DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Hendrick Motorsports swept the Daytona 500 qualifying races, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson winning their respective duel.
Danica Patrick needed a push from teammate Kurt Busch for the final two laps of Thursday night’s second 150-mile Budweiser Duel to make the race.
Needing to race her way into Sunday’s season-opener, Patrick wrecked in an incident with Denny Hamlin late in the race. Contact between the two in Wednesday’s practice sent Patrick to a backup car, and her Stewart-Haas Racing team worked feverishly to repair her Chevrolet for the final laps of the duel.
It was Busch who pushed her to a 10th-place finish, good enough to make the Daytona 500.
She then had a heated exchange with Hamlin after the race, and Tony Stewart, her boss, came down to jaw at Hamlin.
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