Jeff Gordon: This a ‘Crucial’ Year for Danica Patrick in Her Development in Sprint Cup Series
Jeff Gordon: This a ‘Crucial’ Year for Danica Patrick in Her Development in Sprint Cup Series
By Dustin Long - NBC Sports
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon calls this a “crucial” year in Danica Patrick’s development as a driver and says he would like to see her be more active on the track.
Patrick heads into her fourth season at Stewart-Haas Racing. The former IndyCar driver has 118 career Sprint Cup starts with no wins, six top-10 finishes and has led 27 laps.
She has job security after signing a multiyear extension in August, but Gordon said Tuesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour that’s not what he’s looking at with her.
“I think this is a crucial year for Danica,’’ said Gordon, who joins the Fox Sports broadcast booth this season. “I love having her in the sport. I think she’s great for the sport. But it’s either she is going to be in a position where this is where she fits in and this is sort of status quo — you’re goal is to get from 23rd to 20th? Or this is the year where it’s, ‘Hey, we’re breaking in top 10s and really starting to see some great progress.’ ’’
Statistics underscore a lack of improvement over the past two seasons.
Her average starting spot last year was 22.4 – it was 22.3 in 2014.
Her average finish last year was 23.5 – it was 23.7 in 2014.
She ran in the top 15 in 9.9 percent of the laps last year – she ran in the top 15 in 14.4 percent of the laps in 2014.
Her driver rating last year was 63.2. It was 63.0 in 2014.
Patrick will...
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