CUP: Danica Patrick Previews 2013 On ‘NASCAR Race Hub’

The No. 10 Stewart-Haas driver looks back on her first season and speaks of her expectations for the next.

David Harris | Posted February 04, 2013 Charlotte, NC

Cup driver Danica Patrick talks about the new “Generation 6” race cars and her expectations for competing in the 2013 season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, made an in-studio appearance during tonight’s edition of NASCAR Race Hub on SPEED.

Hosts Steve Byrnes and Danielle Trotta talked with Patrick about her first full season as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, the new “Generation 6” race cars and what expectations are in place for 2013.

Steve Byrnes: We’re excited about this year because of the new car. How does it drive?

Danica Patrick: I’m probably not the smartest person about how the car drives because I’m new, in general, to Sprint Cup. I like it. I felt like at Charlotte you could drive it in hard, then pick up the throttle really hard as well. That was a cold day, so there was a lot more grip. It was fun. Anytime you can get something that’s going to allow us to drive harder, or make less mistakes and be closer to each other, is going to allow us to put on a better show for the fans – which is the ultimate goal.

Danielle Trotta: Carl Edwards thought it was a great time for his new teammate – Ricky
Stenhouse, Jr. – to get into the car because the new car kind of levels the playing field. Do you feel that as well?

Patrick: I think everybody is starting off from a similar place. I feel like it’s a little easier to get on with the program when you’re not trying to achieve something that may not really be possible with the car. I think that can definitely happen with the new car. Let’s face it, it just looks good. The Chevy’s look really good.

Byrnes: At Daytona, you were fast. That’s something, at Daytona, you can’t fake.

Patrick: That’s one of those things, as a driver, you rely so much on the team and their preparation that they’ve put into that car. Obviously, (Crew Chief) Tony Gibson and the guys did a really good job over the winter. In fact, the first couple of runs we went out there, we were really slow, and they were asking, “What the heck is going on?” We realized that the brakes were dragging the entire time out there, so we got going the next run and it was fast. As a driver, it’s a big relief, and it’s kind of a fun feeling because you know it’s so hard to get speed out of the car – it just there – everything is pretty smooth sailing. We had a really good test, it was really easy, the changes were responding well on the car. That’s just a nice feeling, and it started our year off really well as well.

Trotta: And she wasn’t in the wreck…

Patrick: That makes it even better. The funny thing was, was that I was driving out to pit lane when the second group was going and I was saying as I was pulling out of the garage area, “That we need to get out in the pack. I really want to get out there. All right, we’ll get out there, no problem, let’s just do this run.” So I was out there sitting in pit lane and they were like, “Oh, the big one. The big one happened on the back, five, six, seven cars,” and I was like, “You know guys, I think it was a good decision here, I’m really all for it.” It was unfortunate to see so many cars go out because there aren’t that many parts yet. I know NASCAR is working hard to get everything we need, so that we’re ready for Daytona. Unfortunately, when we run that close together, these things happen.

Trotta: I was so impressed by (Tony Gibson’s) enthusiasm. He knew he wasn’t going to win races righty away, or compete for championships, but he was excited about the process in taking baby steps. Do you feel that?

Patrick: I think it’s important that somebody like Tony Gibson, that’s such a leader of the team, puts that realistic expectation on the program at first. Everybody wants to win, we all want to go out there and win, but we know it’s going to take time. Shoot, it’s insulting to think that we can just go out there and win because there are so many guys who’ve been around for a very long time, that are incredible drivers. We know it’s going to be a process.

So, it’s nice that he has that attitude, and that trickles down to everybody. Everybody feels that, and they feel that patience, and that sort of correct intention along the way. The most important thing is that there’s progress being made throughout the year. We’ll just have to see how we start out. It is a little different now that we have a new car so every year; there are some unexpected fast cars. You can’t anticipate that based on what others have done throughout the winter. We’ll kind of see how we shake out when the first few races get run, we’ll then really start to put some numbers on things. Then we’ll start thinking about whether we should start practicing with this group, and kind of be here in qualifying, here in the finishes.

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