By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Danica Patrick’s final motor race ended far too early in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. The No. 13 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet crashed on lap 67 of 200 after losing the rear of her chassis and pounding the Turn 2 wall.
Standing as her first Verizon IndyCar Series start since 2011 and final start overall, Patrick was clearly heartbroken after the accident.
“Definitely not a great ending,” Patrick said. “I do feel it was unexpected. On the other hand, the car was a little positive today and was turning more than I wanted it to. Had to chase it out.”
Suffering her crash off Turn 2, Patrick felt that corner was particularly challenging in the track time she saw.
“Turn 2 did seem a bit more edgy than the other turns,” she said. “It just swung around as soon as I re-committed back to the throttle. I wasn’t expecting it by any means. It just goes to show that these cars are tough to drive.”
Starting seventh, Patrick fell to 12th off the green flag and fell around the top-15 spot throughout the 67-lap run. But the accident ended her day in the 30th spot. Despite the disappointment, Patrick is thankful to have had the opportunity to end her career her way.
“I am for sure very grateful for everybody for being able to finish it up like I wanted to,” she said. “It still was a lot of great moments this month, this year.
“I’m appreciative for all the fans, Ed Carpenter Racing; they brought me a good car. Today was a tough day. It was definitely not the way I wanted to end, of course. I wouldn’t want to end any year like that but being the last one, it makes it a lot worse.
“I did have a lot of good moments this month and I won’t forget that.”