For the first time in NASCAR history, a woman has won the pole position for a race on the top level, currently the Sprint Cup Series. Danica Patrick qualified with a lap at 196.434 miles per hour to start first in the upcoming Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon was the only other driver to have a lap at over 196 mph. Patrick said after her history making qualifying speed that “I was brought up to be the fastest driver, not the fastest girl”. The qualifying races on Thursday will determine where the remaining drivers will line up for the start of the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
While Patrick winning the pole for Daytona is noteworthy, how she runs in the race is much more important. It’s one thing to drive fast with no one else on the track with you, and it’s another to be competitive for 500 miles, with 40 of the greatest stock car racers in the world on the track with you. If she wins the race, that would be the biggest story in NASCAR since the death of Dale Earnhardt 12 years ago, also at Daytona. She runs for team owner Tony Stewart, and uses a Hendrick Motorsports engine. But no matter who she runs for, and what equipment she has, no one could beat her for the pole position.
Patrick is starting her first full season as a Sprint Cup driver. Last year she ran the Nationwide Series, along with several races at the Sprint Cup level. She finished the season 10th in points in the Nationwide Series. She had one pole position and 4 top 10 finishes in that series. Of course Patrick became well-known as an IndyCar driver. She finished as high as 3rd in the Indianapolis 500 in 2009, which was the highest by a female driver in IndyCar history. She won her only race in the IndyCar Series in Japan in 2008.
Even before practice for Daytona, Patrick was in the news for acknowledging that she is dating Ricky Stenhouse Jr, another rookie in the Sprint Cup Series. It will be interesting if she has any problems on the track with Stenhouse or his teammates, or vice versa, as the season goes on. Patrick ran strong in practice, before qualifying on the pole, so this wasn’t a huge surprise.
She seems to have a knack for dominating the attention in any racing circuit she competes, whether she wants to or not. However, she would not mind the attention if she was to win the Daytona 500, or any other race of the year. It will be interesting to see where she finishes, after starting in the front this Sunday. The racing season will start in dramatic fashion.
If you would like to have future articles sent to you, just go to my website and enter your email address – frankcthomas.com .
