Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/FOX Sports GO Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) were relegated to a 32nd-place finish in the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway after midrace contact sent the car into the wall on the Long Pond straightaway.
Originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, the event was postponed to Monday due to persistent rain. Patrick lined up in the 33rd position when the field took the green flag, and despite battling persistent brake issues, she worked her way into the top-20 by lap 26.
When the field went back to green at lap 92, Patrick was scored in the 16th position. As she reached the Long Pond straightaway, the No. 14 Chevrolet driven by her SHR teammate Tony Stewart appeared to break loose, and it came up the track, collecting the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/FOX Sports GO Chevrolet in the process.
Despite sustaining significant left-front damage, Patrick was able to bring the car to pit road for the team to assess the damage and make repairs. The Nature’s Bakery team pitted multiple times to work on the car before crew chief Billy Scott called for the team to head to the garage to make more extensive repairs to the left-front suspension.
Patrick was scored in the 35th position when she rejoined the field at lap 116. Over the course of the remaining laps she was able to pick up three spots due to attrition and took the checkered flag in the 32nd position.
“That definitely wasn’t how we wanted the day to go,” Patrick said. “I’m not sure what happened there with Tony (Stewart), but I’m proud of the effort from my Nature’s Bakery team to get our car back on track to make the most of the day.”
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