Danica Patrick: Latest News and 2014 Sprint Cup Ranking Ahead of Pocono

Sometimes when it rains, it truly does pour. For Danica Patrick, the second-year driver experienced just that on Sunday in Indianapolis.

Following a top-10 finish at Daytona, Patrick was unable to sneak into the top 20 at New Hampshire. But heading into the Brickyard 400, she was driving well and garnered confidence running inside the top 15 throughout much of the day.

Unfortunately, all of that good fortune came crashing down as her car suffered a broken axle and ruined her chances at a good finish. Though nothing is promised in NASCAR, it appeared Patrick was having her best run at the Brickyard before the mechanical issues.

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That tough luck is something Patrick knows all too well, and it might continue this coming weekend. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has never performed well at Pocono, without a top-20 finish in three tries.

Before the Sprint Cup circuit moves on to the Tricky Triangle, here's a look at the latest standings and news surrounding Patrick.

Race	Track	Start	Finish
Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	14	42
Camping World RV Sales 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	29	22
Coke Zero 400	Daytona International Speedway	29	8
Quaker State 400	Kentucky Speedway	10	21
Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway	11	18
Quicken Loans 400	Michigan International Speedway	27	17
Pocono 400	Pocono Raceway	16	37
FedEx 400	Dover International Speedway	28	23
Coca-Cola 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	4	39
5-Hour Energy 400	Kansas Speedway	9	7
Aaron's 499	Talladega Superspeedway	7	22
Toyota Owners 400	Richmond International Raceway	35	34
Bojangles' Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	33	22
Duck Commander 500	Texas Motor Speedway	24	27
STP 500	Martinsville Speedway	10	32
Auto Club 400	Auto Club Speedway	27	14
Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	36	18
Kobalt 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	22	21
The Profit on CNBC 500	Phoenix International Raceway	33	36
Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	27	40

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Brad Keselowski	666	3	9	10
2	Jimmie Johnson	628	3	6	12
3	Jeff Gordon	717	2	7	14
4	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	693	2	9	14
5	Carl Edwards	603	2	4	8
6	Joey Logano	591	2	7	10
7	Kevin Harvick	565	2	5	9
8	Kyle Busch	609	1	6	9
9	Denny Hamlin	572	1	5	8
10	Aric Almirola	496	1	2	4
11	Kurt Busch	456	1	4	4
12	Matt Kenseth	661	0	8	13
13	Ryan Newman	606	0	2	7
14	Clint Bowyer	577	0	2	8
15	Kyle Larson	562	0	4	9
16	Austin Dillon	559	0	1	3
28	Danica Patrick	382	0	0	2

Latest News

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Despite the end of the race leaving her near the back of the pack at Indy, she had a promising run on Sunday.

In fact, the 32-year-old was running 12th when she suffered the broken axle at the Brickyard. Though she finished 42nd, Patrick was able to joke about the issues, per Jay Pennell of Fox Sports:

"

We looked at everything and it looks like the launch was fine. It just one of those things. It's too bad and these things never happen when you're having a bad day. We were having a good day. It's disappointing and the GoDaddy guys built me a really good car. Hendrick gave me great horsepower. We were the fastest car out there at times.

"

She also took to Twitter following the race to voice her thoughts:

Patrick would return to the track much later in the race in an attempt to collect points but was 28 laps down by that point. While she collected just two points for the team, GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving offered his opinion on her performance:

The unfortunate finish also hurt her in the standings. While she's nowhere near being in contention for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, somehow getting to Victory Lane would have essentially locked up a spot in NASCAR's postseason.

But let's be honest—nobody was catching Gordon on Sunday afternoon.

Patrick is now 28th in the standings and heading to a track where she's never experienced success. The Tricky Triangle is exactly that for the SHR driver, as she has finished outside of the top 30 during the last two races.

Here's a look at Patrick's career results at Pocono, via DriverAverages.com:

Date	Start	Finish	Laps Led	Driver Rating	Status
June 8, 2014	16	37	0	55.9	Running
Aug. 4, 2013	35	34	0	52.2	Accident
June 9, 2013	30	29	0	58.1	Running

Though she has minimal experience at Pocono, the results look daunting for Patrick. She has a chance to improve those statistics drastically on Sunday, especially after a strong run at a similar track in Indy.

As time continues to run out on Patrick and several other drivers in the field, she needs a strong run and potentially her first victory to keep hopes alive for the Chase. With hopes fading, Patrick won't get that elusive win and will fall further behind her competition.

Predicted finish: 32nd

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