NASCAR Talladega 2014: Danica Patrick contends early, fades late

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- In the early going of the Aaron’s 499, Danica Patrick was running up front, leading laps and looking very much like she would challenge for her first NASCAR victory.

But despite avoiding numerous crashes and finishing with an undamaged car, Patrick somehow placed 22nd and out of contention Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

So what happened? How did a car that once looked so strong look so feeble late?

The problem, Patrick said, was an overheating Chevrolet, which after a few laps in the pack began losing power. It was an issue many encountered on an afternoon with a hot sun and temperatures well into the 80s.

“When you get back a little bit in the field it gets even worse,” Patrick said. “It just felt like it kind of died a little bit; then I started getting passed. So I dropped back to get some clean air. Got some track position, a couple of times and got up there a little bit, but heating was definitely an issue.”

In a race where the top groove was the fast way around NASCAR’s biggest track, Patrick was limited to the bottom lane and unable to pass cars as she had earlier.

The day wasn’t without incident for Patrick. While running near the front on Lap 6, she and Brad Keselowski made contact, which sent Keselowski spinning down and then up the track into traffic. Patrick emerged unscathed, but Keselowski wasn’t so lucky. He broke a radiator hose and fell several laps behind.

Keselowski wasn’t sure whether Patrick gave him enough room, or whether he cut her off and clipped the nose of the No. 10 machine.

“I made an aggressive move to take the lead and the next thing I knew I was spinning,” Keselowski said. “Obviously, there was some kind of contact but I don’t know what happened.”

An equally unsure Patrick offered her version of what transpired.

“I was running the bottom and I was feeling like I was going to get hung out,” Patrick said. “He went up to the outside and I was looking in my mirror to see if I was clear of the 24 (Jeff Gordon) to slide in. I was moving up to get in that lane and I just thought (Keselowski) had enough momentum to be gone past me.

“I don’t know if it was just me coming up -- it very well could have been. I don’t know if it was him coming down. I’m not 100 percent sure. My apologies if that was all my fault.”

The day did have positives, however.

Patrick paced the field twice for a career-high six laps, just the third time she’s led a Sprint Cup race overall.

“It was nice to lead laps; it was nice to lead more than one where you just get pushed by the (scoring) line,” Patrick said. “It makes me look forward to Daytona, and make me think really hard how we’re going to stay up front. Because it’s not that easy to go from 25th to lead; it takes some help and it takes some luck. That last little bit of strategy is what I have to figure out.”