Patrick Finishes 28th at Dover

Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) scored a 28th-place finish in Sunday’s Citizen Soldier 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

 

Patrick started the race from the 24th position in a field set by owner points after qualifying was cancelled due to rain on Friday. She lost ground on the start and dropped as low as 34th early in the event as she struggled with the car’s handling. Crew chief Billy Scott called for adjustments on the team’s first pit stop under the lap-34 caution. Patrick continued to have significant handling issues on the following run, so he called for wholesale changes, including packer, wedge and air pressure adjustments, when the team pitted under caution again at lap 107.

 

The changes seemed to improve the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet’s handling, as Patrick radioed to the team at lap 124 that the car was “better.” The team continued to work on the car throughout the race, and at the event’s midpoint Patrick was scored in the 29th position, four laps down to the leader.

 

Scott called Patrick to pit road for a green-flag stop for fuel, tires and a wedge adjustment at lap 293. Once the field cycled through green-flag stops, the team was scored in the 30th spot, seven laps down to the leader. In the final segment of the race, Scott had Patrick conserve fuel in an effort to make it to the end without pitting again. She was able to make it to the checkered flag on fuel and pick up two spots to finish 28th. 

TSC PR