INDIANAPOLIS — After hitting a crewman from another race team with her car in an incident on pit road on Friday, Danica Patrick was in tears after the terrifying accident sent Chuck Buckman flipping over her car and onto his face.
Buckman, who was sent to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis with a concussion and a few cuts to his face, will be OK and is expected to return to duty as chief mechanic for Mario Moraes at Dale Coyne Racing in a few days.
On Saturday morning at  Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Patrick’s tears were replaced with the look of determination that is her trademark in the IndyCar Series.
Patrick was determined to win the pole on Saturday for the 92nd Indianapolis 500, but instead settled for fifth, the middle of the second row, after a four-lap average of 225.197 miles per hour.
Patrick, who addressed the media Friday night after the incident and said that she would not discuss the situation any further, was more interested in getting a chance to start up front for the biggest race of the season.
“Getting a pole here is like winning a race somewhere else,” Patrick said. “I was a little bit worried going in (to the qualifying run) just wondering what was going to come of it because I hadn’t done a full qualifying simulation. So, that was a little bit intimidating. We obviously have a pretty quick car. It was nice to start off qualifying like this. My run wasn’t perfect and the last two laps fell off for a reason, and we need to fix that.
“There’s more speed in this car, unfortunately and fortunately. I’d love to say that this is the end of the road for qualifying for today, but I don’t think it is. It’s called ‘Happy Hour’ because everybody goes quicker. It’s going to be about keeping an eye on the weather, keeping your car balanced and getting in line at the right time. It’s good so far, though.”
Patrick didn’t get a second chance, however, because with changing weather conditions, including an increase in wind, the team decided they wouldn’t be able to go faster than the speed of her run.
“These are not super easy,” Patrick said of qualification attempts at Indy. “This track is very difficult when the car is not balanced right. It’s intimidating, it’s scary, it’s difficult. We run on such a knife-edge here. When you tip over the edge, it’s very difficult.
“I’m telling you, I was on the edge.”