Patrick Rallies To Finish 19th at Richmond

Danica Patrick and the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team overcame handling problems that plagued their performance in the first half of the race and rallied to finish 19th in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Patrick started the event from the 14th position but quickly dropped back through the field as she battled handling issues in the early stages of the race. When the caution flag waved at lap 38, Patrick was scored in 27th. She radioed to the team that the car was tight in the center of the corner and loose on exit, so crew chief Daniel Knost called for a four-tire stop with major air pressure adjustments when the GoDaddy team hit pit road at lap 40.

When the field went back to green-flag racing, Patrick continued to lose positions and was scored as low as 32nd at lap105. The team made significant adjustments on each trip to pit road to address the tight-handling condition of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet. As the race neared the midpoint, the racecar appeared to improve significantly, and Patrick began working her way up through the field.

Patrick was scored in the 27th position when the race went green at lap 296. Over the course of the next 60 laps, she was able to advance six positions and was scored 21st when the caution flag waved again at lap 375. In the closing laps, she was able to gain two additional spots and took the checkered flag in the 19th position.

“Tonight was frustrating,” Patrick said. “The GoDaddy Chevy was so strong in practice, but it just wouldn’t turn the center of the corner at all at the start of the race. The guys did a great job of getting it a lot more manageable by the end of the race. If we’d had the car we had the second half of the race during the first half of the race, we would have had a great night. I’m glad we were at least able to get back in the top-20 there at the end.”

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