Danica Patrick's Long Day Ends With Best Finish

JOLIET, Ill. -- One ESPN television interview and three questions into an impromptu second pit road media question-and-answer session, Danica Patrick glanced over right shoulder and subtly motioned for water.

It wasn't a demanding wave, but more of a pass-me-the-water-while-I-listen gesture.

Hardly missing a beat, her public relations representative, standing between Patrick and her car, unscrewed the white cap from a small Aquafina bottle and passed it to the queen of open wheel racing and now stock car crossover. Two gulps later, she was on to the next question.

Such was the pace of Patrick's Friday in NASCAR country at Chicagoland Speedway -- just her fifth venture into the unknown, yet attractive world of racing with fenders. A long day, certainly, as NASCAR had packed Nationwide practice, qualifying and the race into a one-day show.

The extended day would prove to be her best, as the neon green, black-and-orange No. 7 crossed the finish line in 24th place, two laps behind winner Kyle Busch, under Chicagoland's lights. The finish topped her previous best, a 30th-place finish at New Hampshire.

10:30 a.m. Friday morning

Patrick has just returned to garage stall No. 25, and the speeds she's recording in practice aren't promising.

"I'm all the f--- over," Patrick says over the in-car radio back to her crew. "I can keep going, but I couldn't even go through the corner."

Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. knows that's not going to help, so he's told Danica to take the Chevrolet off the track.



Share This will be an extended break for adjustments by her crew, so Patrick hops from the cockpit of the car and immediately takes up conversation with engineer Robert Replogle from Hendrick Motorsports. She makes gestures up, down and side-to-side with her hands, trying to explain how the car is handling.

Within ten minutes, the window net is back up and Patrick is being guided out of the garage stall. One left turn, one right and another left puts the No. 7 back on the sun-drenched and warming track pavement.

Danica's demeanor calms after another run in race setup, but the car is still far from comfortable -- and far from fast. Time, though, is running out and the JR Motorsports team wants to try one run in qualifying trim.

Fresh, cool water is pumped in the engine while tape is applied to the nose -- all in an effort to get the most speed possible for one lap. The attempt will also get Patrick a little more comfortable when she has to qualify for real in a few hours.

The changes make their expected difference, and Patrick turns easily her fastest lap of the day. A 30.963-second trip around the 1.5-mile oval leaves her 19th-best on the final Nationwide Series speed chart -- a nice jump from the low 30s where she had been hovering.

"Thanks for getting me out for a qualifying run, guys," Patrick says over the radio on the way back to the garage. "I know its sweaty hot."

Meeting with the media

Patrick, despite never having success in NASCAR, is one of two drivers from the Nationwide Series to sit front and center inside the media center.

This week, she gets asked more questions than several Sprint Cup drivers -- and part of that may be from her willingness to lay out and explain what she's feeling instead of averting a question with broad terms.

Sometimes, as here in Chicago, her answers raised eyebrows for how candid they were.

One questioner wonders how Patrick, running a part-time Nationwide schedule with her full-time IndyCar duties, is able to do off-the-track homework to prepare for the brief practices associated with a NASCAR weekend.

Patrick mentions a racing simulation that several drivers have used to help learn the intricacies of a race track virtually. Patrick has tried it, she says, and "spun out on the straightaways" quite a few times. She wasn't a fan.

"I'm learning with people watching, which is hard," Patrick said. "But at least I've got people watching."

Green flag

Patrick was the first Nationwide qualifier in the thick, humid, midwest heat, turning a lap time just slightly slower than her best in practice. It wasn't great, but it got her a 28th-place starting spot for the evening's event.

"I'm learning with people watching, which is hard. But at least I've got people watching."
-- Danica Patrick With the green flag, Patrick moves up slightly and hovers around 25th for much of the race. Spotter T.J. Majors guides her when other cars close in, and also critiques most of her laps.

Majors' instruction ranges from what line to drive through the corner to how to handle traffic to how hard to attack a corner. Eury Jr.'s biggest advice? Patrick needs to be more aggressive entering pit road under green flag conditions.

"Man, it is amazing how they can see when you have a good corner," Patrick said. "You can barely see when a car is twitching out there, let alone when you have a good corner. But those guys have an eye for it."

Some of the instruction has to seem obvious for those who have observed NASCAR for a good amount of time, and it's a wonder a tone of frustration never seems to come across the radio from Eury Jr. or any other crew member. But it doesn't, and they just keep teaching with Patrick's typical in-race response -- a simple "copy."

After a flurry of late cautions and a flat tire on Patrick's No. 7, she ends up as the only driver two laps down to the leader during the final restart. Both Eury and Majors tell her to just take it cautiously during the green-white-checkered finish that often leads to carnage.

The predictions hold, and as the white flag flies multiple cars crunch up plenty of sheet metal in a frontstretch crash. Patrick had heeded the advice and slides by the wreck on the outside unscathed.

Soon, the 5-foot-2-inch driver is back on pit road to answer the questions -- and grab a little hydration.

"The last part of the race felt good to me," Patrick said. "We brought it home."