Dan Wheldon unhurt as car flips over

Reporting from Sonoma, Calif. — 

As the field accelerated to take the green flag and start the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Dan Wheldon suddenly found himself upside down in a race car that was pirouetting down the track with a full load of fuel.

Starting the race 12th in the 25-car field, Wheldon flipped over after being clipped by another car. But Wheldon, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, walked away unhurt thanks to the car’s protective body work around his head.

“It’s a shame,” he said, because his car “was really strong all weekend and we were hoping for a really good finish. We’ll move on to the next race.”

Patrick’s day

Another road-course race, another tough day for Danica Patrick.

After a dismal qualifying effort, the popular driver started 23rd and struggled to gain positions in the early laps.

Patrick finally started making progress, climbing to 15th near the midway point and then 11th with fewer than 10 laps to go in the 75-lap race. But then she collided with Takuma Sato, dropping her to a 16th-place finish. Sato finished 18th.

“That was a frustrating way to end a tough weekend,” Patrick said. “I really thought that I was going to have a finish in the top 10, but I got caught up with Sato at the end.”

In the previous two races, also on road or street courses, Patrick finished 21st at Mid- Ohio and 15th at Edmonton.

Tagliani tag

Canadian driver Alex Tagliani was poised to have a good finish after qualifying fourth, but too many incidents ruined his race.

He lost a few positions in the early laps when “the first set of tires went away more quickly than we anticipated,” Tagliani said. Then on lap 18, “I’m not sure who punted me, but I got hit and got a flat right rear tire.”

After working his way back to 15th he was hit again by Hideki Mutoh, dropping him back again, but Tagliani ultimately finished 14th.

And finally …

J.K. Vernay won the Carneros 100 Firestone Indy Lights race at Infineon Raceway, with Charlie Kimball second and James Hinchcliffe third.

james.peltz@latimes.com