Danica Patrick let her frustration with Landon Cassill get the worst of her as she wrecked both hers and Cassill’s stock cars during Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Patrick drove into turn one at lap 155 right on Cassill’s rear bumper. She maintained contact with him through the turn, moving him up the track, reports Yahoo! News .
While her message was certainly delivered, the GoDaddy.com driver got more than she bargained for, sending both cars into a spin. When Patrick attempted to correct the spin, she backed up into the wall, ending her day. After she got out of her car, Danica stated:
“I have just been really frustrated with the No. 83. He slammed into me on the front straight for no reason than his radio communication ‘She was in the way.’ I’ve always played fair. If it’s one time, I can imagine frustration. But it’s been pretty consistent with him getting in to me.”
Patrick’s crew chief, Stewart-Haas Racing competition director Greg Zipadelli, was reportedly not amused by her attempt at retaliation, telling his driver, “You know better than to do that.” SB Nation notes that Danica Patrick went on to say:
“At some point I have to stand up for myself so this doesn’t happen with other people. I chose today.”
After the race, Landon Cassill spoke reporters about the incident, saying that he didn’t hit Patrick because she was in the way, but because she was “driving like a maniac making it three-wide on a restart” when other drivers were “staying cool to keep from wrecking.”
Landon Cassill also noted that the only other run in he can recall with Patrick was when he accidentally nudged her car coming off the corner during a race in Atlanta.
Before crashing herself and Cassill, Danica Patrick was running inside the top 20. Because of the damage she sustained, she finished 32nd. Cassill finished 18th.
http://youtu.be/ARcyzojFuyI
