Event: 59th Daytona 500 (Round 1 of 36)
Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (2.5-mile oval)
Format: 200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish: 12th/33rd (Accident, completed 128 of 200 laps)
Point Standing: 24th (16 points, 40 out of first)
Race Winner: Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing (Ford)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):
- Danica Patrick started 12th, finished 10th and earned one bonus point.
- The No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion team pitted on lap 30 for right-side tires under green-flag conditions and again for left-side tires while under caution two laps later.
- Despite fighting a loose-handling racecar off of turn four, Patrick ran as high as eighth during the first segment.
- Between stages, crew chief Billy Scott called for a four-tire stop with packer and wedge adjustments.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):
- Patrick started 15th, finished fifth and earned six bonus points.
- The No. 10 team pitted on lap 90 for a fuel-only stop and again between stages for four tires and fuel.
- Once all teams pitted during Stage 2, Patrick was scored in the second position.
- Patrick remained inside the top-five until the end of the stage.
Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-200):
- Patrick started 18th and finished 33rd.
- Despite ending the second segment in the fifth position, Patrick lined up 18th for Stage 3 as some teams elected not to pit and others took just two tires.
- On lap 127, the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford was collected in a 17-car accident. The car sustained significant damage, forcing Patrick to the garage, which ended the team’s day.
Notes:
- While Patrick was credited with a 33rd-place finish in Sunday’s race, with the points Patrick earned in Thursday’s Can-Am Duel at Daytona and in the first two stages of the Daytona 500, she leaves Daytona scored 24th in the driver point standings.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:
What happened in that accident? “I don’t really know. I just know we were all three-wide, and it looks like the Nos. 6 and 48 cars had something happen. There was nowhere to go. They just kept coming and hitting me. The left rear is broken. The bodywork damage isn’t that bad, but I don’t know how long that takes to fix. The five-minute clock is an interesting new element. I don’t know if it is good or bad. We don’t want to go on track with stuff that isn’t safe, but when all these cars crash out you want to be able to get as many points as possible. The Aspen Dental Ford was really fast today. All of the Fords were really fast today. We got organized, and we were gone! It was the funnest 500 I’ve ever had. Well, probably not 500, more like 300 or 250. It is a real shame. I feel like we could have been a contender at the end.”
Next Up:
The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Folds of Honor 500 on Sunday, March 5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by FOX.
