Danica Patrick came back from a lap down and survived an accident not of her making to finish a respectable 22nd in Sunday’s Phoenix 500k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), started 32nd but soon worked her way into the top-20.
While things were good early, the handling on her GoDaddy Chevy seemed to fade during the 60-lap green-flag run during the middle portion of the race. She got down a lap at one point and then was involved in an accident on lap 213, when Kyle Busch hit the wall and then was clipped by Clint Bowyer in turn two. Patrick and Joey Logano made contact trying to avoid the incident, and Patrick had some damage to the right front of her car.
She pitted for quick repairs by the GoDaddy crew, led by crew chief Daniel Knost, and got back out on the course without losing additional laps. Patrick and her team then took the wave-around when the cautions kept coming out late, ending up 22nd when the checkered flag fell.
“We were on the lead lap, which has been a struggle here lately,” Patrick said. “The GoDaddy car was good early on, but I think the track got tight later on. We finished decent. It’s always important to run well here because of GoDaddy, so I’ll take it. Daniel and the crew worked well together, and so that was good. We are ready for Homestead.”
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent by winning the Phoenix 500k. It was the 24th points-paying Sprint Cup win for SHR since its inception in 2009 and the organization’s fifth this season.
Harvick started third and led three times for a race-high 264 laps around the mile oval to bring his laps-led total at Phoenix to a series-best 978. It was Harvick’s 27th career Sprint Cup win, his fourth this season and his series-leading sixth Sprint Cup win at Phoenix.
Most importantly, the victory punched Harvick’s ticket to the Championship Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Harvick is one of only four drivers from the original field of 16 Chase drivers who made it through three elimination rounds to contend for the title in the series finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick will battle Denny Hamlin, Logano and Ryan Newman, with the highest-finishing driver in the 400-mile race at Homestead being crowned 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished seventh in the Phoenix 500k to record his 11th top-10 of 2014 and his 13th top-10 in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Phoenix.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 20th.
Jeff Gordon finished 1.636 seconds behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Logano, Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 12 caution periods for 58 laps, with five drivers failing to finish the 312-lap race.
Busch is ninth in Sprint Cup points, while Stewart and Patrick are 25th and 28th, respectively.