Danica Patrick is hoping to join the list of Richmond Sprint Cup race winners from Stewart-Haas Racing this weekend. But she doesn't expect a victory at the short track to come easily.
With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Toyota Owners 400 (1 p.m. ET, Fox) 400 moving from a Saturday night showdown to a Sunday afternoon race, Patrick knows things could change at the track.
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And while she traditionally enjoys racing on short tracks, she expects a bit of frustration as part of racing on this 0.75-mile course as well.
"We are definitely going to be moving around a lot more at Richmond this weekend," Patrick said. "I kind of think we're going to be miserable some of the time. I mean, there are times where the tires fall off and you're like, 'Shoot me out here, it's terrible.' And I have a feeling we're going to have a few 'shoot me' moments this weekend where it's just going to be moving all around and it's going to be a lot of work.
"But as long as we have the opportunity to pass, I mean, even if you're slip-sliding around and it feels like crap and you're passing somebody, it's still fun."
It is that ability to pass, especially for teams well-prepared for the challenges of this track, that is a traditional trademark of the Richmond racing — one that Patrick seems to appreciate.
"When you have a good car, it creates opportunities to pass," she said. "Turns 1 and 2 are kind of tight, and 3 and 4 are more of a long corner, so it's a challenge to set the car up. We slip and slide there a bunch, anyway. We typically race at Richmond at night, so there's usually more grip. It'll be interesting to see how much we're all sliding around this weekend since it's going to be a day race."
Patrick brings unique experience to Richmond. The IndyCar Series raced at the track from 2001-09, with Patrick in five of those races. She finished sixth twice (2007, '08) and fifth in 2009.
In Sprint Cup, she raced six times at the track with a top finish of 16th, in 2014. Her three races in what is now the Xfinity Series produced a best finish of 18th in 2011.