DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick won the pole Friday for the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona, becoming the first woman to secure the top qualifying spot in NASCAR’s second-tier series since Shawna Robinson at Atlanta on March 12, 1994.
It came a day after the former IndyCar star wrecked on the final lap of a qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
“It’s a good turn of events,” Patrick said.
It also set off a flurry of Twitter traffic that included words such as “Dansanity,” “Danimosity,” “Danimite,” and “Dantastic.”
“I really don’t think about it from a girl perspective,” she said. “I’ve been taught from a young age to want to be the best driver. … It was about being the best driver and not the best girl.”
Patrick, who won just once in 115 IndyCar starts, will make her Sprint Cup debut in the Daytona 500 on Sunday. The Nationwide race is today.
Patrick turned a fast lap of 49.250 seconds around the high-banked speedway, averaging 182.741 mph. Defending Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne qualified second, followed by Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon.
The Associated Press
