RICHMOND, Va. — Two weeks away from her second Sprint Cup race — at Darlington, no less — Danica Patrick has more of an idea about how a Cup car really feels.
Patrick made her Cup debut in the Daytona 500 but was the victim of a wreck as she started the second lap, and her car was never up to speed thereafter.
“I tested the Cup car actually this week,” Patrick told the NASCAR Wire Service on Friday after Nationwide Series practice at Richmond. “I would say it’s my first ‘real’ time in a Cup car. I kind of don’t think Daytona completely counts — you’re not really doing much but holding it wide open.
“It was good. I had a lot of fun. I felt really comfortable right off the get-go. I could definitely feel the acceleration of the car. You’ve got to get comfortable on the brakes and get comfortable with the car getting in the corners on the brakes, and I think that’s something I have to get used to.”
Darlington, billed as the Track too Tough to Tame, presents a unique set of challenges. Patrick plans to get a close look at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway before she races there.
“I’ve got to do a few laps in anything around Darlington, I’ve heard, before I get out there in a car,” Patrick said. “I’ll make sure I get there the day before . . . get a rental out there and just kind of run around.
“The point of this process and the point of choosing Darlington was to go to the toughest tracks and get the toughest ones out of the way, the ones that take a lot of tries before you really get comfortable there and just get the process going.
“I know it’s going to be hard. I know there’s going to be some frustrating moments and some moments that I’m probably going to feel a little embarrassed, but I’m there to get my Darlington stripes and move along.”
Patrick finished 21 in the Nationwide race Friday night.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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