Danica Patrick: Latest News and 2014 Sprint Cup Ranking Ahead of Homestead-Miami
In the penultimate race of the 2014 season, Danica Patrick was never much of a factor at the top of the leaderboard. Finishing 22nd, she narrowly missed out on another top 20 in the Chase, but she still has a lot of work to do to improve in Phoenix.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver started the day at 32nd after qualifying, but she slowly moved her way up. However, the progress wasn't enough, as she still hasn't captured a quality finish outside of a 17th-place result in 2012.
Heading to Homestead for the final race of the year, Patrick doesn't have a great history in Miami either. Only racing at the track once during her career, she does barely have a top-20 result to her name.
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Let's take a look at the current standings, results and latest news for Patrick prior to Miami.
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 5000 | 4 | 13 | 19 |
| 2 | Ryan Newman | 5000 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 5000 | 5 | 16 | 22 |
| 4 | Denny Hamlin | 5000 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
| 28 | Danica Patrick | 709 (N/A) | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 | Phoenix International Raceway | 32 | 22 |
| The AAA Texas 500 | Texas Motor Speedway | 27 | 36 |
| Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 | Martinsville Speedway | 30 | 34 |
| Geico 500 | Talladega Superspeedway | 27 | 19 |
| Hollywood Casino 400 | Kansas Speedway | 29 | 16 |
| AAA 400 | Dover International Speedway | 13 | 25 |
| Sylvania 300 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | 18 | 19 |
| MyAfibStory.com 400 | Chicagoland Speedway | 18 | 19 |
| 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 |
Latest News
Though the results haven't been promising recently for Patrick, the SHR driver has still made progress this season, having multiple top 10s this year to go along with four top-20 results in the Chase alone.
Prior to swapping crew chiefs with Kurt Busch, Patrick appeared to be moving in the right direction despite not making NASCAR's postseason. She spoke about that improvement prior to racing in Phoenix, per Michael Knight of AZCentral.com:
"I know where the improvements have come and how it has felt. Statistics, to me, are irrelevant, no matter how good or bad they are. …
In general, attention is good, but it doesn't mean the attention was, when you break it down individually, all good stuff. In sports, emotion is what keeps us coming back. It's the last real thing on TV. It's unscripted. It makes it interesting and exciting.
"
Unfortunately, that movement in the right direction has hit a standstill since the move over to Daniel Knost thus far. Not that it's all his fault, but the two just haven't seemed to click in the early going.
Meanwhile, Busch and Tony Gibson have two straight top-10 finishes in Texas and Phoenix. The No. 41 car has been competitive in both races and even led 15 laps in their first race together.
Jay Pennell of Fox Sports shared his thoughts on how the switch might help Patrick in the future:
"Knost is a first-year crew chief now working with a still-developing driver behind the wheel. Knost is more of an engineer, something Patrick can relate to from her IndyCar days. However, the relationship is not off to a great start.
When Stewart-Haas Racing announced the changes, Gibson's role was a permanent one, while Knost was deemed the 'interim' crew chief for Patrick.
"
In their final effort of the 2014 season, both will have a chance to rectify the situation in Miami.
For Knost, this will be his first time as a Sprint Cup crew chief in Homestead. Meanwhile, his driver doesn't have a wealth of experience at the track either.
During her one race at the track, Patrick did finish 20th after starting 24th and stayed on the lead lap. Her driver rating, however, was just 61.4, as she wasn't able to make her way to the top.
In order to finish the season on a high note, she'll need to see change immediately to garner a fourth top 10 this year. But with her history at the track, that doesn't appear likely in Homestead.
Predicted finish: 18th
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