Danica Patrick: Latest News and 2014 Sprint Cup Ranking Ahead of Bristol

The roller-coaster ride of a season for Danica Patrick continued on Sunday. Only this time, Patrick had to rally back from an accident she was deemed responsible for by a fellow driver.

Patrick was running well when she spun out and collected several cars in an early crash. With drivers such as Trevor Bayne, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., the accident was a costly one for the notable names.

At the end of race, Patrick captured a top-20 finish and has three in her first four career races at Michigan. After qualifying 14th and going two laps down thanks to the accident, Patrick's record at the track remained consistent.

Just three races remain in the first 16-car Chase for the Sprint Cup, and Patrick is well outside of the window. Without a win before the 26th race, Patrick will likely be driving for pride and experience at the end of the year.

As the Sprint Cup circuit moves on to Bristol, here's a look at the latest news, ranking and results for Patrick ahead of the Irwin Tools Night Race.

Race	Track	Start	Finish
Pure Michigan 400	Michigan International Speedway	14	18
Cheez-It 355	Watkins Glen International	43	21
GoBowling.com 400	Pocono Raceway	10	30
Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	14	42
Camping World RV Sales 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	29	22
Coke Zero 400	Daytona International Speedway	29	8
Quaker State 400	Kentucky Speedway	10	21
Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway	11	18
Quicken Loans 400	Michigan International Speedway	27	17
Pocono 400	Pocono Raceway	16	37
FedEx 400	Dover International Speedway	28	23
Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	4	39
5-Hour Energy 400	Kansas Speedway	9	7
Aaron's 499	Talladega Superspeedway	7	22
Toyota Owners 400	Richmond International Raceway	35	34
Bojangles' Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	33	22
Duck Commander 500	Texas Motor Speedway	24	27
STP 500	Martinsville Speedway	10	32
Auto Club 400	Auto Club Speedway	27	14
Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	36	18
Kobalt 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	22	21
The Profit on CNBC 500	Phoenix International Raceway	33	36
Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	27	40

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	813	3	11	16
2	Jeff Gordon	816	3	8	16
3	Brad Keselowski	733	3	9	11
4	Jimmie Johnson	686	3	6	13
5	Joey Logano	714	2	9	13
6	Kevin Harvick	687	2	7	12
7	Carl Edwards	679	2	5	9
8	Kyle Busch	620	1	6	9
9	Denny Hamlin	589	1	5	10
10	Aric Almirola	556	1	2	4
11	AJ Allmendinger	556	1	2	4
12	Kurt Busch	542	1	5	5
13	Matt Kenseth	709	0	8	14
14	Ryan Newman	679	0	2	8
15	Clint Bowyer	672	0	3	10
16	Greg Biffle	660	0	3	8
28	Danica Patrick	445	0	0	2

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Driving through adversity has been a theme for Patrick and the entire Stewart-Haas Racing team, but Sunday was a special exception.

Not only did Patrick get involved in a wreck, but she was called out by Jeff Burton, who was driving in place of teammate Tony Stewart. Burton's thoughts on the accident were shared by Bob Pockrass of Sporting News:

Patrick appeared to lose control of the vehicle but couldn't recover to avoid the melee on the track. Though she dropped two laps down, the 32-year-old did make some noise at Michigan.

After catching the "Lucky Dog" on Lap 179, the SHR driver made it count by coming in as the last remaining car on the lead lap. Patrick spoke about her eventful afternoon following the race, per SHR's official site:

“To come back from the accident and being two laps down to finishing 18th, I’ll take it,” Patrick said. “It was a good job by the GoDaddy crew to fix the damage, and we ran well to get back up to 18th. It was a tough day, but I’m happy with where we finished.”

The accident on Sunday was just the most recent issue in a long line for Patrick in the Sprint Cup. Brant James of ESPNW.com provides a breakdown of her last several races:

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Patrick's four-race stretch since an eighth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in early July has been testing. She finished 22nd at Loudon, New Hampshire, 42nd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway because of a gear problem and 30th at Pocono after qualifying 10th.

Then things got really interesting. During last Friday's first practice at Watkins Glen she missed a shift and broke the motor, then in the final session crashed into the tire barrier after a left front shock failure. 

"

It was far from perfect, but Patrick still nailed down her seventh top 20 of the season. In order to make the Chase, she'll need perfection moving forward.

The SHR driver needs one thing to make NASCAR's postseason—a checkered flag. Though she clinched a career-best 18th-place finish at Bristol during the spring race, she has never had a top-10 result.

Here's a look at her career results from the short track, via DriverAverages.com:

Date	Start	Finish	Laps Led	Driver Rating	Status
March 16, 2014	36	18	0	55.6	Running
Aug. 24, 2013	22	26	0	46.2	Running
March 17, 2013	41	28	0	41.4	Running
Aug. 25, 2012	43	29	0	46.3	Accident

While her slow progression at the "World's Fastest Half Mile" is evident, she hasn't finished near the top of the pack. Rather than being a luxury for Patrick to win the race, it's a necessity to make the Chase.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of a victory over the next three races is minuscule. As the Chase fast approaches, Patrick's chances would continue fading away without a win at the Bullring.

Predicted finish: 22nd

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