Danica Patrick recovered from being a lap down and made a strong return at the height of tax season to finish seventh in the No. 10 TaxACT Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in Sunday’s Martinsville 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Patrick’s effort marked her first top-10 of the season and the fifth top-10 of her 88-race Sprint Cup career. She is now tied with Janet Guthrie for the most top-10 Sprint Cup finishes by a female driver.
Sunday’s race was not without adversity for the team, however. After starting 16th, Patrick fell back to 26th by lap 50 as she struggled with a car that lacked rear grip and was tight in the center of the corner. Crew chief Daniel Knost called for wedge and air pressure adjustments on the team’s first trip to pit road at lap 56. The team made similar adjustments on the following pit stop at lap 74.
When the caution flag waved at lap 94, Patrick was scored in the 28th position, and Knost made the call not to pit in an effort to gain track position. Patrick restarted second at lap 98 and remained in the top-10 until lap 119. Each time she got stuck in the outside line Patrick lost several positions, falling from 20th at lap 123 to 30th by lap 130. After going a lap down to the leader at lap 150, Patrick radioed to the team that the car was “a little loose in, tight rolling and needed more drive off” the corner.
The team pitted under caution at lap 165 for air pressure and wedge adjustments, fresh tires, fuel and a piece of tape added to the grille. The changes improved the handling of Patrick’s No. 10 TaxACT Chevrolet SS, and she was able to work her way into the “lucky dog” position, then back onto the lead lap when the caution flag waved at lap 207.
Knost continued to direct the team to make air pressure and chassis adjustments to the car over the course of the next few runs, and Patrick was able to race her way into the top-15 at lap 302. At lap 368, Patrick narrowly avoided the No. 27 car as it spun just ahead of her in turn four. Over the course of the following run, Patrick worked her way into the top-10 at lap 395 and remained there throughout the final laps of the race before taking the checkered flag in the seventh position.
“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,” Patrick said. “We really were very tight in the center, which ends up making you lose 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 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. And that’s what we did. I’m proud of everyone for not giving up and for keeping their head in the game today.”
Patrick’s seventh-place finish in her No. 10 TaxACT Chevrolet SS led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished eighth in the Martinsville 500. Harvick led eight times for a race-high 154 laps to bring his laps-led total at Martinsville to 518. It was his 13th top-10 in 28 career Sprint Cup starts at the .526-mile oval and his sixth top-10 of 2015. Harvick has finished among the top-10 in nine straight races dating back to last November at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, led once for 21 laps before finishing 14th. His laps-led total at Martinsville now stands at 442, and this was Busch’s 10th top-15 finish in 30 career Sprint Cup starts at Martinsville.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, led eight laps before finishing 20th. Stewart bumped his laps-led total at Martinsville to 1,234, fourth-best among active Sprint Cup drivers.
Denny Hamlin won the Martinsville 500 to score his 25th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fifth at Martinsville.
Brad Keselowski finished .186 of a second behind Hamlin in the runner-up spot, while Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan rounded out the top-five. Martin Truex Jr., Patrick, Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 16 caution periods for 112 laps, with two drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.
With round six of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 263 points, 24 ahead of second-place Logano. Patrick is 16th with 148 points, 115 out of first. Busch is 25th with 113 points, 150 out of first. Stewart is 32nd with 87 points, 176 out of first.