Danica Patrick, who won the pole for the Daytona 500 last year, was one of three drivers to have their Hendrick Motorsports engines suffer catastrophic failures in practice Saturday.
#52-Bobby Labonte, driving a second car for HScott Motorsports, was the first using a leased HMS engine to experience trouble in the first practice session of the day.
In the second session, the #14 Chevy of Tony Stewart — Patrick’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing — belched smoke, signaling a failure. Patrick’s #10 Chevrolet did much the same 10 minutes later.
Both Stewart and Patrick said they had no warning. “It’s just a motor. If it was getting ready for the race you would be a little more concerned,” Stewart said. “It’s just for qualifying. They pay the big check a week from tomorrow, not tomorrow.”
Each team will be forced to start from the rear of the field for the Daytona 500. All three cars will also begin their respective Thursday qualifying races from the rear. None of Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers suffered such problems.
HMS director of track support Scott Maxim surmised problems were in the “bottom” of the engine but would not know for certain until each was dismantled.
HMS general manager Doug Duchardt foresaw no problems for the rest of the race weekend, saying the team had “pushed the limit and found the limit.”
(ESPN)
