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“I was in the bus sitting and packing up, but I had a feeling all day,” Patrick said after congratulating her boyfriend in Victory Lane. “I mean, obviously, he qualified on the pole, but at the beginning of the race when he was leading (the first 13 laps), I was thinking he was either going to stay in the lead, or something bad might happen.

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“But I got the feeling that it was just one of those days where he was going to make it happen. It’s a very good day.”

Patrick hasn’t won in 164 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, but she got her only IndyCar victory in her 50th start in the series.

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“I can relate so well, and especially knowing how much success he has had before he came into the Cup Series,” Patrick said. “It’s that relief, like something you’ve been waiting for so long, and I think we both felt it coming in the last month at least. I’m just totally proud of him.”

Reid Spencer writes for the NASCAR Wire Service.