MARTINSVILLE, Va. – You would have never known that Danica Patrick struggled in the early stages of the STP 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
But through willpower and a better-handling racecar, Patrick made her trek back through the field to record her fifth top-10 finish of her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career at one of the sport’s most demanding short tracks.
Ultimately, it’s not surprising that the driver of the No. 10 TaxAct Chevrolet had a solid showing on Sunday. Her crew chief Daniel Knost was the defending race winning crew chief at the 0.526-mile short track and statistically, the legendary short track has been kind to the former IndyCar star.
“It didn’t start good, said Patrick. “At the start of the race we had those yellows early so it was deceiving to know how good the car was or how bad it was. We really were very tight in the center, which ends up making you loose drive off because you have so much wheel in it and you’re just trying to fight it. We just weren’t very good to start. We took a chance and stayed out on a yellow, and we were front row, and I bet I looked like an idiot out there. I spun the wheels on the start and hung on a little bit, but then ended up going backwards in a hurry.
“We got a lap down, we got it back luckily, and we moved forward from there, and we made a couple of good changes in the middle of the race that really made the difference, and I said if we could just do a little bit more and make me just a little bit better, we’re going to be good. We’re at least going to be all right. And that’s what we did.”
While its unknown if the Stewart-Haas Racing driver would have been able to challenge Martin Truex Jr. to tie her career-best finish at NASCAR’s top level, her performance nonetheless that her communication and trust in her new crew chief is heading in the right direction.
“I think we have a very good working relationship, and I don’t want that to sound cold. We get along great and we have a lot of fun,” added Patrick. ”I think that the balance in the front of the hauler with all the engineers, I think it’s really good, and I think we have a lot of fun, but we also do good work. I’m lucky I have three really, really, really smart engineers on my car, and I think that that shows because every weekend when we arrive we’re in the ballpark. We’re not starting off and rolling off and being 36th on the board and trying to figure it out. We roll off and generally our problem is not where we start but where we go. We’ve got to make it better, and that also is in the same thread of the race. We’ve got to make it better.
“I think that we’re on our way, and we’re learning what changes I feel and the best way to communicate.”
With her first top-10 finish since a career-best sixth place finish last fall at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Patrick jumped seven spots in the championship standings to 16th, ahead of some of the sports finest including: Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and boss Tony Stewart. She also ties former female Sprint Cup Series competitor Janet Guthrie for the most top-10 in their careers.
Patrick has the confidence to know that if she has the equipment to compete, she can get the job done.
“The car has to be good or I can’t go fast, and the first half of the race was a perfect example of that,” sounded Patrick. “When the car is right you can go fast, but if the driver is making mistakes and not doing a good job and crashing or getting offline, that also won’t help you have a good result. And then overall, we can’t do well, I can’t do well if the team doesn’t provide the people and the equipment that I need to perform. And so a couple of years ago if you would have asked how we all felt everything was going on the team, there probably wouldn’t be a lot of positive things to say. But that’s an example of an organization digging deep and finding ways, and by all means the last couple of years here, we’ve been much stronger, and it makes it much more fun out there.
“The team has to provide the way that they need to do well.”
Following a week off for the Easter holiday Patrick heads to Texas Motor Speedway where her best finish in five starts is a 24th in her track debut in 2012.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
