Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) persevered to earn a 22nd-place finish in Sunday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
The 500-lap event started on Saturday night after rain delayed the originally scheduled start time for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but after just 48 laps, persistent rain forced the event to be postponed to Sunday afternoon.
Patrick started the race from the 29th position on Saturday night, and when racing resumed on Sunday at lap 49 she was running 28th. Patrick dropped back to 35th at lap 59 as she relayed that the car had “no grip” and was tight in the center of the corner. Despite the handling issues, Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet team didn’t give up and continued to make adjustments to the car throughout the event.
By the midpoint of the race she was scored 32nd, three laps down to the leader. Patrick lost another lap before the caution flag waved at lap 307, and crew chief Billy Scott called for her to stay out and take the wave-around. She was in 31st, three laps down, for the lap-316 restart. As the race progressed, Patrick managed to avoid a number of accidents and got back inside the top-20. Scott once again had Patrick stay out to take the wave-around in the late stages of the race, and in the closing laps she was able to advance to the 22nd position.
“We just got off to a slow start and got ourselves in a hole right off the bat,” Patrick said. “I’m proud of my Nature’s Bakery team for working hard and not giving up today.”
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