Danica Patrick Richmond Bound

Looking back at the history of Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, members of the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) organization have left their mark over the years.

 

SHR co-owner Tony Stewart scored his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at the .75-mile oval in September 1999 and has three career wins at the track.

 

Kevin Harvick first found his way to victory lane at Richmond in the September 2006 NASCAR Cup Series race and has since earned two additional wins there.

 

Kurt Busch scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Richmond in September 2005 and won his second there in April 2015.

 

Clint Bowyer first won at Richmond in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks in May 2008 and made a return trip to victory lane at the track in April 2012.

 

While Stewart, Harvick, Busch and Bowyer have made their respective marks in the NASCAR Cup Series, Danica Patrick’s success at Richmond thus far has come in the open-wheel ranks.

 

The IndyCar Series competed at Richmond from 2001 to 2009, and Patrick competed in five of those events. She finished sixth in 2007 and 2008, then scored a fifth-place result in 2009.

 

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford Fusion for SHR, will make her ninth trip to Richmond in the NASCAR Cup Series for Sunday’s Richmond 400. In the September 2016 NASCAR Cup Series race at the .75-mile oval, she started 29th and scored her best-ever finish at the track – a 15th-place effort.

 

When Patrick returns to the track this weekend, her No. 10 Ford will carry the colors of Code 3 Associates, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing professional animal disaster response and resources to communities, as well as administering professional training to individuals and agencies involved in animal-related law enforcement and emergency response. Its mission is accomplished through hands-on animal rescue and care operations during disaster events in the United States and Canada, and through certified animal welfare training seminars, which include animal cruelty training for investigators.

 

Patrick enters Richmond looking to turn things around and get back to scoring top-20 results. While she knows her IndyCar experience at Richmond won’t assist her this weekend, Patrick and her No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford team will be leaning on the knowledge of their SHR teammates in an effort to find NASCAR Cup Series success there.

 

TSC PR