Danica Patrick: Top 5 Replacement Candidates in 2018
By Asher Fair
There has been a lot of talk about Danica Patrick possibly either retiring or being given the boot from Stewart-Haas Racing following the 2017 season. Which drivers have the best chance to replace her?
When Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Cup Series career as a full-time driver began back in 2013, she had lots of potential. She showed it right away by taking the pole for the Daytona 500, and she went on to finish in 8th place.
However, since then, things have been all downhill. In the 161 races since then, she has no poles and has only bettered that 8th place finish three times, with her career-high finish being only a 6th place finish at Atlanta in 2014. Over the past 82 races, she has only one top 10 finish, that being just a 10th place effort at Dover last month.
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At this point, she is really nothing more than a marketing ploy, as she is driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, one of the sport’s top teams, and failing to deliver decent results. Given that the novelty of her driving at NASCAR’s top level has worn off over the years coupled with the fact that she has simply not delivered, there has naturally been talk about possible retirement or even Stewart-Haas Racing letting her go.
But certainly her no longer being in NASCAR would not end the sport by any means. So instead of stopping at speculation of her retiring or Stewart-Haas Racing letting her go, here are the five drivers with the best chance to replace her in the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford in 2018 if she does end up leaving the sport, however it happens.