Persistence Pays Off for Patrick

GoDaddy Driver Earns History-Making Run at Bristol

 

Date:                           April 21, 2015

Event:                         Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer (Round 8 of 36)

Series:                         NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location:                    Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)

Start/Finish:                26^th/9^th (Running, completed 511 of 511 laps)

Point Standing:           13^th (211 points, 103 out of first)

Winner:                       Matt Kenseth of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)

 by Annette Randall

“Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill

 

Danica Patrick and the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team overcame a number of hurdles during Sunday’s Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and despite all odds, they never gave up and earned a ninth-place finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

 

The effort was Patrick’s second top-10 of the season and the sixth of her 90-race Sprint Cup career. With her result at Bristol, Patrick has now surpassed Janet Guthrie for the most top-10 finishes ever by a female driver in the Sprint Cup Series.

 

Patrick started the race from the 26^th position and went a lap down to the leaders at lap 126. She cracked the top-20 at lap 193 and stayed there for the remainder of the race. Patrick battled for the “lucky dog” position for an extended period of time but was denied the free pass when, after the caution flag waved at lap 279, the No. 34 car made contact with the right-rear of Patrick’s No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS as she went down on the apron to avoid other cars. NASCAR deemed that Patrick was a part of the caution and, as such, not able to get back on the lead lap. The No. 10 team pitted multiple times in an effort to repair the damage, and Patrick restarted in the 20^th position when the field took the green flag.

Persistence finally paid off for Patrick at lap 368 when the caution flag waved once again and she was in position for the lucky dog award. She earned her way back onto the lead lap, but on the subsequent long green-flag run, she went a lap down to the leaders again.

 

With less than 20 laps to go, the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS sustained damage as the field abruptly checked up after a wreck in turn three. The team elected to stay out, and a few laps later Patrick earned the lucky dog once again, making her way back onto the lead lap.

 

Rain pushed the event passed the scheduled distance, and Patrick was able to race her way into the top-10 in the final laps of the race.

 

“I didn’t think this day was ever going to end,” Patrick said. “I’m proud of everybody for keeping their heads up and staying positive, and these are the things that happen when you work together as a team. Today was a total team effort. We made good changes during the race, and the guys did a good job fixing the car as well. I wish we could have lined up with the leaders to see what we could have gotten there at the end, but we managed to get a top-10 with the GoDaddy Chevrolet.”

 

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing sixth. It was Stewart’s 10^th top-10 finish in 31 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol and his first top-10 this season.

 

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 15^th. Busch started seventh and led six times for 98 laps to bring his laps-led total at Bristol to 1,021. Busch was running in the top-10 in the closing laps of the race when he was involved in a multicar accident on the backstretch on lap 495 that caused significant damage to his racecar. Despite the damage, Busch finished the race, earning his 19^th top-15 in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol and his fifth top-15 of 2015.

 

Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 38^th after being involved in a multicar accident on lap 311. Harvick started fourth and led six times for a race-high 184 laps prior to the accident to bring his laps-led total at Bristol to 721.

 

Matt Kenseth won the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer to score his 32^nd career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Bristol.

GoDaddy Racing: Danica Patrick Bristol Race Report   The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Richmond 400 on Saturday, April 25 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The race starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.