Danica Patrick has made history today by becoming the first woman to win the pole position for the Daytona 500. According to USA Today on Feb. 17, the rookie posted a lap of 196.434 mph.
By winning the Daytona 500 pole, she has become the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race. Patrick was eighth for the qualifying session on Sunday. She then had to wait almost two hours to see if the other 37 drivers would be able to take her spot.
The only driver that even came close to stealing her spot was Jeff Gordon who came close and was the only other driver who topped 196 mph.
Janet Guthrie qualified ninth in 1977 at Talladega and Bristol. She did hold the best starting spot for a woman in Cup history until Danica Patrick made history and beat that record today. This definitely has to be the biggest achievement of her four year NASCAR career.
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