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

Any hopes of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup were dashed for Danica Patrick when she didn't finish in Victory Lane in Richmond. But with her ninth top-20 result over the weekend, Patrick continues to build toward the future.

As the Sprint Cup circuit heads to Chicagoland, Patrick is no longer competing for a championship. While fellow Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick remain contenders, Patrick is simply driving for pride and working to improve prior to the 2015 season.

Just one top 20 short of tying her mark from last season, however, she heads to a track where she notched a similar result in 2013. Still without a win in her career and just two top 10s this year, the 32-year-old still has a lot left to strive toward.

On the heels of a top-10 result in Atlanta and finishing 16th in Richmond, the consistent results for Patrick came too late in the season to make the Chase. Here's a look at the latest results, news and ranking prior to Chicago.

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins	Top 5	Top 10
1	Brad Keselowski	2012	4	11	13
2	Jeff Gordon	2009	3	9	17
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2009	3	11	16
4	Jimmie Johnson	2009	3	8	16
5	Joey Logano	2009	3	10	15
6	Kevin Harvick	2006	2	8	13
7	Carl Edwards	2006	2	6	11
8	Kyle Busch	2003	1	6	9
9	Denny Hamlin	2003	1	6	11
10	Kurt Busch	2003	1	6	7
11	Kasey Kahne	2003	1	3	10
12	Aric Almirola	2003	1	2	6
13	AJ Allmendinger	2003	1	2	4
14	Matt Kenseth	2000	0	10	16
15	Greg Biffle	2000	0	3	10
16	Ryan Newman	2000	0	2	10
28	Danica Patrick	528 (N/A)	0	0	2

Race	Track	Start	Finish
Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Raceway	13	16
Oral-B USA 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	27	6
Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway	24	27
Pure Michigan 400	Michigan International Speedway	14	18
Cheez-It 355	Watkins Glen International	43	21
GoBowling.com 400	Pocono Raceway	10	30
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

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Though it wasn't the victory that she needed, Patrick came away happy with her finish in Richmond.

Just missing out on the top 15 and needing another "Lucky Dog" to remain on the lead lap, it was still a career-best result at the track. Patrick spoke about her night following the race, per StewartHaasRacing.com:

"

It was a good day. Everyone on the GoDaddy team worked hard; we had good night. I’m proud of where we have been the last two weeks, and tonight was by far our best run at Richmond. It was a good job by the team.

If we could have got one more caution, it would have been nice. But it didn’t happen. Still, I’m proud of these guys and for GoDaddy. It’s our best run here by far. We’ve been testing a lot, so hopefully everyone can wind down on Sunday before we get ready for Chicago.

"

Patrick reached as high as 10th and as low as 20th after missing out on the final round of qualifying and finishing 13th. But with just one finish inside the top 30 during her career at the course, the final result was another notch on a good string of starts.

In fact, the good qualifying run set the stage for another consistent start, as NASCAR on ESPN notes:

"

.@DanicaPatrick was 13th. Is she set to back up last week's career-best sixth-place finish with a strong run @RIRInsider? #NASCAR

— NASCAR on ESPN (@ESPNNASCAR) September 5, 2014"

As previously mentioned, Patrick actually had a decent run last season at Chicago. And after posting good results at two tracks where she has traditionally struggled, having a comfort level in the car should help this weekend.

Here's a look at her results in Chicago:

Date	Finish	Start	Laps Led	Driver Rating	Status
Sept. 15, 2013	20	23	0	61.2	Running
Sept. 16, 2012	25	41	0	49.0	Running

With two career races at the track, the first race of the Chase has regularly treated Patrick well. Unfortunately, she's never been involved in NASCAR's postseason when the race rolls around.

Thanks to a solid history of runs and a recent top-20 finish, another one should be on the horizon. And if she can show the ability to help teammates Busch and Harvick during the Chase, she can be a valuable member of the SHR team moving forward

Predicted finish: 14th

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