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Geico 500 Race Report

05.01.16

Geico 500 Race Report

Date: May 1, 2016
Event: Geico 500 (Round 10 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 37th/24th (Accident, completed 180 of 188 laps)
Point Standing: 26th (166 points)
Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was relegated to a 24th-place finish after a late-race accident took her out of contention for a top-10 result in Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Patrick started the race from the 37th position, cracked the top-20 at lap 20 and moved into the top-10 for the first time at lap 29. Crew chief Billy Scott called her to pit road for a scheduled, green-flag pit stop at lap 39. Cars went three-wide in an effort to gain ground entering pit road, and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet sustained significant left-rear damage as the No. 27 made contact with Patrick and spun the car around in the team’s pit stall. Patrick was able to get the car pointed in the right direction, and the team completed the stop. After the lengthy stay on pit road, Patrick returned to the track in the 40th position. Without a drafting partner, Patrick went a lap down to the leader at lap 46.

The caution flag waved for the first time at lap 50 and Patrick narrowly avoided getting hit as the No. 88 car spun up the track. Scott called her to pit road on the following lap for repairs from the previous pit-road incident. The team pitted twice under the caution to repair the damage, and she restarted in the 37th position at lap 57. When the caution flag waved again two laps later, Patrick was in position to get the free pass and got back on the lead lap. She restarted 34th at lap 62 and worked her way into the top-20 at lap 73.

With rain in the area, many of the lead-lap cars pitted when the caution flag waved at lap 96. Patrick was scored in the 11th position, so Scott had her stay out, and she led several laps under caution. The rain dissipated, and the team elected to pit for tires and fuel one lap before the field went back to green. Patrick restarted in the 20th position and worked her way into the top-15 by lap 116.

At lap 160, Patrick spun through the grass after contact from the No. 11 car as a part of a 21-car incident in turn one. Scott called her to pit road on the following lap to get fresh tires and fuel and to make sure the car had not sustained any additional damage. Patrick returned to the track and restarted in the 10th position at lap 166.

As Patrick ran in the eighth spot with eight laps to go, contact on the backstretch from the No. 95 car sent her No. 10 Chevrolet down the track into the No. 20 car. From there, Patrick hit the inside wall. Per NASCAR policy, Patrick was taken to the infield care center, where she was evaluated and released.

"I'm okay,” said Patrick. “I’m not sure exactly what started (the wreck), but I know I got drilled from behind and the car spun toward the inside wall. It hit really hard. Everything – the steering wheel – is way out of place. I hit my foot, hit my arm. There was fire inside the car. It kind of knocked the breath out of me a little bit.

“We all kind of raced to halfway, then all raced to the rain that was coming and all raced to the end. The whole race we were racing like we were racing to the end. There were no moments to relax. I’m sure that expanded peoples’ comfort zone at the end of the race because we were used to running close. Then some people just took it to the edge.”

The No. 10 Chevrolet team was unable to continue, and Patrick was credited with a 24th-place finish.

Ty Dillon, the relief driver for Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent at Talladega.

 

While Dillon qualified the No. 14 Chevrolet on Saturday in the 14th position, Stewart started the 500-mile race from the rear of the field with the plan for Dillon to relieve him at the first caution. With the first caution of the day waving on lap 51, Stewart exited the Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet and Dillon took over at lap 53. Since Stewart started the race, he is able to receive the points per the NASCAR rulebook. As such, the final box score will show that Stewart earned his 14th top-10 finish in 34 career Sprint Cup starts at Talladega.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy Chevrolet SS for SHR, started 18th and finished eighth.

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Busch Fishing Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 15th after getting caught up in a last-lap wreck.

Brad Keselowski won the Geico 500 to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his fourth at Talladega.

With the race ending under caution, Kyle Busch finished second behind Keselowski, while Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-five. Stewart/Dillon, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Trevor Bayne comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 41 laps, with 12 drivers failing to finish the 188-lap race around the 2.66-mile oval.

With round 10 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is the new points leader with 351, nine ahead of second-place Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch is sixth with 312 points, 39 points out of first. Patrick is 26th with 166 points, 185 out of first. Stewart is 38th with 57 points, and currently sits 71 points behind 30th-place Matt DiBenedetto. Stewart is hoping to win a race over the course of the next 18 races and make it within the top-30 in the standings in order to earn a Chase berth in his final season.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Go Bowling 400 on Saturday, May 7, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.