The accident occurred on lap 85, when McDowel says he gave Patrick an indication to go take the outside lane. Apparently, she didn't and when McDowell steered to the inside, Danica was still there.
“Tape all over the left rear bumper of McDowell is probably a bad sign and it turned out to be one,” Patrick said. “He just turned all the way down. It wasn’t even like a thump. It was a clash. I’m not sure what him or anybody was looking at or if they were looking."
“I heard you had to be a little careful out here. There’s a lot of rookies, and I’m one, too. But you’ve got to hold your line.”
What's worse for Danica is that before the incident she was in the race. After starting 37th, she managed to get in the mid 20s before pitting. After the stop, she was back at full speed until she stopped in McDowell's car.
The latter apologized, saying the fault for the incident lies with him.
“She has every right to be upset,” McDowell said. “I came out with a tore-up race car that is bare bond from top to bottom and she just came out on new tires."
"I ran the bottom of the straightaway to basically signal to her I was going to run the bottom and the closing rate was so much [that] by the time she got there, for some reason, she took the inside. It’s completely my fault. Not the spotter’s fault. … I apologize and I hope that Junior Nation and Danica Mania don’t attack me because I’m a big fan.”
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