Patrick fastest in early practices

— If two practices are any indication, Danica Patrick is a solid candidate to win the pole for the Daytona 500.

Patrick turned the fastest lap Saturday in two practice sessions focused solely on qualifying for the Daytona 500. She went 196.220 mph around Daytona International Speedway in the second practice session and said she’s eyeing the top starting spot in “The Great American Race.”

“Everything that we do is to make sure that we do whatever we can to be on the pole,” Patrick said. “That is what we all are shooting for.”

The front row for the Feb. 24 season-opener will be set in today’s time trials. The rest of the field is set next Thursday after two qualifying races.

Patrick said it would be an accomplishment for her Stewart-Haas Racing team to lock into the field today.

“I think it would be really nice for all of us to know we were in the race,” she said. “It’s nice to know as a team, but it’s also nice to know for your [sponsors] like GoDaddy and all the other people that are involved in the car. That is who really pays for you to be out there on the track.”

Patrick was nearly a second faster than the other drivers Saturday.

Second fastest in the afternoon session was Tony Stewart, her teammate and car coowner, who turned a lap of 195.363 mph in his Chevrolet. Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota, and he was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray as Chevrolet took four of the top five spots.

Joey Logano paced the morning practice with a fast lap at 195.410 mph. He was followed by Austin Dillon for Richard Childress Racing and then Patrick, who went 195.359 in the first session.

She came to Daytona with a different car than the one her SHR team tested with in January. That car was fast and had the team encouraged, but crew chief Tony Gibson settled on a different Chevy based on wind tunnel data.

“I think being fastest on the chart, just being fast in general shows everyone else how dead serious Tony Gibson is with his guys and how he wants poles, he wants to give me the fastest car possible,” Patrick said. “He is doing absolutely everything he can and is putting so much hard work into it. I think that just shows his confidence in everyone including myself about what we can do.”

Sports, Pages 31 on 02/17/2013

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