Patrick Rallies To Earn Spot in Daytona 500

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), raced her way into the field for the 57th running of the Daytona 500 by scoring a 10th-place finish in the second Budweiser Duel qualifying race on Thursday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, despite getting caught up in a late-race accident.

The Budweiser Duel consists of twin qualifying races that set the 43-car field for the season-opening Daytona 500, and Patrick earned the 20th starting position for Sunday’s race. However, because Patrick’s car sustained significant damage in the qualifying race, the GoDaddy team will go to a backup car and, per NASCAR rules, Patrick will drop to the rear of the field before the green flag drops on the “Great American Race.”

The damage occurred at lap 58 when the No. 11 car of Denny Hamlin made contact with the No. 10 Chevrolet and a multicar accident ensued in turn three. The GoDaddy team pitted three times under the subsequent caution to make repairs to the car’s left-rear quarter panel.

The accident pushed the second Duel past the scheduled distance, and Patrick lined up in the 18th position for the green-white-checkered finish. She took the white flag scored in the 17th position and drafted with SHR teammate Kurt Busch on the final lap to earn a 10th-place finish and a spot in Sunday’s race.

“It was all going pretty smooth until three or four to go,” Patrick said. “I thought that the car was really strong. I felt like I made a couple moves here and there. So it seemed good – racy. Then, you know, it went from there.

“First and foremost the GoDaddy Chevrolet is in the (Daytona) 500, and that was what we wanted to accomplish today. Kurt (Busch), my teammate, was great help at the end. I went high and he was right there with me. We got a finish out of it.”

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