They say that rubbing is racing, but I’m guessing Danica Patrick doesn’t want to hear any of it right now. Danica got bumped out of the Honda Grand Prix in St. Petersburg on Sunday by Rafael Matos. The two were coming down a tight stretch early in the race when Matos tried for a pass. He wound up bumping into Patrick and the bump caused the two of them to crash. This one seemed to be all on Matos if you ask me. Why not judge the video for yourself — skip straight to the 1:35 mark.
It’s amazing how Patrick is always the headline regardless of what she does in a race. This time she was in the right and didn’t even initiate the contact, but she’ll probably be thought of as the “bad driver” because of her reputation as a hot-head. Her quote says it all: “It’s not exactly the ideal spot to pass,” she said. “We were going into the fast chicane there and there’s no room, there’s no room for two people. … I was looking in my mirrors and I saw him. He just wasn’t all the way up next to me.” That’s exactly how it appeared to me. Their loss was Team Penske’s gain as Ryan Briscoe got the win.
