Patrick Persistent at Dover

During the latter half of the FedEx 400 benefitting Autism Speaks NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Danica Patrick heard crew chief Tony Gibson tell her several times over the radio that her lap times in the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) were comparable with drivers running in the top-10.

That’s music to the ears of any Sprint Cup driver, much less one who was competing on Dover’s legendary “Monster Mile” for just the second time.

Patrick put forth a gritty performance on a hot, humid afternoon on one of NASCAR’s most difficult racetracks, taking the checkered flag in 24th place after starting 39th and battling back from contact in the early going.

She moved up to 34th after the green flag dropped, but on lap 37 she made contact with the car of David Stremme from behind and cut a tire. She pitted immediately for a new set of tires and to allow the crew to inspect the car, but no significant damage was found. The green-flag stop dropped Patrick three laps off the pace.

“It was one of those Martinsville-like deals, where we got all bunched up and I had no option but to keep the steering wheel straight or else we both would’ve gotten taken out,” Patrick said over the radio.

Despite dropping to 41st after the unscheduled stop, the rest of Patrick’s day was rather strong. She picked up 17 positions and lost just one more lap over the final 360 tours of the often-unforgiving, high-banked concrete oval.

“I definitely didn’t make our day start off right by getting into the 30 in (turns) three and four and getting a cut tire,” Patrick said. “We were only 30 or so laps into the run, so we really were three laps down from the get-go. It made for a long day, but it didn’t mean that the GoDaddy team gave up. We still salvaged points, of course. That’s what we have to keep doing – learning and finishing all of these races so I can get better.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, took the lead for the first time on lap 398 of the 400-lap race and led the final three laps en route to his 48th career victory and first this season. It was his third victory, 11th top-five finish and 16th top-10 in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover. It was also his third top-10 this season.

The victory also extended Stewart’s streak of winning at least one race per season since joining the Sprint Cup Series in 1999.

The third member of SHR, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for SHR, finished 36th after starting fifth. It was his 23rd career Sprint Cup start at Dover and was marred by a mid-race accident.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished .788 of a second behind Stewart in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 32 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

With round 13 of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up four spots to 16th and has 338 points, 135 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and 33 points behind 10th-place Paul Menard. Newman fell four places to 20th in the standings and has 323 points, 150 out of first and 48 behind Menard. Patrick picked up one position to 29th in the standings and has 231 points, 242 behind Johnson and 140 away from Menard.

Thirteen races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 11 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Party in the Poconos 400 on Sunday, June 9 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

TSC PR