changes.

"Pocono has some guard rails that are backed up by nothing but the state of Pennsylvania," Burton said. "That's also inexcusable. They have to fix that.

"And we never should have grass at an area near a wall. Pocono has grass on the backstretch. Given my choice, we wouldn't have any grass, because grass does not slow cars down like asphalt."

Grass was not a factor in Gordon's accident at Las Vegas. LVMS officials said they follow guidelines given them by NASCAR and safety officials at the University of Nebraska. A team of engineers there developed the SAFER Barrier, the collapsable wall which all NASCAR tracks use in the turns.

"It's logical to get advice from the highest trained and smartest people," Burton said. "But that doesn't give you a break in taking accountability.

"You can't say, 'Well, it their fault, not my fault.' That's passing the buck. We all have to be accountable and willing to make things safer. If we're not taking interest in our own safety, why should we expect anyone else to? We have to contribute to the process."

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com.