Danica Patrick puts two days of bad luck behind her

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A day in Danica Patrick's maddeningly interesting SpeedWeeks ended with a smile on the driver's face Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

After placing her latest Daytona 500 car of the week fourth in the second 85-minute practice session, Patrick laughed with crew members before departing for the day, having chirped over team radio earlier, "Let's go have some fun (on Sunday). … Hopefully, all our bad luck's gone."

Maybe it left with Denny Hamlin.

Patrick lost her primary Daytona 500 car on Wednesday when she was involved in a wreck precipitated by the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, then was nearly knocked out of the 500 field on Thursday when he appeared to spin her with a bump from behind with just three laps left in their 150-mile qualifying race. After three pit stops under caution to repair her No. 10 Chevrolet, which was eighth and safely in the field before the incident, Patrick used a steam-rolling push from Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch to finish 10th and into the field.

Patrick confronted Hamlin on pit road after the race and their extreme difference of opinion immediately went into heavy rotation on sports highlight shows.

It was a much more serene day on Friday.

Patrick's crew did not have her third car, which she had used to finish 10th in the Sprint Unlimited exhibition, prepared and inspected in time for a morning practice, but the car shook down well in the final session. Patrick ran 19 laps with a best speed of 192.810 (Dale Earnhardt Jr. led at 194.405) in a session that was trouble-free except for a busted water hose that forced her to the garage early in the session.

Before the session began, Patrick joked with spotter Brandon Benesch that she should send her stylist bill to NASCAR because the week had made her hair "significantly gray."

PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Danica Patrick