Danica Patrick What Would it Take at Talladega?

When Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) take to the track for Sunday’s Geico 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, they will have one goal in mind: getting to victory lane.

 

Talladega has always been considered a bit of a wild-card race, where a driver’s fate is not entirely in his or her own hands. It is one of only two racetracks on the Sprint Cup circuit where restrictor plates are used. A restrictor plate is a device installed at the air intake of an engine to limit its power in an effort to reduce speeds, increase safety and help provide an equal level of competition. The horsepower-restricted engines require drivers to draft together, side-by-side, at speeds approaching 200 mph.

 

As a result, superspeedway events often produce wild, unpredictable racing. In turn, there is always the distinct possibility of the seemingly inevitable “big one” – a multicar accident that typically eliminates multitudes of drivers from the event. This type of racing leaves teams wondering what it will take to survive the “big one” and make it to victory lane at the end of the day.

 

While Patrick has set records at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway – the other restrictor-plate superspeedway on the Sprint Cup schedule – she’s yet to find the same level of success at Talladega. With six prior starts at the track, her career-best finish is a19th-place effort she earned in October 2014. Last year, she finished 21st in both races at the 2.66-mile track. 

 

This weekend, Patrick’s No. 10 Chevrolet SS will sport blue and silver for Aspen Dental’s second of four primary races this season. The car will have a different look than it did in Atlanta, featuring a “Turbocharged Tooth Fairy” logo on the a hood, a nod to Patrick’s role in Aspen Dental’s newest TV campaign that started airing earlier this month.

 

Aspen Dental dentists and teams recognize that going to the dentist isn’t always at the top of the “to-do” list. And so, as a part of the Aspen Dental Weekend at Talladega, a “Turbocharged Tooth Fairy Squad” will be roaming the grounds at the track to not only ask fans, “What would it take to get you to go to the dentist?” but also deliver on some of those wishes on the spot. It’s all a part of Aspen Dental’s commitment to doing whatever it takes to make dentistry easier.

 

As the Aspen Dental team looks to get NASCAR fans back to the dentist, Patrick’s team will be looking to answer the question: What would it take to get the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS into victory lane on Sunday at Talladega?

TSC PR