Danica looking to bounce back in Phoenix
Posted February 29, 2012 2:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Danica Patrick is aiming to rebound from a wild week at Daytona and a trip to her sponsor’s hometown track could do the trick.
Patrick said in a team press release on Wednesday that she’s looking forward to the Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 and racing in front of a Go Daddy crowd as the NASCAR Nationwide Series travels to Phoenix International Raceway.
“Ever since the Daytona race ended the way it did, I’ve been anxious to get back into my Nationwide car,” Patrick said. “To be able to do it at Go Daddy’s home track is very cool.
“Hopefully we’ll see a lot of folks from Go Daddy cheering for us at PIR this weekend. They might be the good luck we need to climb back into the points race.”
Patrick’s frustrating week began when she wrecked her car during a qualifying race for the Daytona 500. She bounced back to claim the pole for the Nationwide race but she was bumped by JR Motorsports teammate Cole Whitt and spun into a wall, eventually finishing 38th.
“Obviously, the incident with (Patrick) still bothers me, but I’ve got to keep my head in the game because it’s a long season,” Whitt said in the press release. “Danica and I talked after the race. I wanted to let her and (crew chief) Tony (Eury) Jr. know I was sorry.
“These teams at JR Motorsports are extremely tight, and it’s an honour to be a part of it and an honour to be teammates with Danica. We’ll move on to Phoenix this weekend and hopefully have both our teams run well and finish strong.”
She finished in the exact same spot on Monday night’s Daytona 500 after getting caught up in a crash on just the second lap.
“The good news is it’s a long season and this Go Daddy team is really strong,” Patrick said. “I have a lot of fun with this group, starting at the top with Tony (Eury) Jr. It was so neat to see him smiling after we won the pole at Daytona.
“We know we’re going to have our ups and downs on the track this year. That’s just part of the learning process. My goal is to get better each and every week, and if I do that we’ll have many more ups than downs.”
