Danica Patrick has dealt with physical and aggressive style racing since riding on the Sprint Cup and she is prepared for that once again as NASCAR hits Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday for the Food City 500.
Patrick dealt with a wreck this season after losing a tire at Phoenix and she has had experience with wrecks at Bristol before, including last year when she was run into the wall by Regan Smith, after which she was none too happy. Patrick has said that short-track racing is fine by her, but there is a limit for bumping.
"I don't mind some beating and banging out there, I don't mind pushing your way around a little bit," Patrick said Friday to the Sporting News. "It just happens. I did it a little bit at Phoenix even. It is just the nature of short tracks when you are running really close to one another."
Patrick made her debut at Bristol last year and ended up finishing 29th after getting into the top 20 early on. Patrick spoke about her time racing with IndyCar and while the physical style wasn't prevalent there, she doesn't mind the aggressiveness on the Sprint Cup circuit.
"I enjoy it. I've always said from the beginning that NASCAR is a lot of fun for me because if somebody lays on you, you can lay right back," Patrick said. "You aren't risking your life, like the old days in IndyCar when somebody would do something that was not intelligent to you. I understood that it was a physical risk to try and get them back, because when the wheels are exposed, bad things happen.
Patrick has had an up and down season so far after starting off with her historic pole win at the Daytona 500 as the first woman to do it. She finished eighth in the race and also led laps, becoming the first woman to do that as well. After the crash at Phoenix she had a tough go of it in Las Vegas, falling behind a number of laps and finished in 33rd.
Patrick has said that her team is still learning the intricacies of the new Gen-6 car and that she should get more comfortable as the season goes on. Crew chief Tony Gibson and Patrick's team spent the week at Bristol working on some things and are anticipating a better day at Bristol.
Patrick will be racing behind Kyle Busch on Sunday, as he took the pole for Bristol by breaking the track record with a 129.535 mph lap, knocking away Ryan Newman's record from a decade ago. Busch said he enjoyed driving the new Gen-6 cars and is coming into Bristol with a win at the duel at Daytona as well as a Nationwide series victory at Phoenix two weeks ago. Busch has won five times at the track and beat out Kasey Kahne, who came in second in pole qualifying and Denny Hamlin, who finished third.
Hamlin made news all week after making comments about the Gen-6 cars that prompted a $25,000 fine from NASCAR for disparaging remarks. Hamlin spoke about how fans complained to him about single-file racing and that he would appeal the fine. He later dropped those demands and now is in a good position to finish high at Bristol.
Brian Vickers and Paul Menard rounded out the top five, while Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Lagano finished in the top 10. Scott Riggs failed to qualify fot the event, while Hamlin hit speeds at 129.960.
So far this season no driver has won the pole and the event on the same weekend, with PAtrick starting off at Daytona before coming in eighth. Last week qualifying was rained out, leaving Keselowski to take the pole, while the week before in Phoenix it was Carl Edwards who won the race after Mark MArtin took the pole.