Danica Patrick made history by winning the Daytona 500 pole, but she washed out of the Nationwide race on Saturday after starting 12th when her engine started giving her trouble.
Unfortunately for Patrick, she thought she had a blown engine, which would have ended her day, but it turned out the engine was not blown and perhaps it could have been fixed up in the pit, meaning she could have stayed in the race. Her engine shut off on Turn 3 and she felt the blown engine was "exactly how it would go. " according to USA Today.
Once she pulled into the garage her crew found that the engine started while doing an interview with ESPN and afterwards she was visibly frustrated. The crew said that it may have been the entire ignition system, meaning that Patrick may have made the right move after all.
"A good lesson that if there was a potential fix at some point, you just always come down pit lane, get in your pit box and do absolutely everything possible to see if you can fix it," she said.
The Turner Scott Motorsports car was running well early and Patrick was out in the front part of the pack, but once the engine issues hit, her day was over.
Her emotional reaction, she said, "was me feeling like that car still needed to be out there. I felt pretty bad."
Even though she had to come out, she showed off her driving skills to some of the Sprint Cup racers she will be riding with on Sunday.
"I was given some really fun advice before you went: Do whatever you want to win this race," she said. "I was working with a lot of guys out there, staying toward the front. It would have been another really good day. ... Unfortunately, it ended early."
