With the second half of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series going, rookies like Danica Patrick are seeing tracks for the second time this season. And knowledge gained from the first race of 2013 can pay off in the second race.
We saw that with Patrick two weeks ago at Pocono when she made her second start at the 2.5-mile triangle. She was more aggressive on restarts, knew the track better and had at least a small notebook of knowledge to draw upon.
Danica Patrick hopes the same holds true for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. It’s a very tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. Brooklyn is about a half hour from Ann Arbor and an hour from East Lansing.
Prior to their trip to Michigan, Danica Patrick, Gibson and the rest of the No. 10 team will participate in a two-day test at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., as the quest for speed and better results continues.
Danica Patrick gave her thoughts on Michigan:
“I think it’s a momentum track and I feel like I come from a background of carrying a lot of momentum and using a lot of throttle. Being smooth and hopefully that is something that can help me at Michigan.nI think my strength of carrying momentum is something I’m used to doing.”
Patrick talked about her race at Michigan in June.
“I think we caught some breaks. Yellows definitely helped us be able to get track position as far as closing up the gaps and being able to pit a few times. We tried to take right-side (tires) and get track position early on. It just didn’t go well, and we just hadn’t gotten ourselves to a good place with the car that I could carry the speed I needed to run with the (pack). It didn’t work out so well.”
Danica Patrick finished 13th in that one. She finished 7th at Michigan in 2013 while she was in IndyCar.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)