Danica’s first NASCAR stint gets an ‘Incomplete’ (Yahoo! Sports)
February 27, 2010
LAS VEGAS – The first chapter of Danica Patrick’s stock car experiment ended with her asking for directions back to the garage – her vision impaired by the folded-up hood blocking her view.
Danica Patrick ran into Michael McDowell on Lap 83 in the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.Getty
Moments earlier, Patrick clipped Michael McDowell’s rear bumper, sending both drivers into a spin and, eventually, each other. Just 83 laps into the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, her race was over.
As Patrick wheeled her battered race car back toward the garage, she unloaded on McDowell, wondering what he and his spotter were thinking getting in the way of a faster car, especially when his car already was busted up from an earlier incident.
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“I went to go underneath him in [Turn] 1, and I think the red tape [holding] on the left-rear bumper should’ve been a big signal for me,” she explained.
McDowell immediately apologized to Patrick, taking full blame for causing the incident – “She has every right to be upset,” McDowell said – but that provided her little consolation. For Patrick, there is no next week because next week she goes back to her day job in IndyCar. Her next NASCAR Nationwide Series race won’t come until late June, meaning every one of these laps are precious.
At the time of the accident, she was running relatively well. Granted she was a lap down, but she had worked her way from 37th to 24th and was clocking lap times similar to those in the top 10.
“It would have been nice to have a decent finish, and I was doing better and better all the time,” said Patrick, who explained that during the race Kevin Harvick actually was directing her which line to drive on the track. “Learning from that, I would have been much better off in the second stint and probably no doubt better in the third stint again. But, you know, we never got a chance to do that.”
Looking back on the first three races of her NASCAR experiment, there’s not enough completed work to provide an accurate grade:
• Daytona: Incomplete.
She started 15th, avoided some trouble early, fell back and ultimately couldn’t avoid a wreck in front of her, ending her race on Lap 69. Patrick wound up finishing 35th.
Her reaction: “It’s important to have realistic expectations. There’s going to be spikes in performance, I don’t doubt that. But there’s also going to be tough days. And today, I would say, was more of a tough day.”
• Auto Club Speedway: C+
Though she was visibly upset with her performance afterward, Patrick did improve throughout the race. That was the good news. The bad news was she got caught speeding twice on pit road – in fairness, so did Carl Edwards – and finished 31st, which was about where she ran most of the day.
Her reaction: “I’m a competitor and I’m used to running up front. So it’s shocking when you’re that far back. But you know what? This is a whole new ball of wax for me, and it’s all different. And I have to disconnect from the results for quite some time, I think, because they’re probably not going to be what I’m used to.”
And she gets an incomplete for her work in Las Vegas, where it officially goes down as a 36th-place finish
For the next four months, Patrick returns her focus to IndyCar, which starts its season on March 14 in Brazil. She’ll compete in eight IRL races before her next Nationwide start, which will come June 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“I am going to miss it. I wish there was a race next weekend,” Patrick said. “I’m sure I’ll keep in contact, and I’ll be watching all the time trying to pick up tips from anything I can.
“I’m proud of some things. I should be proud of everything, but that’s just me as a competitor, I guess.”
Jay Hart is the NASCAR editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Jay a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
