Adjustments and attrition pay off for Danica Patrick

Her hard fought 11th-place finish — Patrick’s best result of the season — was the consolation prize.

Patrick, who has an average starting position of 25.5, started the weekend with a 13th-place qualifying effort and the track position necessarily to build upon. With Hurricane Matthew delaying the originally scheduled Bank of America 500 from Saturday night to Sunday at noon, the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing team used much of the race to dial in Patrick’s race car.

“The No. 10 Aspen Dental Chevrolet was loose for most of the race,” Patrick said. “(Crew chief) Billy (Scott) and the guys did a great job on adjustments to get us in solid position for the second half.

“We had a mistake on pit road late in the race and lost some ground when I overshot the pit stall, but the guys quickly recovered and we ended up only losing a couple of spots. The car got a little tight, but they took some wedge back out, and it was pretty good there at the end.”

Patrick fell out of the top 20 by Lap 50. After the second caution on Lap 70, Patrick restarted 22nd. She moved up to 19th before pitting again on Lap 114. Two laps later, Joey Logano blew a tire. Patrick and 12 other drivers took a wave around to gain access to the lead lap. After restarting 22nd, Patrick battled her way up to 16th when race leader — and eventual winner — Jimmie Johnson lapped the No. 10 on Lap 208.

Patrick was the lucky dog when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 228. She regained her lap and restarted 16th. However, a rough stop during the sixth caution on Lap 255, when Patrick blew past her pit, proved costly. The No. 10 crew had to push Patrick back into the stall to perform service. She restarted 18th.

When 13-car wreck broke out on Lap 260, the accident eliminated two of the front-runners, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon. Patrick to move up to 12th following her pit stop.

On Lap 303, Patrick passed Jamie McMurray for 10th. Five laps later, Denny Hamlin, who was running second, experienced an engine failure. Hamlin’s misfortune resulted in a gain for Patrick, who moved up to ninth. She restarted eighth but was quickly passed by McMurray and SHR teammate Kurt Busch on the restart.

Just missing out on top ten

Although Patrick advanced into the top 10 in the closing laps, McMurray caught the No. 10 at the finish line for 10th.

“I was really hoping we’d end up getting a top-10, but McMurray got us on the last lap, so we ended up 11th,” said Patrick, who is currently 23rd in the standings. “Still, I think that’s our best run so far this year, so we’ll take it and try to keep building over the last few races to put ourselves in a better position for next season.”

Patrick will carry momentum from her top result of the season into Kansas Speedway this weekend. She finished a career-best seventh at the track in 2014 and led her first laps at the 1.5-mile track in May.