Danica Patrick Everything’s Bigger in Texas, Including Number of Starts

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Of all the tracks Danica Patrick has competed at, she is most associated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

In seven Indianapolis 500 starts, Patrick finished in the top-10 six times, including a third-place result in 2009, the best finish ever for a woman in the historic race. At Daytona, Patrick won the pole for the February 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series race and then, one year later, became the first woman ever to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole by taking the top spot for the 55th Daytona 500. She went on to finish eighth in the Daytona 500, the best result ever for a woman in the history of the race.

But while Indianapolis and Daytona have provided plenty of good memories for Patrick, it’s Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, site of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 Sprint Cup Series race, that has provided the most experience.

Of all the tracks where Patrick will compete in 2013, she has the most starts at Texas, having driven in 14 major-league races – two Sprint Cup, four Nationwide Series, and eight in the IZOD IndyCar Series. And it’s a track she’s taken a liking to in all three divisions.                                                                                                                                                          

In last November’s Sprint Cup race at Texas, Patrick started 32nd and finished 24th. It was, at the time, her best career Sprint Cup finish and it came in her first race with Tony Gibson as her crew chief. In her four Nationwide Series races, Patrick has three top-15 finishes, including an eighth-place result in April 2012. In Patrick’s eight IndyCar Series starts at the 1.5-mile oval, she has five top-10 finishes, including a third-place result in June 2007 and second-place finish in June 2010.

Patrick enters Texas after a solid race last week at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where she started 41st and finished 17th. The result came after an accident during practice Friday that forced her to a backup car – a machine that had last been used June 14, 2011, when Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton drove it at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International as part of Mobil 1’s “Seat Swap.” Hamilton drove Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet for four laps and Stewart drove the McLaren MP4-23 Hamilton used to win the 2008 Formula 1 title.

The GoDaddy team is hoping its strong recovery at Martinsville will propel Patrick to strong runs in the final three races of the season at Texas, Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

TSC PR

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