Danica finishes 21st in Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz.

Danica Patrick finished 21st in the Bashas Supermarket 200 Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway.

She matched her performance on the one-mile track here last fall.

Patrick qualified 30th on Saturday. And although she gained five positions in the first 20 circuits, by Lap 28 she had already dropped off the lead lap. Still, she continued to pick off competitors.

By Lap 60, Patrick had climbed to 22nd. Twenty laps later, she was 21st. By the first caution on Lap 102, Patrick was 20th, two laps down.

On Lap 121, Patrick, sounding a bit perturbed, radioed, "What did you do? I'm so (expletive) loose." Her crew chief Tony Eury Jr. suggested she turn off her bead blowers to build heat.

With 45 laps remaining, Patrick fell to three laps down but maintained 21st place. While Patrick lost a position in the closing laps, she felt relieved to bring the car home in one piece after a disappointing Daytona experience.

“That was a (bad) set of tires on that last run,” Patrick said. “I couldn’t get the power down in (Turns) 3 and 4. The last two runs killed us.”

Patrick refused further comment following the race.