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03.06.16
Kobalt 400 Race-Report
Date: March 6, 2016
Event: Kobalt 400 (Round 3 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 18th/21st (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 26th (47 points)
Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)
Danica Patrick and the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) finished 21st in Sunday’s Kobalt 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Patrick started the race from the 18th position and spent a majority of the event battling near the 20th spot. Extreme weather conditions were part of the equation Sunday for the new combination of Patrick and crew chief Billy Scott. Wind, raindrops and cooler temperatures in the early going soon changed to bright sun over the course of the 400-mile race.
The tandem kept working throughout the race on improving the No. 10 machine, beginning with adjustments during a lap-83 pit stop. After cycling through green-flag stops, Patrick climbed from 27th to 25th. During a lap-98 caution, the team decided to stay out and take the wave-around to join the back of the lead line, helping Patrick climb from 25th to 18th by lap 152. She bounced between positions 19 and 20 during the next 26 laps before another round of changes were made on the car during a lap-181 caution.
Patrick was able to avoid a multicar accident on lap 225 and made a pit stop for final adjustments. She restarted 20th and spent the final 30 laps making consistent laps. Her ultimate 21st-place finish tied her career-best result at the track from 2014.
“I’m really proud of my Nature’s Bakery team for the changes they made throughout the day and keeping us in our spot today,” Patrick said. “I didn’t feel like I had a lot of speed. It just seemed like I was carrying an anchor early in the runs. Billy and I are still working with how the car works and how we load each corner of the car. Learning what I like in it. We’re not way off. We just have to find something to get us to the next group. We have to find a couple of tenths. We are making progress. Some of it is behind the scenes more with learning than it is with results at this point. We’ve had three races and made steady improvement through the race with the car and that’s important, because it means my communication and his understanding is good. We’ll keep working. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the finish we wanted today, but we had a steady day and missed the big accident.”
Patrick’s teammate Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing seventh. Harvick started sixth and led one lap en route to his seventh top-10 in 16 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval. It was also his 260th top-10 in 541 career Sprint Cup starts.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, started first and finished ninth after leading 31 laps. It was his fourth top-10 in 15 career Sprint Cup starts at Las Vegas. It was also his 225th top-10 in 543 career Sprint Cup starts.
Brian Vickers, interim driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR as he subs for the injured Tony Stewart, started 19th and finished 36th.
Brad Keselowski won the Kobalt 400 to score his 18th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his second at Las Vegas.
Joey Logano finished .675 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five. Ryan Blaney, Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were six caution periods for 36 laps, with three drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.
With round three of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is third with 108 points, seven behind first-place Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch is fifth with 103 points, 12 out of first. Patrick is 26th with 47 points, 68 out of first. Vickers is 36th with 20 points, 95 out of first.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Good Sam 500k on Sunday, March 13, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.