Flat tire sends Danica Patrick into the wall early at Pocono Raceway
A promising run early in the going for Stewart-Haas Racing's Danica Patrick took a big hit on Lap 16 of 160 in Sunday's Go Bowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Battling hard for a top-10 spot, Patrick made contact with the outside wall as she exiting the Tunnel Turn on Lap 15. The damage to the fender caused a tire rub on her No. 10 Chevrolet. As smoke began billowing from the tire rub, crew chief Tony Gibson called his driver to the pits to change tires and fix the damage.
However, Patrick drove hard into the Tunnel Turn on Lap 16 before she could get to the pits and the tire could not hang on. When the tire gave out the No. 10 Chevrolet was sent hard into the outside wall, further damaging her car. Patrick was able to rejoin the race, but was two laps down to the leader at the time.
This is the second week in a row that a potentially strong run by Patrick went south early. Last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Patrick's top-15 performance came to a halt when the team broke a rear gear and was sent behind the wall for much of the race.
