After three spins Danica not complaining

A week ago, Danica Patrick was talking about how much fun she was having racing in NASCAR.

That was before she wrecked three times in the Nationwide Series race at Michigan.

One of those accidents came when Austin Dillon took the air off her rear spoiler, causing her to lose control of her car and spin.

“The biggest thing to do is just remember it," JR Motorsports crew chief and co-owner Tony Eury Jr. told Patrick over her team radio. “All this (stuff) people are doing to you, remember it and when you get to them and you want to race them dirty, race them the exact same way — put your bumper right underneath there and take their air off.

“Just remember it. … They hate that you’re running this good."

After the race, Patrick downplayed the theory that other drivers are racing her dirty, saying that she’s still figuring out how some new drivers in the series will race against her.

She’s not going to be intimidated, but says she also knows that she’s still learning. And she’s having fun in her first full season of NASCAR racing after her switch from the IndyCar Series.

“I enjoy the racing a lot," she said. “I really, really do. I enjoy the challenge the car presents and how much it changes and adapting to that and I enjoy the people a lot.

“I feel very at home with them. I feel like it’s the same people I grew up racing go-karts with—it’s the same Southern accents, it’s the same kind of get to business but still have a good time type of attitude."

But Patrick also is still learning how to handle frustrating days like Michigan, where she ran in the top 10 much of the race but wound up 18th after the three spins.

With 33 races on the schedule compared to 17 in IndyCar, not every race seems so critical. Sporting News