Media magnet, Danica Patrick has had a busy month, with t.v. appearances and a divorce that was just finalized on April 17th. She appeared on the Today Show. Where she was asked about her performance this year.
She explained, “I’ve got a really great crew, I’ve got a great crew chief and we have fun. I think that when you have fun, good things come from it.”
Then there was the memorable Colbert report appearance, which brought out her fun witty side.
Colbert asked, “What do you do to psyche yourself up before a race?”
In which she replied, “I eat.”
The interview ended with Colbert giving her a headshot pic and asking her if he could be a sponsor on her car. Which I think would be a hilarious sight to see although sponsors probably wouldn’t approve it.
This Saturday is the Toyota Owners 400 Sprint Cup race at Richmond. Danica Patrick will be making her 4th stock car appearance at Richmond. She has raced on this track in a Nationwide car 3 times and has an average start of 24th and an average finish of 29th. Danica has had a very sporadic beginning in the Sprint Cup series. From starting on the Pole at Daytona, to in the rear qualifying with mid-pack finishes. One can only speculate what would happen if she had better qualifying runs and started in the front consistently.
The Stewart- Haas racing team as a whole has been struggling with their cars and has yet to figure out how to make the new Gen 6 car fast. Danica’s crew chief, Tony Gibson seems to be racking his brain, trying to get Danica’s car better. So you can’t say they aren’t trying. Ryan Newman leads the team in Sprint Cup standings at 17th, Tony Stewart 21st and Danica Patrick at 25th. With that being said, it will be hard to say where Danica will qualify? She could have another break out performance like Martinsville, where most observers speculated she would finish many laps down, when in fact she ended up finishing an outstanding 12th.
However, I will say that Danica’s constructive feedback is encouraging. She said on the car radio in Kansas, she was adding notes to her book of changes, where she writes her notes, about the changes that need to be made to the car. Her aggressiveness is there, with a great ability to pass and she’s getting much better at her re-starts. She is definately growing as a driver. I remember at the the beginning of last year at a pit stop, her commenting, she has wasn’t used to the pit crew jumping out at her, I can say she has come a long way from those worries. Now if Stewart-Haas racing can give her a fast solid consistent cars, I know she’s capable of finishing in Victory Lane.
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Danica Patrick is making her second road course run at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. She recalls running this course, back in 2003 during the Atlantic series, and remembers the layout, size and corners.