Danica Patrick Mechanical Failure Derails Patrick’s Night

A mechanical failure left Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Mobil 1/Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) with a 20th-place finish in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Patrick secured the Sprint Fan Vote following the Sprint Showdown to earn a spot in Saturday’s non-points event.

Patrick qualified sixth for the event, but she had to drop to the rear of the field prior to the start of the race because the team changed engines following Friday’s Sprint Showdown.

In the first All-Star segment, Patrick raced her way up to the 17th position. She reported that the car was over-rotating a bit too much, so crew chief Daniel Knost called for a four-tire stop with packer, wedge and air pressure adjustments when the field hit pit road.

Patrick started the second segment from the 19th position and worked her way up to 16th before the caution flag waved at lap 50. The team changed four tires and added fuel between segments, and Patrick lined up in the 14th position when the field took the green flag for the third segment.

A left-front wheel hub failure sent Patrick to the garage a few laps into the third segment. The team replaced the hub and Patrick rejoined the field at lap 88. She completed the remainder of the race and was credited with a 20th-place finish.

“Overall, I feel positive about tonight,” Patrick said. “You obviously never want to have a mechanical failure like we did, but my guys busted their butts to get me back out, and we were able to get a few more laps in to help us prepare for next weekend. You’d never turn down nearly 25 extra laps of practice, and we were able to get back out there and see what the Mobil 1/Aspen Dental Chevrolet would do. I feel like we made some good changes tonight and were able to gain experience and information that should help us for next weekend.”

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