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Patrick crashes in Nationwide debut at Daytona

Sat 13th, February 2010

Daytona Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Tony Stewart survived a crash-marred DRIVE4COPD 300 to win the Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway for the third year in a row, while Danica Patrick fell victim to a multi-car pileup in her first NASCAR start.

Patrick, who has been the center of attention during Speedweeks at Daytona, was involved in a 12-car wreck on lap 68. She made a dauntless attempt to avoid the incident, which was triggered after Josh Wise got loose and spun. Patrick clipped Wise and then made contact with Colin Braun before slamming into the wall. Her car spun down to the infield grass where she came to a rest.

After sustaining heavy damage to the front end of the car, Patrick headed to the garage, with her debut ending up with a 35th-place finish.

"I was trying to slow down and roll it through the corner but we all hit," a dejected Patrick said. "That's the tough thing about this racing. I can see what they've said all along with these big tracks."

Patrick started 15th but fell back in the field to race in a comfort zone. She avoided being caught up in a wreck that involved Mike Bliss and Trevor Bayne in the opening laps.

"The disappointing part more than anything is that I missed out on getting 40 or more laps left of experience that I could have gotten," she said. "And the car finally was where I liked it, and I felt confident as a driver to be able to run in the packs."

Patrick made her stock car racing debut in last Saturday's ARCA event at Daytona. She overcame a spin midway through the 80-lap race to finish an impressive sixth. Patrick will compete in next weekend's Nationwide event at California and then the following week at Las Vegas.

The 300-mile race at Daytona was plagued by several crashes, including Patrick's wreck and a horrifying accident involving her boss/teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

On lap 92, Earnhardt Jr. went for a wild ride after Carl Edwards bumped him from behind. Earnhardt Jr.'s car slid down the track on its roof and then flipped back up before he spun on the grass along the backstretch. He was not injured. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards were among the 10 drivers involved in the incident, which forced an 11-minute halt of the race for track cleanup efforts.

"I got turned in the right-rear quarter panel, and I guess a couple of guys just got together and it hooked somebody into me," Earnhardt Jr. said. "When my car rolled to the right, it just dug in and rolled right over."

Earnhardt Jr. is a five-time Nationwide winner at Daytona, but this race was one he just assume forget after a disappointing 29th-place finish.

"It was expensive right there," Earnhardt Jr. added. "I'm gonna have to balance our books after this one. It's been a rough day for JR Motorsports."

Busch, Harvick and Edwards all rebounded and contested Stewart for the win in the final laps. Stewart grabbed the lead for good just after Earnhardt Jr.'s crash, and then held off Edwards and Harvick on the final lap for his fifth win at Daytona in the last six years.

"That's probably one of the most dominant cars I've ever had at Daytona," said Stewart, who drove the No.4 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. "We were really loose at the beginning of it. Just kind of took our time, methodically got up in the top 10. Then with the pit stops and everything, got a chance to work on it."

Edwards finished second, while Harvick came in third. Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers. Edwards also finished second in this race one year ago.

"Tony's car was just unbelievable all day," Edwards said. "I was really proud of my guys, really happy with our luck that we were able to finish second to him. I'm not certain, but I think it was the same last year as well. Going to have to work on that."

Paul Menard finished sixth, followed by Joey Logano, James Buescher, Kasey Kahne and Steve Wallace.

Busch, the 2009 Nationwide champion, and Brad Keselowski made contact and spun between turns three and four on the last lap. Keselowski finished 14th, and Busch was 18th.