Danica recovering from crash, rock

LAS VEGAS

Danica Patrick took her racing licks this week — first as a participant and then as a spectator.

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Starting in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway, Patrick blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall on Lap 185. She experienced an additional hit when David Ragan could not slow up in time and ran into her driver-side door.

On Friday, Patrick said she suffered a headache and a sore neck following the Phoenix accident. Her injuries were further complicated on Thursday night when she was hit by a rock at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway while attending the World of Outlaws show.

“I feel like I have a concussion from last night,” Patrick said. “I got hit by a rock at The Dirt Track and I took it to the ground. So I feel like it’s really sore . . . It hit me straight in the head. Good thing I had a hat on or there would have been blood.”

After her crash at Phoenix, Patrick finished 39th and dropped to 22nd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.

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“The safety crew does a great job,” Patrick said. “The cars are safer than they’ve ever been. I said after last weekend, I’m glad I didn’t race in the era of a lack of SAFER barriers because I don’t know what it’s like without them.

“I know the hits feel hard and my neck was sore after last weekend for sure, which it has never been sore before after a wreck, so either my training program is off or it was just that big of a hit or maybe because it was both sides."

Patrick says she’s looking forward to racing the Cup car this weekend at LVMS, where she posted a fourth-place finish in the Nationwide Series two years ago — the best showing for a female among NASCAR’s top three series.

“This is a fun track,” Patrick said. “It’s definitely the kind of track I feel most comfortable at — high-banked, high-grip. Fourth in the Nationwide car was fun.

“Every time we’ve been here I feel like we run pretty decent. It was nice to have a test day in the Cup car (on Thursday) just to get up to speed there and also for me to work on qualifying on the last half of the day . . . it was good to get some extra running and get to grips a little more with this Gen-6 Chevy and see what it needs to handle well, basically.”