Danica Patrick: ‘There’s potential sitting there. We’ve got to figure it out’

SPARTA, Ky. – With her three Stewart-Haas Racing teammates having won this season, it would be natural for Danica Patrick, whose average finish is 23.4 in 2016, to feel performance pressure.

But the driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet, who has one top 15 (a 13th at Dover International Speedway), is choosing to look at the positives.

“It’s only really an upside,” she said Thursday at a sponsor event near Kentucky Speedway. “There’s potential sitting there. We’ve got to figure it out. You just never know when that day could come. I feel like you just have to be ready.”

There have been few highlights for Patrick in her first season with new crew chief Billy Scott. She is ranked 26th in the points standings and has slipped in qualifying with an average starting spot of 25.6 (more than three positions lower than each of the past two seasons).

She will enter Saturday’s Quaker State 400 with four finishes outside the top 20 in the past five races.

“I don’t feel confident enough in how it’s gone that we’ve been so fast that I feel like a win is around the corner,” she said. “But you just never know what can happen, and there are all kinds of things that can happen in a race. Someday you might show up like it’s happened to me over the last couple of years where you’re just good, and that might be the day, so you have to be ready, and you have to be focused.

“But until it becomes more of an expectation, it’s about working on all the details and improving every aspect, so it is a more normal objective of ours instead of top 15.”

The most memorable example of the switch suddenly flipping on for Patrick was the May 10, 2014 race at Kansas Speedway, where she qualified ninth and finished seventh – her first top 10 in 45 Sprint Cup races.

That was the fourth race on a 1.5-mile oval that recently had been repaved. Kentucky’s recent resurfacing offers some hope of being an equalizer Saturday night.

Patrick recalls a restart at Kansas in which she passed Kasey Kahne for third despite being on the nonpreferred top line as a good example of capitalizing with a strong car.

“(Kansas) is what I mean by you have to be ready, and certain races like Martinsville and some other places have been really good races, and those are the days that you have to mentally put yourself there so you’re not surprised when it happens,” she said. “What’s funny is usually when it’s going really well, and I feel fast, I have even more confidence. That’s not a crazy thought, but I feel very comfortable. I don’t feel out of place.

“That’s the kind of confidence I feel when the car is right, so it’s a matter of finding a way to get there more consistently.”

Pit stall selections for tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky

Kevin Harvick, who will start on the pole for tonight’s Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway, will have the pit stall closest to the exit of pit road. Austin Dillon will be pitting behind him.

Jimmie Johnson‘s team took the first pit stall near pit entrance.

Here’s where teams will pit tonight. The number inside each box represents the car number. The number below the box is the pit stall number.

DRIVERS MUST PREPARE FOR KENTUCKY DIFFERENTLY AFTER TRACK REPAVING

The Kentucky Speedway has promoted itself as the roughest track in NASCAR thanks to its bumpy surface, but thanks to some repaving and other upgrades the track may be unrecognizable to drivers.

KYLE BUSCH WINS AT KENTUCKY IN OVERTIME FINISH

SPARTA, Ky. – It was a race Kyle Busch won with a dramatic run around the outside lane at Kentucky Speedway.

It was a race Erik Jones lost when he hit the wrong switch on his dashboard, killed the engine and slowed under caution late in the race.

But, interestingly, it was a race where Jones showed Busch, the pole winner, the key to victory, demonstrating to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate that the outside line was viable when racing side-by-side with an opponent.

Clearing Austin Dillon off Turn 4 in the first lap in overtime in Friday night’s Alsco 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race, after caution slowed the race for the fifth time, Busch pulled away to beat the Richard Childress Racing scion to the finish line by .455 seconds.

Daniel Suarez finished third after chasing Busch to the final yellow flag, then losing the runner-up spot to Dillon on the last restart. Jones came home a disappointing fourth after outdueling Busch for the lead on Lap 175, only to give it up when his car wouldn’t refire under caution and failed to keep up with the pace car, costing Jones two positions.

Busch led 185 of the 201 laps in winning for the fifth time in nine starts this season, the second time at Kentucky and the 81st time in his career, extending his own series record.

But it was the run around the outside lane, after Dillon pulled even on the backstretch on lap 200, that proved decisive.

And that’s exactly how Jones had passed Busch for the lead on Lap 175.

“I didn’t think he’d be able to hold it through (Turns) 3 and 4 like that,” said Dillon, who thought he had the preferred position on the inside. “But he did a great job of holding me down. I wish we could have got it done for (sponsor) Rheem, but it was a really close race.”

Busch was roughly a half-second ahead of Suarez and appeared to have the race in hand when caution flew on Lap 195 with smoke billowing from Mike Harmon ’s car.

“We always get the Kyle Busch cautions,” Busch said. “Apparently this time it was true. There was some problems with another car smoking. You always have to make your money’s worth, I guess. Always have to give the show to the fans and their money’s worth.

“Certainly means a lot to us to win here and bring our Camry home to Victory Lane again at Kentucky Speedway.”

Jones said he hit the wrong button when he was rolling under caution and fell behind the pace car, allowing Busch to pass him. NASCAR rules require a driver to maintain pace car speed in order to keep his or her running position.

“I think we had the fastest car here once we got out front,” Jones lamented. “It’s just hard to get back up to the front when you get back in traffic.”

But before he fell back, Jones had already given Busch the road map to victory.

“When Erik drove into Turn 3 with me, I started to roll out just a little bit, because I knew I needed to in order to run the bottom,” Busch said. “And he drove right on past me, and I was like, ‘Well, all righty then.’

“I was waiting for him to slip and to not be able to control his car in the black, in the rubber. And it stuck for him and he made it work. I definitely learned that there was a little bit of speed up there, at least for one lap, for one corner.”

And that one corner made all the difference on Friday night.

RAIN JUMBLES FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE AT KENTUCKY

Inclement weather has altered Friday's on-track schedule at Kentucky Speedway.

Nearly 30 minutes into the day's first of two scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices, a severe thunderstorm warning had officials sending Sprint Cup Series cars into the garage. Denny Hamlin had posted the fastest speed at the time, with Jimmie Johnson -- who later smacked the wall solidly -- sitting in second. Heavy rains followed, and the practice officially ended at 12:25 p.m. ET.

Four other on-track events were planned, but altered. Here's what's new: The second Sprint Cup Series practice will begin whenever the track is dry (no estimation) and run until 4:25 p.m. ET. NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying will follow at 4:45 p.m. ET, with Sprint Cup Series final practice running from 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying is canceled and will be set per the rule book (owner points). MORE | See the full lineup

The NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Live Extra, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will wrap up the day's events.

RELATED: See the full weekend schedule

Wet weather also altered Wednesday's original schedule, which had three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practices on the books. That schedule was adjusted to have two practices, including an extended 175-minute session. The extra time had added importance as Kentucky underwent a repave and the 1.5-mile track has a fresh racing surface.

Sprint Cup teams tested at the track last month over two days following the Michigan weekend and practiced here yesterday. XFINITY Series teams had four practices on Thursday.

This story will be updated.

KENTUCKY: THE MISSING TRACK FOR CHEVROLET DRIVERS

Of the 23 tracks that currently host one or more NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, Kentucky Speedway remains the only venue that hasn't seen a Chevrolet driver celebrating in Victory Lane.

The 1.5-mile track, which will host Saturday night's Quaker State 400 Presented (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) held its first Sprint Cup race in 2011. This weekend's race will be just the sixth premier series event at the facility, which is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota) has a pair of victories there, as does Brad Keselowski (Team Penske No. 2 Ford). Matt Kenseth (JGR No. 20 Toyota) is also a former Kentucky winner.

Keselowski, last week's Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola winner at Daytona International Speedway, won at Kentucky in a Dodge (in 2012) as well as a Ford (2014).

The lack of success at the track isn't something Chevrolet officials and teams take lightly.

"Our teams are very aware that we haven't won at this race track," said Alba Colon, program manager for Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. "It's a big deal."

Chevrolet drivers have finished second twice, Kasey Kahne (Hendrick Motorsports) in 2012 and Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) the following year. But perhaps the automaker's most difficult loss to swallow was the '13 race, one that saw Jimmie Johnson dominate only to lose the lead, and the race, following a late caution.

Johnson (HMS) led 182 of 267 laps before a fuel-only stop by Kenseth put the JGR driver out front on a restart; Johnson's chances faded when the No. 48 entry spun moments later.

There are tracks where Chevrolet teams have been dominant. They have won six straight at Phoenix International Raceway, for example, and 12 of the past 13 events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thus far, Kentucky has been a tougher nut to crack.

“We have had only five races so far (at Kentucky)," Colon said, noting runnerup finishes by McMurray and Kahne. "We've won the pole three times. Top-five and top-10 finishes. We haven't been able to close it."

That could change this weekend. For just the second, and final, time this season teams will be competing with a lower downforce aerodynamic package. The track has been repaved and Turns 1 and 2 have been reconfigured with the banking increased three degrees.

"I really believe that with the new rules and everything being so equal right now … this is a great chance for us to do it," Colon said.

Fourteen teams tested at Kentucky June 13-14. Fastest through the two days of practice was the Chevrolet entry of 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team.

Harvick has yet to lead a lap at the track, but has finished 10th or higher in his last three starts there.

It's one of only four tracks, along with Pocono, Sonoma and Texas, where he has yet to win. Ditto for Johnson, who counts Kentucky, Watkins Glen, Homestead and Chicagoland as tracks where he has yet to visit Victory Lane.

And three-time champ Tony Stewart is winless at only two current tracks – Kentucky and Darlington. The three-times series champion will close the book on his Sprint Cup Series career at season's end. Going out with a win at each track, he said, would make his departure all the more memorable.

Chevrolet teams have 758 wins in NASCAR through the years, most of any automaker.

"But it's a goal," Colon said, "to have a win at every track.

"We have been very successful. And we still have one more track to win."

Truck series points standings after Kentucky Speedway

SPARTA, Ky. — William Byron maintained his grip atop the Camping World Truck Series points standings with his fourth victory of the season Thursday.

Byron, who clinched a spot in the inaugural truck series Chase spot with the win, leads Matt Crafton by 13 points in the rankings.

Daniel Hemric moved up a spot into third in the points standings

The series’ next race is July 20 at Eldora Speedway.

The truck points after Kentucky: