The Danica Patrick show came to New Hampshire this weekend, attempting a NASCAR breakthrough after going 35th, 31st, and 36th in her first three attempts. Racing’s Most Popular female has taken plenty of lumps in her first turns behind the wheel of a stock car, making today’s goal a simple one: stay out of trouble. Just keeping the car in one piece over 200 laps would have been a huge rookie accomplishment.
Too bad that proved Mission: Impossible within the first five minutes. A wreck just seven laps in left her limping home again, running 30th, five laps down after another difficult day. SI.com
Returning to stock car racing after three-months in the IZOD IndyCar series, Patrick qualified 25th in the
No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, but just seven laps into Saturday’s race she was pushed up the track and into the wall by 68-year-old Morgan Shepherd in the No. 89 Chevrolet.
“It was definitely a long day. It’s always tough when you have to start from behind like that,” Patrick, who gave Shepherd a shove at the end of the race to show her displeasure, said. “It was a bummer to get lapped that many times but it was a learning process.”
And her JRM team said that she accomplished what it wanted: Lots of track time and bringing a car home relatively unscathed.
“There’s a lot for me to learn, like how to adjust when the car does push like it was (Saturday),” Patrick said. “Finally by the end of the race I had a handle on a few things that were giving me problems.” Toronto Sun
| 
|