Persistence Pays Off for Patrick

“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill

Danica Patrick and the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team overcame a number of hurdles during Sunday’s Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and despite all odds, they never gave up and earned a ninth-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

The effort was Patrick’s second top-10 of the season and the sixth of her 90-race Sprint Cup career. With her result at Bristol, Patrick has now surpassed Janet Guthrie for the most top-10 finishes ever by a female driver in the Sprint Cup Series.

Patrick started the race from the 26th position and went a lap down to the leaders at lap 126. She cracked the top-20 at lap 193 and stayed there for the remainder of the race. Patrick battled for the “lucky dog” position for an extended period of time but was denied the free pass when, after the caution flag waved at lap 279, the No. 34 car made contact with the right-rear of Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS as she went down on the apron to avoid other cars. NASCAR deemed that Patrick was a part of the caution and, as such, not able to get back on the lead lap. The No. 10 team pitted multiple times in an effort to repair the damage, and Patrick restarted in the 20th position when the field took the green flag.

Persistence finally paid off for Patrick at lap 368 when the caution flag waved once again and she was in position for the lucky dog award. She earned her way back onto the lead lap, but on the subsequent long green-flag run, she went a lap down to the leaders again.

With less than 20 laps to go, the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS sustained damage as the field abruptly checked up after a wreck in turn three. The team elected to stay out, and a few laps later Patrick earned the lucky dog once again, making her way back onto the lead lap.

Rain pushed the event passed the scheduled distance, and Patrick was able to race her way into the top-10 in the final laps of the race.

“I didn’t think this day was ever going to end,” Patrick said. “I’m proud of everybody for keeping their heads up and staying positive, and these are the things that happen when you work together as a team. Today was a total team effort. We made good changes during the race, and the guys did a good job fixing the car as well. I wish we could have lined up with the leaders to see what we could have gotten there at the end, but we managed to get a top-10 with the GoDaddy Chevrolet.”

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