Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Daytona International Speedway has a pattern of producing first-time winners.
Five active drivers, all thought of as surprises at the time, made their inaugural visit to Victory Lane at “The World Center of Racing” known for its blazing speeds and tight restrictor-plate competition: Michael Waltrip (2001), Greg Biffle (2003), Trevor Bayne (2011), David Ragan (2011) and Aric Almirola (2014).
Danica Patrick hopes to be the next first-time winner at the 2.5-mile track in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola (7:45 p.m. ET on NBC).
“I’ve always enjoyed speedway racing since I came to NASCAR,” Patrick said. “They’ve been places where I feel like I’ve had opportunities. And a lot of people do. But that’s what makes it exciting – the opportunities to do really well, to win races, and of course with NASCAR’s structure of the Chase being like it is (win and you’re in), it opens that door up for opportunities.”
Patrick owns a solid Daytona resume. She earned the pole for the Daytona 500 in 2013 and finished eighth. Overall, the former open-wheel standout has registered two of her six career top-10 finishes there.
Last month at Coke Zero 400 media day, Patrick explained the ingredients to winning at a restrictor-plate track.
“Sometimes you have to have luck on your side, you have to have experience on your side, you have to have friends on your side behind you (and) go with you if you decide to pull out because you’re not winning the race and you need to make a move,” she said. “There are a lot of things that go into winning a race, which is why it’s so valued. Even the best driver that year, if they win a handful, that is a great year.”
Patrick sits 24th on the Chase Grid, 97 points behind Kasey Kahne on the cutoff line. With just 10 races left in the regular season, winning a race is virtually the only way she can secure a berth in NASCAR’s playoffs – a feat that is not unprecedented. Almirola’s Daytona victory in 2014 allowed him to jump into the Chase when he wouldn’t have made it on points. Furthermore, Patrick’s teammate, Tony Stewart, took the checkered flag Sunday at Sonoma – his first win in nearly three years – when it looked like his Chase chances were close to impossible.
“Superspeedways are always opportunities for me,” Patrick said. “I feel like they always could be good weekends. I think that our superspeedway program is maybe not quite as strong as it was when I got the pole in 2013, but it by no means means we can’t have a great weekend.”