Danica Patrick and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) finished 24th in Sunday’s Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway after late-race contact forced her off course.
Patrick started the race from the 21st position and was scored in 19th when the team pitted for the first time at lap 23. Crew chief Daniel Knost called for a four-tire stop with air pressure adjustments in an effort to improve the No. 10’s tight-handling condition Patrick experienced on right-hand turns. She restarted in the 25th position at lap 26, as several teams opted not to pit under the caution.
A few laps later, the caution flag waved and Knost called Patrick to pit road for a fuel-only stop in an effort to make it the rest of the way on one more pit stop. Patrick restarted 33rd and was scored in the 13th position when Knost called her down pit road for the team’s next stop at lap 69 for four tires, fuel, and air pressure and wedge adjustments.
When the caution flag waved four laps later, the GoDaddy team elected to stay out and gain track position, which put Patrick in 12th for the lap-78 restart. She lost several spots to teams with newer tires and was 16th when the caution flag waved again at lap 99. Knost called Patrick to pit road on the following lap for four tires and fuel. The car’s right-front fender was caved in, which slowed the stop as the team worked to change the right-front tire. As a result, Patrick lined up 23rd for the lap-103 restart.
After the field went back to green-flag conditions, the No. 16 car got off course and came back onto the track in front of Patrick. She lifted off of the throttle to avoid a collision, but the car behind her did not and made contact with the GoDaddy Chevrolet SS, which sent Patrick spinning into the grass. NASCAR did not throw the caution flag, so Patrick lost significant ground and dropped to 27th. In the closing laps she was able to regain three positions to take the checkered flag in 24th.
“We had a solid race going there for most of the day,” Patrick said. “We lost ground on that final pit stop, restarted further back and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time when the No. 16 car came back on track. I’m really disappointed with where the GoDaddy team ended up today.”
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