Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) scored a 15th-place finish in Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
Patrick started the race from the 29th position and worked her way up to 27th before the first caution at lap 11. She worked her way up to 23rd on the ensuing run and found herself inside the top-20 just past the midpoint of the race.
When the caution flag waved at lap 264, a miscommunication on the team radio led to Patrick getting a penalty for a commitment-line violation. She had to restart from the tail of the field in the 28th position when the green flag waved at lap 271. Seven laps later the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet sustained right-rear damage after contact from the No. 13 car. Crew chief Billy Scott called Patrick to pit road to change tires and repair the damage, and she restarted 27th at lap 284.
The caution flag waved again at lap 295, and Scott made the call for Patrick to stay out to gain track position. She took the green flag running seventh at lap 295, but she fell to 22nd by lap 313 as she lost ground to those with fresher tires.
The final quarter of the race was plagued with cautions, the last of which sent the race into overtime, and Patrick was able to race her way to a 15th-place finish in the closing laps. The effort marked her career-best finish at the .75-mile oval.
“That was a crazy night,” Patrick said. “I thought for sure we were going to get wrecked there at the end, but we were able to get a decent finish out of it.”
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