INDIANAPOLIS — From the fury in Danica Patrick’s eyes and the determined march toward Ryan Briscoe on pit lane after the two were involved in a crash on pit lane, it’s probably a good idea that Charles Burns, the chief of security for the Indy Racing League, cut her off at the pass.
Burns carries an imposing figure. He’s a former Indiana State Police officer who was the head of the security detail for the Governor of Indiana before he was hired to work at the IRL.

“It’s probably best that I didn’t get down there anyway.” — Danica Patrick

Patrick was so livid, she climbed out of her race car, took off her gloves and headed down pit lane to confront Briscoe for taking her out of the race with 29 laps left.
“It’s probably best that I didn’t get down there anyway,” Patrick said. “I was pulling out of pit lane and from what I know it was pretty obvious what happened.
“The guys worked hard today and we had a great car all month, but we didn’t get to show it at the end.”
Briscoe admitted he was at fault, but placed some of the blame on Patrick.
“It’s a real shame,” he said. “I just saw the replay and it confirmed my thoughts. We were both out there trying to win the Indy 500 today, and when it is time to go, you have to go. But from what I can see, there was still plenty of room on the right side for her to get around, and there are people pointing fingers, but that’s not the way we are.
“We both have a brake pedal in our cars and from what I can tell, there was still plenty of room for her to get around me. I was trying to get around (Dan) Wheldon, and I was staying in the middle lane. I got ran up in the back and it’s a shame.”
Patrick has never been a fan of Briscoe and that dates back to their rookie season of 2005 when Briscoe ran Patrick off the race course at Infineon Raceway.
She confronted the driver after that incident three years ago and was ready to do it in front of 350,000 at the Indy 500.
“You just don’t come out of your pit box and swing three lanes out,” Patrick said. “That’s why there is a ‘get-up-to-speed’ lane and an ‘at- speed’ lane.
“I was at speed.”
It was Patrick’s second pit-lane incident of the month, as she hit Dale Coyne Racing crew member Chuck Buckman on pit lane during the first week of practice.