iJack
May 25th, 2008, 04:21 PM
Patrick furious after late crash at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Danica Patrick spent the afternoon grousing about her car, then appeared to be looking for a fight after a crash ended her disappointing day at the Indianapolis 500.
Patrick collided with driver Ryan Briscoe while trying to leave pit lane late in Sunday’s race, and her car came to a halt.
A furious Patrick then got out of her car and purposefully strided toward Briscoe’s pit for what was shaping up as a confrontation with his crew, but track security personnel directed her back to her own pit area.
It was the second drama to play out at the track, following Tony Kanaan’s crash on lap 106.
The then race leader appeared to slow on the backstretch and was passed by Scott Dixon and teammate Marco Andretti. Kanaan then spun out coming out of Turn 3 and was hit hard by Sarah Fisher.
Both drivers appeared to be OK, but the crash cost Kanaan a chance to win. In a television interview after leaving the infield medical center, Kanaan said he was upset with Andretti for not giving him enough room on the track.
Informed that Andretti had said he was sorry over his in-car radio, Kanaan said, “He better be. It was a very stupid move.”
Kanaan said he felt bad for Fisher, who struggled to secure firm financial commitments from sponsors all month and had spun out earlier in the race.
“I feel so sorry for her,” Kanaan said. “I drove back in the ambulance with her, and she was just crying so much. She put so much into it, and I just feel bad for her. She apologized to me, and I should be the one apologizing to her.”
It was the latest in what was becoming a crash-filled race.
Early on, rookie Graham Rahal hit the wall hard, and A.J. Foyt IV scrambled out of his car after it caught fire.
Rahal, son of 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, tried to pass a car on the outside of Turn 4 and slammed into the wall on the race’s 37th lap, knocking both right-side tires loose.
During the ensuing caution period, Foyt’s car caught fire in the pits, and track workers scrambled to put it out. Foyt, who turned 24 on Sunday, is the grandson of four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt.
Both drivers appeared to be OK.
Marty Roth and rookie Jaime Camara also seemed to be OK after crashing. Roth, the oldest driver in the field, crashed coming out of the fourth turn— the same spot as 19-year-old Rahal. Camara hit the wall in both turns 1 and 2 during lap 80.
http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/news?slug=ap-irl-indy500-crashes&prov=ap&type=lgns
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Danica Patrick spent the afternoon grousing about her car, then appeared to be looking for a fight after a crash ended her disappointing day at the Indianapolis 500.
Patrick collided with driver Ryan Briscoe while trying to leave pit lane late in Sunday’s race, and her car came to a halt.
A furious Patrick then got out of her car and purposefully strided toward Briscoe’s pit for what was shaping up as a confrontation with his crew, but track security personnel directed her back to her own pit area.
It was the second drama to play out at the track, following Tony Kanaan’s crash on lap 106.
The then race leader appeared to slow on the backstretch and was passed by Scott Dixon and teammate Marco Andretti. Kanaan then spun out coming out of Turn 3 and was hit hard by Sarah Fisher.
Both drivers appeared to be OK, but the crash cost Kanaan a chance to win. In a television interview after leaving the infield medical center, Kanaan said he was upset with Andretti for not giving him enough room on the track.
Informed that Andretti had said he was sorry over his in-car radio, Kanaan said, “He better be. It was a very stupid move.”
Kanaan said he felt bad for Fisher, who struggled to secure firm financial commitments from sponsors all month and had spun out earlier in the race.
“I feel so sorry for her,” Kanaan said. “I drove back in the ambulance with her, and she was just crying so much. She put so much into it, and I just feel bad for her. She apologized to me, and I should be the one apologizing to her.”
It was the latest in what was becoming a crash-filled race.
Early on, rookie Graham Rahal hit the wall hard, and A.J. Foyt IV scrambled out of his car after it caught fire.
Rahal, son of 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, tried to pass a car on the outside of Turn 4 and slammed into the wall on the race’s 37th lap, knocking both right-side tires loose.
During the ensuing caution period, Foyt’s car caught fire in the pits, and track workers scrambled to put it out. Foyt, who turned 24 on Sunday, is the grandson of four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt.
Both drivers appeared to be OK.
Marty Roth and rookie Jaime Camara also seemed to be OK after crashing. Roth, the oldest driver in the field, crashed coming out of the fourth turn— the same spot as 19-year-old Rahal. Camara hit the wall in both turns 1 and 2 during lap 80.
http://sports.yahoo.com/irl/news?slug=ap-irl-indy500-crashes&prov=ap&type=lgns