Racing ace Danica Patrick's first big foray as a Sprint Cup driver at New Hampshire Motor Speedway didn't go at all the way she planned this week.

According to USA Today the race didn't fare any better for her Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman either.

Patrick was involved in a big crash on Sunday that also involved fellow rookie and current boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

It was the prefect media storm. Patrick's dramatic exit from the race made the headlines because it also happened to involve Stenhouse.

It's the second time this season the power couple has been involved in an on-track encounter together. The first — at Charlotte in May — had a bigger impact and resulted in the pair exchanging words in private.

Patrick quickly took responsibility for Sunday's incident, which prompted a caution on lap 238.

The field was reportedly crowded after a restart and Patrick lost control of her car, sliding sideways and collecting Travis Kvapil and Stenhouse on the way.

Patrick and Kvapil immediately parked their damaged cars but Stenhouse returned to the race after repairs.

'We all bunched up on those restarts, and I'm not sure if I misjudged the braking zone or if they stopped really quick in front of me,' Patrick said. 'It felt like they stopped, and I tried to stop myself from getting in the back of anyone, but I got sideways when I did that. It's so unfortunate I took people with me. I'm really sorry.'

'In hindsight, you want to give all the room you can so that that kind of thing doesn't happen. There were other restarts, too, where I had gotten the rear wheels locked up trying to slow down in time because we all get so bunched up. Cars were sliding across the front of cars. But, at the end of the day, it was me who was sideways, so I'm sorry.'