DANICA PATRICK, NO. 10 GODADDY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway and discussed her success in the Daytona 500 in February, if she has a plan for the last lap of this weekend’s 400-mile race.
TALK ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS COMING BACK TO DAYTONA:
“Happy 4th of July. We had the pole here in Daytona and started the year off that way. It would be nice to start the second half of the year off the same way. At the end of the day it’s not the most important thing, but it sure is nice to start up front. Obviously we don’t have our Daytona car here, but we have our back-up and that tested really well. We nearly ran that anyway. It should be good still.”
CAN YOU DO THE SAME THING HERE SATURDAY NIGHT THAT YOU DID IN THE DAYTONA 500? HOW MUCH DOES A 500 MILE RACE IN THE WINTER TIME AND THE DAYTIME HERE TRANSLATE TO A 400 MILE RACE IN THE SUMMER TIME AT NIGHT BOTH WITH THE CAR AND THE SET-UP AND WITH YOU AND THE SKILLS YOU HAVE LEARNED AT DAYTONA SO FAR?
“To answer your first question can I do the same thing yeah I don’t get worse as the year goes on. Especially in the early years of running in a new series, so presumably I should hopefully have better experience at doing it especially having done Talladega too. It’s definitely possible. The difference you know the cars are well stuck here. I feel like it’s not going to be worlds of difference. It’s maybe a little less single file just because we have been in the car all year and people don’t feel the need to just kind of get on with the season, get it started and start the year off well. As opposed to maybe a little more antsy-ness, a little more comfort in the car. You could see some more people a little bit more prepared to pass and know how to do it a little easier than at the start of the year. It should be very similar in the end.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE IDEA NOW HOW TO CLOSE THE DEAL AT THE END OF THE RACE? OR IS IT STILL HELTER SKELTER?
“I think it is still a little bit of helter skelter. Right after the race I said I wish I would have had a plan, but then I got done with it and I talked to Tony (Stewart) afterwards. He said you probably had more to lose than you had to gain by trying something at the end. He said you could have just as well of been 20th in the end as opposed to where you did finish. You probably had more to lose so he thought I made the right decision on what I did. After I said good job to Jimmie (Johnson) after he won. I had said that I wished I knew what to do better. He said that the two times that he has won now at Daytona were the two times he didn’t have any kind of plan. I suppose it is about being at the right place at the right time and having the right people behind you. There is luck that plays into it that way. Although a lot of times good drivers win, so you still need to know what to do. Probably more than anything it just means have a little bit of experience so that you can handle whatever situation comes up best.
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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.