Danica Patrick OK After Daytona 500 Crash

Danica Patrick didn’t have the best start at the Daytona 500. The NASCAR star was involved in a serious wreck during her qualifying race at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Patrick walked away from the crash uninjured. Her car, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well.

Patrick said the crash was one of the roughest of her career. Patrick was running in a tight group when she made contact with another her car. Her Godaddy.com car spun out of control and crashed into a safety wall. Patrick told Yahoo Sports:

“I just got hit. “I was just running on the bottom lane and I’m betting it was just the chain reaction it looked like. Guys get so close on their side drafting; they’re touching you sometimes. So I’m sure in that situation it was hitting a side draft. It was just probably a chain reaction and I’ll go look [on TV] at it and see if I can fix something or change something that I’m doing out there.”

Patrick’s car was demolished and she’ll have to use a backup on Sunday for the Daytona 500. But Patrick is trying to stay hopeful, saying that the crash could be a “blessing in disguise” and that maybe her backup is faster than her primary car.

If the backup car doesn’t slow Patrick down, she’ll still have a hard time making it to the front during the Daytona 500. The crash means that Patrick will start near the back of the pack on Sunday. Patrick said:

“I’m just very disappointed the car crashed with two turns to go. It’s not how we wanted roll into Sunday. We wanted to just be cool, calm and collected with no damage. Maybe that backup car is fast. We weren’t super excited after qualifying. Maybe this is a blessing in big disguise.”

Do you think Danica Patrick has a chance during the Daytona 500?