Danica Patrick once clarified a “coincidental” moment involving Tony Stewart. The moment in question happened during the 2011 NASCAR Xfinity Series, then known as the Nationwide Series, at the Daytona International Speedway.
During the 2011 NASCAR Xfinity Series’ second Daytona race of the campaign, Indycar Champion Stewart’s car made contact with Patrick’s No. 7 Chevrolet and drafted Patrick for a long time. Back then, this incident gave rise to speculation that Stewart’s move was an attempt to win Patrick over to his own Stewart–Haas Racing. To that point, Patrick had raced for JR Motorsports.
Danica Patrick Denied Tony Stewart Collusion Rumors
Later that year, during an interview with AutoWeek, Patrick was asked whether there was more to Stewart’s peculiar tactic than met the eye.
However, she denied any pre-race scheming with the NASCAR legend..
“That was daunting. But it was a total coincidence,” Patrick said. “I was behind Trevor Bayne and worked with him for a while, but he peeled off to go work with Ricky Stenhouse, his teammate, and I was left alone. And my spotter T.J. [Majors], who spots for Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., said on the radio, ‘The 9 cars coming to you, coming to you, drag your brake and let him catch up, that’s Tony Stewart, get going!’
“I think something happened to Clint Bowyer, Tony’s drafting partner, and Tony was all alone, so it was a perfect scenario. But it was not planned.”
Although Patrick always maintained that the moment was not planned, fans found it hard to believe when, a year later, she joined the Stewart-owned Stewart–Haas Racing.
Patrick went on to race for Stewart–Haas Racing for six full seasons. Her last NASCAR race before she hung up her helmet in 2018 was for Premium Motorsports at the 2018 Daytona 500.
To this day, she remains one of the most successful women in motorsport history.
