SONOMA, Calif.— Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet didn’t spend much time in qualifying trim on Friday at Sonoma Raceway. In fact, Patrick made only one mock qualifying run during both practice sessions combined.
But that didn’t prevent her from advancing to the second round of knockout qualifying on Saturday morning. Patrick was sixth fastest in the first round. In the second, she secured the 11th spot on the grid for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
“The GoDaddy car was pretty good,” Patrick said after time trials. “We only made one qualifying run yesterday, but it felt good in the opening round today.
“It just got tight in the second session and we ended up 11th. We would have liked it to be better, but we’ll take it.”
And it gave representatives from her primary sponsor something to look forward to.
“We’ve got a lot of folks from GoDaddy here (Sunday),” Patrick said, “so I’m happy we are starting up front.”
Patrick started 31st and finished 29th at Sonoma last year, so she’s already well ahead of her 2013 pace.
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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