Danica Patrick was in the top-20 for most of the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. But a massive accident on the frontstretch late in the race ended her day, and she wound up 34th.
Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in 16th place on lap 438 when a problem with Brad Keselowski’s car caused him to slow down considerably in the upper part of the racetrack. Casey Mears’ car got into Keselowski’s machine, Patrick had nowhere to go, and she clipped Mears car with the right front of her racecar.
Crew chief Tony Gibson and the GoDaddy crew looked it over and got her back on track, but just a few laps later they brought her into the garage. The damage was too extensive for her to continue, and her race was done.
“We had a good day going,” Patrick said. “The GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness car was in the top-20 most of the day, and I think we could have had a top-10 finish. I’m not sure what happened with the 2 (of Keselowski), but the 13 (of Mears) hit him and I hit the 13 with the right front of my car. We got back out, but we brought it to the garage so they could look it over, and we decided we were done. It’s a shame because we had a really good car. Thanks to Tony Gibson and all his guys for a great two years. They were great to work with.”
Gibson and the road crew from the No. 10 team are now moving to Kurt Busch, while Patrick will work with the No. 41 road crew, led by crew chief Daniel Knost.
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