Patrick’s Learning Curve Continues

Danica Patrick’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series education continued Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where she finished 29th in the AdvoCare 500. Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing, never had raced at Atlanta until the Nationwide Series event Saturday night, in which she finished 13th. So her weekend goal was to get familiar with the treacherous 1.54-mile oval and complete as many laps as possible, continuing the transition from INDYCAR to NASCAR. She completed 321 of 327 laps while learning how drive on Atlanta’s worn pavement that causes even veteran drivers to slip and slide around due to a lack of grip. And as she has throughout her very brief Sprint Cup Series career, she got better throughout the weekend, with lap times improving right to the end of the race. “I think we picked up overall throughout the race and we were learning about the car,” Patrick said. “I was a lot tighter ...