Danica Patrick: 'I got the big crash out of the way'

Danica Patrick: 'I got the big crash out of the way'

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Feb. 24, 2012

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Doubtless Danica Patrick hopes she's a big hit in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Certainly, however, she'll hope to avoid the sort of hit she took late in Thursday's first Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway.

With half a lap left in the race, contact from Aric Almirola's Ford sent Patrick's Chevrolet sliding out of control toward the inside wall on the backstretch at the 2.5-mile speedway. Patrick hit the SAFER barrier at approximately 150 mph with an impact that lifted all four wheels off the pavement.

Knowing she had no chance to save the car, Patrick took her hands off the wheel before the car hit the wall—as all IndyCar Series drivers are trained to do.

"Obviously, I tried to save it and thought 'There is nothing happening here so I might as well let go,'" Patrick explained during a question-and-answer

session with reporters on Friday. "Again, that is an IndyCar thing. I don't see any point in keeping my hands tangled up with anything that is going to be moving.  

"I was just talking to medical on the way in here, actually, and he was giving me some 'Atta-girl' on doing that, because all kinds of things can happen the more you connect yourself with stuff."

Though Patrick was sore from the impact, she got help from her husband, Paul Hospenthal, a physical therapist. Emotionally, Patrick was surprisingly sanguine in the aftermath of the accident.

"That's why I'm excited about this," said Patrick, who shook down her backup car in Friday's second practice session. "Get the first big accident out of the way on my first IndyCar race (at Homestead in 2005). Get the first big accident out of the way in my first Sprint Cup race.

"I actually said that before I went to bed last night. I said 'Honey it's just going to be finishing from here.'"

Because of the switch to the backup car, Patrick will start Sunday's Daytona 500—her first Sprint Cup points race—from the rear of the field.

PASTRANA ANNOUNCES 7-RACE NATIONWIDE SCHEDULE

Motorcycle star Travis Pastrana, whose foray into NASCAR's Nationwide Series was KO'd by an accident in last year's X-Games, announced a seven-race

Nationwide schedule Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

Pastrana will open his 2012 campaign April 27 at Richmond and already has races booked at Darlington (May 11), Charlotte (May 26), New Hampshire (July 14), Chicagoland (July 22), Indianapolis (July 28) and Atlanta (Sept. 1).

The 11-time X-Games gold medalist also plans to run 11 races in NASCAR's K&N Pro Series, with his first appearance coming Mar. 17 at Bristol. Pastrana would like to race as many as 20 times in the Nationwide Series this season, pending sponsorship.

"The reason that we've chosen the races we have is just to get as much diversity as we possibly can," Pastrana told the NASCAR Wire Service. "I'm definitely looking forward to running a road course -- trying to get the funding to at least do a K&N West as well, trying to get on as many different tracks as possible.  Of course, tracks like Darlington is something that I've looked forward to running for a very long period of time."

Until he shattered his ankle in the X-Games in July, Pastrana was slated to make his Nationwide debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. This year, the series moves from the short track to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"Indianapolis--last year I thought it was going to be a lot of fun because it was more of a flatter, shorter

track, (where) I can slide a car--I've been doing that my whole life," Pastrana said. "I just have to figure out how to not slide a car now, and we'll see how that works out. 

"Just trying to get as much diversity as we can in the races that we're guaranteed to do.  Have great sponsorship lined up for the start, but I said, 'Let's try to pick the best tracks we can, let's do the best that we can with what we've got guaranteed and let's keep looking.' I want to be racing every single weekend.  If we get 20 races or 25 races, that's what I need to get seat time."

BUDWEISER RATCHETS UP DAYTONA COMMITMENT

The Budweiser Shootout no longer will be the Budweiser Shootout.

A 34-year supporter of racing at Daytona, Budweiser is both shifting and enhancing its commitment. Starting next season, Budweiser will sponsor both Speedweeks as a whole and the Thursday afternoon Duel 150 qualifying races for the Daytona 500.

The Duels will be re-branded the Budweiser Duel at Daytona, encompassing both races.

"Budweiser is the longest running active partner with Daytona International Speedway, and we are incredibly excited to enter this new chapter with them in 2013," speedway president Joie Chitwood said. "The opportunities created by this enhanced partnership are compelling, and our fans will benefit the most.

"The intensity and fun atmosphere that Budweiser brought to the Shootout for so many years will be taken up several notches as they assume a much broader role during Speedweeks and the Great American Race."

The obvious open question involves sponsorship of the Shootout, eligibility for which will revert in 2013 to Coors Light pole award winners from this season and previous Shootout winners who try to qualify for at least one Sprint Cup race in 2012.

The conflicting beer sponsorships led to some awkward eligibility rules over the past few years. Chitwood says he is pursuing several leads for potential title sponsors for the Shootout, but Coors Light is not one of them.

Budweiser's exclusivity with the Speedway precludes a rival beer maker from naming the season-opening exhibition race.