BROOKLYN, Michigan (Ticker) --
Dan Wheldon has a well-deserved reputation of being a "lady's man." But one female who doesn't seem to get along with Wheldon is Danica Patrick, who ripped the likable Brit for causing a major crash after Sunday's Firestone Indy 400.
The collision on lap 144 sent Patrick's Andretti Green Racing teammate,
Dario Franchitti, for a flight that probably lasted longer than the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903.
"Dan just came up and hit Dario and Dario flipped around," Patrick said. "Dan drives really aggressively out there. He said it himself on pit lane at Milwaukee that he's tougher. I don't know if tougher means rougher, because he doesn't play completely fair out there. I even said that on my radio, 'Dan better play fair today. I'm serious because he likes to drive up and intimidate you.' "Don't mess with us, especially Dario, because he isn't going to move. That's the result. People need to think when you are going 225 miles an hour what the right and wrong things are. The faster you move upwards, the slower you move backwards."
Those are the strongest comments yet from Patrick on Wheldon since their initial confrontation after the Milwaukee race on June 3. That's when Patrick was attempting to pass Wheldon in the first turn and believes the 2005 IndyCar champion cut her off and sent her off the track. Patrick had one of the fastest cars in the race at that point and was able to continue, but she believed at that time Wheldon cost her a chance at victory. She charged at Wheldon on pit lane after the race and even grabbed his arm, which led Wheldon to refer to her as a yapping little dog biting at his ankles.
