Danica Patrick had a rough day last week in Las Vegas and at the Food City 500 on Sunday in Bristol she will be prepared for a short track and some aggressive racing with drivers like Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson.
Patrick finished 33rd at the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and she had an interesting week leading up to the race, as she was hit in the head with a rock while at the track on Thursday night while viewing a dirt road event. Afterwards she was fine and although she was a bit sore, it didn't keep her from participating in the race.
Kyle Busch is having a great week at Bristol so far, as he set the track record in the pole setting and also took home his second NAtionwide title in four weeks on Saturday after holding off Kyle LArson in a furious finish. He set the track record with 129.535 mph, taking down Ryan Newman's decade old record.
Busch is a five-time Bristol track winner and after his success on Saturday and earlier in the week, he could be the first driver on the circuit this season to win a race out of the pole position. KAsey Kahne came in second behind Busch, while Denny Hamlin came in third after a wild week himself. Hamlin was fined $25,000 by NASCAR for making disparaging comments about the Gen-6 cars.
Hamlin took things further by saying that he would not pay the fine and would appeal, but after a meeting with NASCAR, he decided to change his mind and move on to the race on Sunday.
"To have everything behind me is obviously a relief," Hamlin said. "And just for my team's sake, we need to focus on running as good as we can and trying to make this Chase. Any distractions is something you don't need especially when the competition is so close. You just can't afford anything that hampers your ability to go win, so this is going to be a step in the right direction for us."
Patrick never could get comfortable in Las Vegas last week and was eventually hit with a pit penalty, which put her a lap behind after falling behind the pace. The previous week she lost a tire at Phoenix and crashed into the wall, after which she was knocked into by David Ragan's car. It was much different from her Daytona performance that saw her hit a few milestones, including becoming the first woman to win the pole and to lead laps at the event.
Busch has momentum entering the race after holding off LArson, who tried to take him high but finished just .03 seconds behind him in the race. Brian Vickers was in third, while Sam Hornish Jr and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Patrick and her boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will have the attention on them after last week and are the power couple of NASCAR since going public with their relationship. So far there has not been any incidents between the two on the track, but that could chance on Sunday.