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NASCAR Nationwide Series
NNS: Another Lesson For Patrick
Danica Patrick finished 31st in her second NASCAR Nationwide Series start....
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 20, 2010   Fontana, CA
In her second NASCAR Nationwide Series race Danica Patrick managed 31st-place in the Stater Bros. 300. (Photo: Getty Images)

The NASCAR education of Danica Patrick continued at Auto Club Speedway Saturday afternoon, as the IndyCar star struggled to a 31st-place finish in her second Nationwide Series start.

The good news was that she completed the entire race distance, gaining valuable experience, even if she was unable to run with the leaders.

RESULTS: Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300

Patrick began the day in 36th place, after a frustrating two days wrestling with her JR Motorsports Chevrolet during practice. Within four laps, she was 41st and half a lap behind the leaders.

Leader Joey Logano put her a lap down for the first time on Lap 18, as Patrick was about 2 seconds a lap slower than he was at this point. Shortly thereafter, Patrick narrowly avoided a big wreck, as she drifted up high right in front of Kyle Busch at the exit of Turn 2.

Following the first caution on Lap 34, Patrick pitted, complaining that she couldn't drive as deeply into the corners as her competitors. As if things weren't bad enough already, Patrick got busted by NASCAR for going too fast exiting pit road.

By Lap 60 of the 150-lap race, Patrick was a full two laps down, although her lap times were half a second faster than during the first run of the day. Fifteen laps later, at the halfway point of the race, Patrick was up to 32nd place.

On her second pit stop just past the Lap-80 mark, Patrick picked up another pit-road speeding penalty. After her second penalty, Patrick was three laps off the lead.

RESULTS: Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300

To her credit, she didn't lose any additional ground over the second half of the race, as she finished 31st, three laps behind race-winner Kyle Busch.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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