STP Gas Booster 500: Rookie Danica Patrick Finishes An Impressive 12th
By Katie Copple
The GoDaddy team went into this weekend with little expectations. Martinsville is known for being tough on even the most experienced veterans yet this Rookie driver finished 12thin her debut at the paperclip.
Apr 7, 2013; Martinsville, VA, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Danica Patrick (10) spins out during the STP Gas Booster 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
“I don’t know what to expect.” That’s what Danica had to say before she took her first laps at this small half-mile track. Her boss and car owner Tony Stewart said her first time here would probably be pretty comical, but boy was he wrong. Not only did Patrick finish higher than Stewart in Sunday’s race, but she was the highest finishing Stewart-Haas car all weekend.
Qualifying 32nd, it seemed like this was going to be another struggle for Patrick. Then during final practice, she shifted from 4th to 3rd gear and over-revved the engine. The Hendrick Engine Specialists decided it was in the team’s best interest to change it and start from the rear. It was not looking promising for the No. 10 and the race hadn’t even started yet.
Patrick had made it just 17 laps into the race when she spun in turns three and four and brought out a caution. The spin eventually put her 2 laps down to the leaders, but Crew Chief Tony Gibson kept his team and driver calm and rallied back.
Taking the wave-around on laps 242 and 288, Patrick got back on the lead lap, and drove the race of her life. By the closing laps of the race, she was P11 and ahead of her boss Tony Stewart. A little bumping and banging dropped her to 12th and that was where she would cross the finish line.
“I tried to guard the inside right there at the end and then (Brian) Vickers gave me a bump, and I get it,” She said in the post-race report released on her personal website. “I was trying to defend and hold my position. We still came away with a 12th-place finish. I think you take what the car gives you… And my car was pretty good all day. We kind of bounced around from being a little loose to a little tight, but we got the GoDaddy Chevy back up there. We obviously went down real early with that spin and were two laps down at one point in time. So I feel like that’s almost one of the things I’m most proud of is coming back from two laps down to being on the lead lap and then grabbing a 12th place at the end.”
Her Crew Chief Tony Gibson was impressed with his driver, even crashing the end of her post-race interview to give her a hug and high-five. “I figured if we could finish top 25 and be a couple of laps down, it would be a miracle,” Gibson said after the race. “I never dreamed this. I knew after Saturday and Friday that we had a good Go Daddy Chevrolet. I knew she was capable of doing it… To be able to go through all that beating and banging and survive and finish 12th is unbelievable.”
At the end of the race, it seemed like there were many notable people who were impressed with Patrick’s run at Martinsville (see tweets below).
@SherylCrow: Way to go @DanicaPatrick finishing 12th! #NASCAR #martinsville
Patrick and the GoDaddy team head to Texas next weekend and according to Gibson are testing there this week before the race. It looks like the season is looking up for Patrick, but can she bring her success from Martinsville into the Lone Star State?