Danica Patrick makes history as first woman to qualify on Nascar Sprint Cup pole

Patrick qualified with  a lap at 196.434 miles per hour in her No. 10 Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway to take the pole for next Sundays season-opening Nscar Sprint Cup race. She will start alongside Jeff Gordon in the Daytona 500 in stock car racings most prestigious event.

The remainder of the grid will  be determined on Thursday in the two qualifying races.

I was brought up to be the fastest driver, not the fastest girl, Patrick said. That was instilled in me from very young, from the beginning. Then I feel like thriving in those moments, where the pressures on, has also been a help for me. I also feel like Ive been lucky in my career to be with good teams and have good people around me. I dont think any of it would have been possible without that.

For those reasons, Ive been lucky enough to make history, be the first woman to do many things. I really just hope that I dont stop doing that. We have a lot more history to make.

Its great to be a part of history with Danica being on the pole, Gordon said. I think we all know how popular she is, what this will do for our sport.

Patrick mdrives for Stewart-Haas Racing, Thats a huge accomplishment, said the team owner Tony Stewart, who placed all three of his teams racecars in the top five, with Ryan Newman fourth and himself fifth. Its not like its been 15 or 20 years shes been trying to do this. Its her second trip to Daytona here in a Cup car.

Shes made history in the sport. Thats stuff that were proud of being a part of with her. Its something she should have a huge amount of pride in.


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