Danica's not the first woman to get in trouble over shoes, but...

…this isn’t usually how it works:

While Danica Patrick was leading Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a spectator threw a shoe onto the track, and the shoe landed in the racing groove. As Patrick led the field back to the spot where the shoe was, she ran it over squarely and its remains shot out from underneath her car.

It looked innocuous enough — it’s just a sneaker, right? Well, Patrick’s car immediately started to lose the handling and eventually, what looked to be a bracket or a bolt came out from underneath her car. Her chances at the win were over. She finished 26th, six laps down.

Video:

Does this kind of thing happen often in NASCAR?

UPDATE - Bleep!

Patrick, who took the lead under an opportune caution and stayed out front for 20 laps, ran over a shoe that was either thrown or dropped from a pedestrian bridge at Circuit Jacques Villeneuve. She immediately radioed her crew about damage to the car.

“My steering is [bleeped] up,” Patrick complained before ESPN had time to bleep it out.

“…before ESPN had time to bleep it out?” Why don’t they just use a short delay?