Danica Patrick 2016 Preview
By Richard Tix
After 2014 it looked like Danica Patrick was really starting to make strides in her Cup career. She posted high's in top 10's, average starting position, and average finish position. So, in 2015 I really thought she would continue to make those strides.
It isn't like 2015 was a bad year, but she just held pace with 2014. She finished 2015 with 13 top 20 finishes which was one less then 2014 (14). And here starting and finish averages were just about the same.
So, 2016 will be a big year for Danica. GoDaddy has officially left the sport, but she continues to pick up new sponsors to the NASCAR world along the way to replace them. On the track, 2016 will be a important to see if she will improve, or if these numbers just are what she is (kind of like Paul Menard).
Bold Predictions/2016 Season Expectations:
- I do think Danica has some room to improve before truly hitting her peak. She is never going to be a consistent top 15 driver in my mind, but I do think she can get into the top 20 at some point, if not multiple times, in her career (so far she has finished seasons 27th, 28th, 24th). He numbers overall may not have been better, but she was more consistent in 2015 which lead to a top 25 finish in points (24th). Another win-less season might be expected, but I think she might finally get her first top 5 along with 2-4 top 10's, and another 12-14 top 15's.
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