Danica Patrick: Latest News and 2014 Sprint Cup Standings Ahead of Talladega

A late wreck thwarted what appeared to be a promising run for Danica Patrick in Charlotte Motor Speedway and resulted in just her second finish outside the top 20 in the last seven races.

The accident involved Patrick and Joey Logano, with Ryan Newman narrowly missing the two drivers. Logano, who has already clinched a berth into the Eliminator Round, clipped Patrick and caused her to slide up into the wall and cause serious damage.

Patrick returned to the track to finish 26th but was three laps off the pace. That's a far cry from the 11th-place position she was in prior to visiting the garage.

This weekend, Patrick and the Sprint Cup field head to Talladega Superspeedway for the final race of the Contender Round of the Chase. She missed the Chase but still has a chance to make some noise on the superspeedway after leading laps earlier this season.

In anticipation of the Geico 500, here's a look at Patrick's results, standings and latest news.

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Joey Logano	3088	5	15	20
2	Kyle Busch	3082	1	8	14
3	Kevin Harvick	3081	3	11	16
4	Ryan Newman	3077	0	2	13
5	Carl Edwards	3076	2	7	13
6	Jeff Gordon	3074	4	12	20
7	Denny Hamlin	3073	1	6	14
8	Kasey Kahne	3057	1	3	11
9	Matt Kenseth	3056	0	11	18
10	Brad Keselowski	3038	5	13	16
11	Jimmie Johnson	3031	3	10	18
12	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	3031	3	11	17
28	Danica Patrick	643 (N/A)	0	0	3

Race	Track	Start	Finish
Bank of America 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	14	26
Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway	29	16
AAA 400	Dover International Speedway	13	25
Sylvania 300	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	18	19
MyAfibStory.com 400	Chicagoland Speedway	18	19
Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Raceway	13	16
Oral-B USA 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	27	6
Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	24	27
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

Latest News

brightcove.com/?flashVars='videoId=3834784104001

Before moving on to Talladega, the issue in Charlotte must be addressed once more.

Much like the issues following the race involving Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, Patrick's incident with Logano has been a hot topic. During the race, Patrick even asked if she could return the favor, per Jeff Gluck of USA Today:

Logano may be competing for a championship, but Patrick was still looking to clinch just her fourth top-10 result of the season. Patrick even mentioned the fact that Logano's chances wouldn't be hurt, via Dustin Long of Motor Racing Network:

It was an unfortunate wreck for Patrick, who was looking to play spoiler for other Chase contenders. Despite having just one top-20 result in Charlotte, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver was in line for another Saturday night.

Motorsport.com offered its take on the run by Patrick prior to her accident:

"

Danica Patrick appeared to be on her way to a top-10 finish in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, but her solid run was derailed when she was involved in an on-track incident at lap 247. ...

Despite the repair work, the damaged right side played havoc with the car’s handling and Patrick struggled with an extremely loose GoDaddy Chevy until the caution flag waved at lap 266. 

"

Patrick never retaliated during the race in Charlotte, but there are still five races remaining this season. However, causing a "Big One" in Talladega would earn any driver more enemies than earn them respect.

Rather than focusing on Logano in Alabama, Patrick has a chance to reach another career high at the track. Here's a look at her career statistics in Talladega, courtesy of DriverAverages.com.

Date	Finish	Start	Laps Led	Driver Rating	Status
May 4, 2014	22	7	6	74.9	Running
Oct. 20, 2013	33	23	0	64.3	Running
May 5, 2013	33	23	0	67.4	Accident

Those numbers certainly aren't impressive, but she has had success in the past on superspeedways. In five career points races at Daytona, Patrick has two top 10s and three finishes inside 20th.

Talladega is a completely different beast, but Patrick showed she can compete on the track by leading six laps back in May. She may have fallen off the pace later, but Patrick improved by narrowly missing out on a top-20 result.

It will take a much more complete effort and a clean car, but Patrick has a chance at running near the top 10 again this weekend. Whether that will happen is a completely different story in Talladega.

Predicted finish: 13th

Follow @RCorySmith on Twitter.