Danica Patrick Leaning on Experience at Richmond

When it comes to the history of Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, members of the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) organization have played a role at one time or another.

 

SHR co-owner Tony Stewart scored his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at the .75-mile oval in September 1999 and has three career wins at the track.

 

Kevin Harvick first found his way to victory lane at Richmond in the September 2006 Sprint Cup race and has since earned two additional wins there.

 

Kurt Busch scored his first Sprint Cup Series win at Richmond in September 2005. Last spring, he dominated the field en route to his second victory at the track.

 

While Stewart, Harvick and Busch have made their mark in the Sprint Cup Series, Danica Patrick’s success at Richmond thus far has come in the open-wheel ranks.

 

The IndyCar Series competed at Richmond from 2001 to 2009 and Patrick competed in five of those events. She finished sixth in 2007 and 2008, and then scored a fifth-place result in 2009.

 

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS for SHR, will make her seventh trip to Richmond in the Sprint Cup Series for Sunday’s Richmond 400. In the September 2014 Sprint Cup race at the .75-mile oval, she started 13th and scored her best-ever finish at the track – a 16th-place effort.

 

After back-to-back finishes of 21st at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and 27th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Patrick enters Richmond looking to turn things around and get back to scoring top-20 results. While she knows her IndyCar experience at Richmond won’t assist her this weekend, Patrick and her No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team will be leaning on the knowledge of their SHR teammates in an effort to find Sprint Cup success there.

TSC PR