Video: Patrick says Talladega crash was hardest of her career

On yet another race day when cars thought they could fly, among the results was a battered race car finishing third, #34-Chris Buescher going for a wild ride into the sky and #10-Danica Patrick taking a hit she called the hardest in her career. Although cars were airborne, perhaps the most dangerous wreck of the day occurred late in the race when Patrick's car, bumped from behind by #95-Michael McDowell, slid in front of the track, hit Matt Kenseth hard and then sailed at near-full speed into the backstretch inside wall, her Chevrolet erupting into flames.

Kenseth also hit the wall very hard while flipping, riding the wall upside-down and rolling back on the track. Patrick was in the infield medical center an unusually long time. She finally emerged, obviously shaken by not only her incident but also the overall crazy atmosphere of the day. A half-hour after the accident, she said her chest hurt when she breathed and that she had bruises from the wreck. She said a chest x-ray showed no serious injuries.

"I'm pretty sure I got hit, and the car spun toward the inside wall," Patrick said. "It hit really hard. Everything – the steering wheel – is way out of place. I hit my foot. Hit my arm. There was fire inside the car. It kind of knocked the breath out of me a little bit."

Patrick said the fire inside the car caused her to be "probably the most scared" she has been in a race car. "I haven't had fire on the inside before," she said. "It got to the glove a little bit. Honestly, I was thinking about my hair. I have a lot of hair, and I don't want to lose it. That was the worst one (wreck) so far. I have decent bruises on my arm and foot. I hit a wall at 200. And my chest hurts when I breathe." USA Today