When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited Kansas Speedway in May, Danica Patrick topped the headlines with her second career-top 10 finish, a seventh, after starting ninth.
Fast forward five months later, Patrick found herself struggling with the handling of the No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS the entire weekend, but her Stewart Haas Racing team persevered through the challenges to earn Patrick her 12th top-20 finish of 2014.
The team’s performance on Sunday showed that Patrick is progressively working forward with the handling of these NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars.
“We finished strong,” Patrick said. “The Aspen Dental car was good, but we just could not get our lap back. I think we were down a lap for like 200 laps, but when we got it back, we made the move. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the guys gave me a good car, and I’m happy with where we finished up.”
Patrick hasn’t been always made the most of a potentially good situation, but the steady gains that her No. 10 team has shown this season does give the team something to look forward to, heading into the final stretch of the season, but more importantly looking ahead to 2015.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway next weekend, a place where Patrick qualified a season-best fourth in May, but finished a disappointing 39th after
experiencing engine failure 119 laps from the finish.
After 30 races, Patrick sits 28th in the Sprint Cup points standings, 13 markers behind boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
