Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery/Autism Delaware Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), came back from running two laps down to score a 13th-place finish in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
Patrick started the race from the 31st position and found herself two laps down to the leader by lap 90. Crew chief Billy Scott called for wedge adjustments on the first couple trips to pit road. While the car’s handling noticeably improved, Patrick wasn’t able to gain much ground and remained stuck two laps down.
With less than 60 laps to go, the caution flag waved and all of the leaders pitted, allowing Patrick to take the wave-around. That put her just one lap down when the field took the green flag at lap 354, and within seconds of the restart the caution flag was displayed once again for a multi-car incident on the frontstretch. Patrick was the recipient of the Lucky Dog award, which put her back on the lead lap in the 15th position for the lap-359 restart.
In the closing laps Patrick was able to pick up two additional positions to score a 13th-place result. The effort marked her top finish of the season and her career-best result at Dover.
“Today’s race is a perfect example of why you should never ever give up,” Patrick said. “We were stuck two laps down for what seemed like forever. Then at the end things finally worked out so that we could get back on the lead lap. Billy (Scott) did a great job of making adjustments and great calls throughout the day that helped get us into contention at the end. I have to thank everyone on my Nature’s Bakery/Autism Delaware Chevy team for fighting hard all day.”
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