INDIANAPOLIS – She readily admits the odds may be long, but Danica Patrick is not giving up on earning a win this season — and potentially making the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“I think a win is going to be pretty tough, but I think a win is realistic,” Patrick said during a press conference Saturday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “I feel like I’m able to (win), I just don’t know if we’re there yet. But if it presents itself and I’m in a position to win, I feel perfectly ready.
“I’m just not sure as a group in whole, probably including myself – that’s not a scenario that we’re able to put ourselves in every single weekend –and even for the people that are, it’s still hard to win.”
To make the Chase, Patrick has to win one of the next seven races. She concedes she’s too far back in the points (27th) to enter the Chase solely on points and without a win.
“Outside of (a win) in a points situation, I don’t think there’s much hope there,” Patrick said. “It requires you to do that every weekend, finish right up front every single weekend to get those points.
“I think that if we’re able to be up there as far as running, then the win is probably much more likely, but that’s not where we’re at.”
Just past the mid-point of her second season as a full-time Cup driver, Patrick sees progress in her development. But there still remain struggles that are frustrating to her as well as her team and overall Stewart Haas Racing organization.
“I really think that just the experience in the car is helping me feel what’s happening more so,” Patrick said. “It leaves less options for the crew chief as changes when you can be more specific about what the car is doing, and then your progress on the weekend tends to be better.
“I also think that just getting up to speed quicker from the get-go also helps in not doing a big circle with the setup. Usually if you’re not driving hard enough at the beginning of practice when you first hit the track, you are loose. And then as soon as you get more confident and you’re driving in harder, all of a sudden you’re tight again, and what do you know, you’re right back where you started but you’re a session behind now.
“I have a lot to learn and a lot of progress to still make on being able to feel the little things about the car that I need to to help even more, but I think those two things are really helpful overall on our weekends and help us to be more methodical and fine-tune the car.”
While Patrick and her fans would obviously like to see more progress, she’s content for now. But if she somehow steals a win in the next seven races and makes the Chase, it’ll be a whole different ballgame from here on out for Patrick.
“We are getting stronger as a team,” Patrick said. “There’s no doubt about that, and we’re getting better and better, and the team is doing a great job of producing better cars all the time and keeping up and moving forward. All that stuff is going in the right direction, but I’m still only at a year and a half’s experience in Cup.”
Even so, Patrick hopes for a good day Sunday. Anything over and above will be a bonus.
“I think it’ll be okay overall, but you’re hoping for great because it’s a tough place to pass and it’s Indy, and you want to do really well,” she said.
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