The Official Danica Patrick Fan Site

Daytona - 2013

Discuss the COPD 300 and the Daytona 500 here.

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Permalink Reply by PhilipJames on February 24, 2013 at 6:00pm

I agree. If she pulled down in front of Dale, he might have punted her or just drove around her and guess what the haters would be saying now. Biffle could not get going anywhere... maybe he should have moved down and she could have followed but then Dale would have come up with the train on the outside. She was sort of a sitting duck both ways unless she had a deal worked out ahead of time and apparently she did not.

When the race started I hoped she would lead a lap, not get caught up in any of the wrecks that would happen and lastly, show that she could could run with the big boys without being out of place. Several times during race, she got shuffled back a bit and once caught in middle and going back, but she forced her way back up front twice that I saw. If you get a chance to watch the race on replay, there was a restart when she was on the bottom and Menard forced his way under her and she was stuck in the middle and going back, but she laid close to Menard and drafted off him and pulled back up and ahead of him and brought a line of cars with her and then raced back to a position where she blended back up into the top line. I think she willed herself back in there that time (almost like Smoke bullied his way thru the pack to win the Nationwide race... he bumped and forced people out of the way to win that one).

She is leading Ricky in points and that should give her some bragging rights (at least for now) and make for some fun with those two.

Roni Johnson said:

Danica is disappointed obviously with her finish considering she was in 3rd with less than a lap to go. I understand that certainly. But she is a rookie really at Daytona in a Cup car. Everyone should remember she didn't really race last year since she was taken out on lap 1. So, it is totally understandable that she didn't know what move to make on the final lap. Shoot she took the safe bet and rode where she was in 3rd. What other rookie would have done differently and when you factor in who she is and the unlikelihood that anyone would have dropped done with her if she had made a move. She learned that lesson in her Arca race when she dropped out of 4th or 5th and dropped back.

So, she needs to focus on how great she really did and all she accomplished in the last week, the history she made and the fact she is in the top 10 in points! :) She beat her boyfriend and has a leg up on Rookie of the Year. She did NOT let her fans, teams or sponsors down. She kept her composure when she found her self in the middle, she made solid pit stops without ruining tires etc.

Yes, she has high expectations for her self and wants to win. That is why we love to follow her. But for now, she needs to enjoy the moment and the positives. Listen to Mark Martin, be happy for the moment and not dwell on what hasn't been accomplished.

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Permalink Reply by Roni Johnson on February 24, 2013 at 6:07pm

Another positive - she doesn't have to listen to the haters all season long asking if she will ever get a top 10 or finish on the lead lap. Done.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Weber on February 24, 2013 at 6:34pm

Solid day, and its kind of nice to be slightly disappointed with a top ten instead of a top five. Go Danica!

In other thoughts, could anyone direct me to specific details of the engine issue yesterday? I'd thought nothing of it beyond her interview, until I saw some haters comment that what happened was she accidentally turned off the engine and drove to the garage and they switched to the backup ignition and everything was fine and it was all her fault. I'd really like to be able to refute them with specifics. I saw a vague indication that the entire ignition system had a problem but i'd like to prove it.

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Permalink Reply by Scott on February 24, 2013 at 7:01pm

I'm sure people are saying that and that her team is covering for her, but if you take the team at its word there was an ignition issue and switching to the backup would not have fixed it. I think what is confirmed as true is that Danica didn't think to try the backup ignition and neither did her crew chief or spotter think to tell her to try it, while she was still on the track running with reduced power. In the end probably a good reminder for her about backup the ignition system in stock cars.

Lisa Weber said:

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Permalink Reply by PhilipJames on February 24, 2013 at 7:14pm

That issue was in the Nationwide race. The motor started losing power, then shut off and she went to the garage. In the garage while the crew was trying to figure out what was going on, they fiddled with ignition systems. There is an A and a B ignition wiring setup as backup in case one does not work and while in garage they were able to get the car started a few times but the crew ended up saying that the entire ignition system was screwed up... both A and B systems and she would not have been able to compete properly, even if the car started with B system.

For a short time, Danica was peed off when they started the engine, thinking that she had messed up by going to garage instead of the pits, but after about 10 minutes it was determined that the car would not have run right anyway. She said it was a learning moment not to go to garage before they checked out car in pits first... not that it mattered this time. Of course the haters jumped all over that and as is their way, they only tell part of the story. Screw them.

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Permalink Reply by Roni Johnson on February 24, 2013 at 7:21pm

Yeah, I have doubts about the NNS ignition problem. My theory is that Turner crew didn't tell her to try the backup ignition and keep her going because they were content with a "start and park" result with her. She out qualified their 3 regular cars and was running better than the other 3. Plus, they already had the sponsor dollars to pay for the car. If it was as simple as her flipping the back up switch they would never admit it because it would have made their organization look as bad as it would make Danica look since they didn't catch that before she left the track!

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Permalink Reply by Scott on February 24, 2013 at 7:48pm

I didn't think Danica had much of a choice there at the end. I think she was right in believing that she couldn't be the one to pull out first, and I suspect Biffle had some similar concerns about pulling out himself too early and not knowing if Danica would come with him. Plus his car was great pusher in the draft, but I'm not sure he was confident in his speed if he was out front. He said he was trying to backup to Danica to setup the pass at the end, but Johnson backed up too and didn't give him room.

Overall a great day for learning and she pretty much only ran with the top drivers in Nascar the entire day. The way she recovered from being on the bottom and Menard shuffling her to the middle was great, and she did it pretty much by herself. I'm glad she got that experience and it all wasn't just running in line. Similarly the green flag pit stops hurt her track position, but it was still a good learning experience that really can only be practiced like that under race conditions. Especially given the quality of drivers she was pitting with. Great way to finish to finish Daytona off, and even further strengthen her team's belief in her.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Huntington on February 24, 2013 at 7:49pm

I just saw a long interview with Danica by the ESPN crew and she said she was very proud to be one of only 15 people ever to lead both Indy 500 and Daytona 500. She said that record has nothing to do with being a girl.

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Permalink Reply by DanicaPowerX on February 24, 2013 at 7:52pm

Pretty cool that Jimmie was able to come back and win it this time. Keep in mind that he finished dead last the year before so that's good.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel on February 24, 2013 at 8:39pm

Pretty excellent day! Figured she'd get rushed at the end but to attack with confidence at that point will come with experience. Great run! Gonna be a good year!

If you guys get a chance to go to DIS come on down; it is a great time!

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Permalink Reply by Becky on February 24, 2013 at 9:15pm

I know she wanted to do more on that last lap but I think she did the right thing in sticking with Biffle...yes it was the conservative thing to do but a lot of today was about building credibility and learning. I agree with others that Junior would have gone around her and at that point everyone was going to go with Junior so she would have been shuffled farther back.

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Permalink Reply by Becky on February 24, 2013 at 9:18pm

Lisa, here a link to a story by Bob Pockrass detailing the ignition issues...

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2013-02-23/danica-patrick-...

As Scott said the haters will believe the crew chief was covering for her. :) I noticed when watching/listening to RaceBuddy during yesterday's race it seemed like it took a long time to get the car to start on the starting grid but it did eventually fire.

Lisa Weber said:

Solid day, and its kind of nice to be slightly disappointed with a top ten instead of a top five. Go Danica!

In other thoughts, could anyone direct me to specific details of the engine issue yesterday? I'd thought nothing of it beyond her interview, until I saw some haters comment that what happened was she accidentally turned off the engine and drove to the garage and they switched to the backup ignition and everything was fine and it was all her fault. I'd really like to be able to refute them with specifics. I saw a vague indication that the entire ignition system had a problem but i'd like to prove it.