DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Even as her mangled race car belched steam from its radiator in the background, Danica Patrick remained confident she would have good days in NASCAR.
This wasn’t one of them.
Making her NASCAR debut, Patrick ran outside the top 20 for most of Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway before getting caught up in a 12-car wreck just past the race’s halfway point.
Patrick was hoping to learn as much as she could about a new style of racing. She ended up going to the school of hard knocks.
“It’s important to have realistic expectations,” Patrick said. “There’s going to be spikes in performance, I don’t doubt that. But there’s also going to be tough days. And today, I would say, was more of a tough day.”
Tony Stewart went on to win the race for the fifth time in six years.
And it was an expensive day for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who went airborne in a frightening wreck later in the race. He and Patrick both escaped without significant injuries.
According to Earnhardt, the fact that Patrick wasn’t running near the front Saturday doesn’t mean she can’t be competitive in NASCAR right away.
Stewart said the experience Patrick gained was more important than the result.
“She got a lot of laps in today and that’s what needed to happen,” Stewart said.
Peters wins truck opener.
Timothy Peters won the season-opening truck series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Peters passed two-time defending race winner Todd Bodine on the final lap, then edged Bodine at the line for his second career victory.
Dennis Setzer finished third, followed by Jason White and Matt Crafton.
Bodine lost control of his truck after crossing the finish line and spun into the muddy infield at Daytona.
Peters, Bodine and a handful of others avoided a rash of wrecks on the 2 1/2-mile speedway.
Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler were involved in accidents that caused a third of the 100-lap event to be run under caution.
McClenathan in charge.
Cory McClenathan had a 3.787-second pass to claim the No. 1 top fuel qualifying position at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.
The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 50th annual Winternationals were Robert Hight (funny car) and Mike Edwards (pro stock).
