By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
Feb. 24, 2012
DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla. -- A day after a jarring crash took her out of the first
Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway,
Danica Patrick stormed back to win the pole for Saturday's Drive4COPD
Nationwide Series race at the 2.5-mile track.
The
Coors Light Pole Award was Patrick's first in 26 attempts and the first
for a female driver since Shawna Robinson started on the pole at
Atlanta in March of 1994. Robinson is the only other woman to win a pole
in any of NASCAR's top three national series.
The
35th of 50 drivers to make a qualifying attempt, Patrick posted a lap
at 182.741 mph and waited as drivers who had been faster in practice
attempted to unseat her.
That
didn't happen. Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn't knock her off. Nor could
Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch or any of the other drivers who
followed her in the qualifying order.
To Patrick, the wait for 15 cars seemed interminable.
"Gosh
it seemed like a hundred, didn't it?" Patrick told the NASCAR Wire
Service. "I didn't even know the qualifying order. I had no idea how
many people were going after me. One of the engineers was writing down
lap times as he heard 'em, and he was like, 'All right, we dodged that
bullet.'
"We've
got this one -- this one's going to be a big one. All right, we got
that one.' And I'm like, 'It seems like every car is a big one. Of
course it is -- they're all faster than me (in practice). That's why
they're qualifying after me.'
"I definitely didn't know it was the pole until the last car crossed the line."
Trevor
Bayne qualified on the outside of the front row at 182.715 mph, just
.007 seconds slower than Patrick. Elliott Sadler, Earnhardt and 2011
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon completed the
top five.
Afterwards, Sadler paid Patrick a strong compliment.
"In the last 24 months, I think she's the most improved driver we've had, in all three series," Sadler said.
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