Nascar Career Highlights
2018
2018
- Final race of her NASCAR career at the Daytona 500
2017
2017
- Started the season with her best finish in any NASCAR Cup Series race with a fourth place at the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition race at Daytona.
- Finished tenth at Dover on June 4.
2016
2016
- Scored 14 top-20 finishes and led a career-best 30 laps in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
- Finished 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings.
2015
2015
- By scoring top-10 results at Martinsville and Bristol in April, earned the record for the most top-10 finishes of any female in Cup Series competition with a total of six top-10s. The previous record of five top-10s was held by Janet Guthrie.
- Scored two top-10s and 13 top-20 finishes.
- Finished 24th in the Cup Series driver standings, which was four positions better than her 2014 result and three spots better than 2013.
2014
2014
- Finished a career-best sixth in August at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The effort marked the highest finish by a female at the 1.54-mile oval. The previous record was held by Janet Guthrie (10th on March 19, 1978). Only a fifth-place result by the late Sara Christian in a Cup Series race on Oct. 2, 1949 at Heidelberg (Pa.) Raceway tops Patrick’s finish in NASCAR’s highest series. Christian also finished sixth at Langhorn (Pa.) Speedway on Sept. 11, 1949 and Guthrie finished sixth at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.
- Had two other top-10 finishes including a seventh in the May Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway and an eighth-place result in July at Daytona.
- Qualified fourth in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway, her best effort at a non-restrictor plate track. Had six top-10 starts.
- Led 15 laps and finished on the lead lap 19 times, both better than in 2013.
- Finished 28th in the Cup Series driver standings.
2013
2013
- Became the first woman to win a Cup Series pole when she set the fastest time in qualifying for the 55th running of the Daytona 500.
- Led laps 90-91 of the Daytona 500 under caution, becoming the first female to lead NASCAR’s most prestigious race. She also led laps 127-129 under green to become the first woman to lead a NASCAR race under green. Janet Guthrie led five laps under yellow in 1977 at Ontario (Calif.) Motor Speedway.
- Finished the Daytona 500 in eighth place, the highest finishing position ever for a woman in the event.
- By leading laps in the Daytona 500, Patrick joined an elite club of only 14 drivers to have led both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500. The other drivers to accomplish the feat are A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Bobby Allison, Jim Hurtubise, Johnny Rutherford, Tim Richmond, John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger and Tony Stewart. Of those 14 drivers, only Patrick, Foyt, Andretti, Gordon, Montoya, Allmendinger and Stewart have led at least five laps in each race.
- Patrick’s eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500, coupled with her six top-10 finishes in the Indianapolis 500, make her one of only 17 drivers to have top-10 results in each race. The other drivers are Foyt, Montoya, Gordon, Rutherford, Allmendinger, Stewart, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Johns, Cale Yarborough, Dan Gurney, Donnie Allison, Kurt Busch, Jerry Grant, Paul Goldsmith and Tom Sneva.
- Became first woman to start a Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, which opened in 1949.
- Finished 27th in Cup Series points and placed second in Rookie of the Year standings.
- Became first woman to compete in the full 36-race Cup Series schedule.
2012
2012
- Competed in full 33-race NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule with JR Motorsports for the first time and finished a record-setting 10th in the season-ending point standings.
- The top-10 placing in Xfinity Series points made Patrick the highest-finishing woman in a major stock-car series in 63 years, eclipsing Christian’s 13th-place finish in the Strictly Stock Series standings in 1949.
- Won the pole for the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona on Feb. 25, becoming the first woman since Shawna Robinson in 1994 to win a pole in the Xfinity Series.
- Recorded four top-10 finishes in the Xfinity Series, with an average start of 14.9 and an average finish of 18.8.
- Led six of 33 races, including a season-high 20 laps on the road course at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Aug. 18.
- Best finish of eighth came at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on April 13. Added a ninth-place effort at Bristol on Aug. 24 and finished in the top-15 in the season’s final five events.
- Was voted the Xfinity Series’ Most Popular Driver.
- Ran a partial Cup Series schedule in preparation for a full-time Cup Series effort in 2013. Made steady improvement during her 10-race run, culminating with finishes of 24th and 17th, respectively, in her final two events at Texas on Nov. 4 and Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 11.
2011
2011
- Finished fourth in Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 5, the best-ever finish by a woman in a NASCAR national stock-car series, topping a fifth-place run by Christian in a Cup Series race in 1949 at Heidelberg Raceway.
- Led 13 of 100 laps in Xfinity Series race at Daytona on July 1 en route to a 10th-place finish.
- Scored one top-five, three top-10 and five top-15 finishes in 12 Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports. Average finish was 17.4, up from a 28.0 average finish in 2010 Xfinity Series competition.
2010
2010
- Made stock-car debut in Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) race Feb. 6 at Daytona, where she started 12th and finished sixth driving a car owned by Billy Gerhart.
- Xfinity Series debut came Feb. 13 at Daytona with a 35th-place finish after being involved in multi-car accident just past the race’s halfway point.
- Competed in 13 Xfinity Series races for JR Motorsports, improving as the year progressed. Average finishing position of first seven races was 31.1, while average result in last six events was 24.3.
- Started 13th and finished sixth in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race Sept. 24 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.