Danica Patrick survived a wild ride at the end of the Daytona 500 Gatorade Duel 2012 qualifying race on Thursday.
Patrick was running at the back of the pack during the white-flag lap. Jamie McMurray came down the track on the backstretch and made contact with Aric Almirola, when then ran into Patrick. The bump sent her straight into the inside retaining wall at full speed.
The Go Daddy racer tweeted, “Well….that was a bummer. I am OK, icing my sore spots down, getting ready for the weekend! Thanks for the concern.”
You can catch all of the race action on Sunday, February 26 beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Danica will start in the 29th position among a field of 43. Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle claimed the top two spots by virtue of the top two times in last weekend’s trials.
Cameras captured footage yesterday from inside Patrick’s car, and showed her reacting well under pressure. At 2:30 on the video slider Danica can be seen letting go of the wheel and pressing her hands to her helmet, a move that she learned early on to prevent hand and shoulder injuries.
She said afterward, “I don’t know if I could have done anything different. It was pretty fast and a sideways trajectory, so I kind of just braced myself.”
Check it out after the jump:
Photos: Video Screen Grabs