With times of 45.817 seconds (196.434 mph) and 45.850 seconds (196.292 mph), respectively, Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon were able to secure their spots for the 2013 Daytona 500. This was the first time in the history of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that a female driver sat on the pole for a race. To add to that, it was the pole position for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. But, the pole did not come easy for her.
The qualifying rules were changed for the qualifying session for this years' Daytona 500. Instead of being ordered from the slowest car in practice to the fastest car, there was a random draw held to settle the positions. The driver that drew number one was Tony Stewart. He ran a respectable lap of 45.936 seconds. The first driver to out-do him was the eventual polesitter, Danica Patrick. She was the eighth driver out and would not be bested, but she was tested. Jeff Gordon and Trevor Bayne came within a tenth of stealing the top spot, but they were unable to. The only change in the qualifying order was Brian Keselowski. He pulled his car onto pit road and was unable to get it started. With the help of Carl Edwards and some of Edwards' crew, Keselowski was able to get his car to start, but the car never got up to speed and ran a very slow lap.
The session ended with Juan Pablo Montoya's run. With that, the front row for the 2013 Daytona 500 was set. Other drivers would have to run the Duel races to see where they will start. Two drivers will not be able to race in the 500 and will have to go home. By the end of the week, we will know all these things and we will begin to anticipate the 55th running of the Great American Race.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Danica Patrick 45.817 (196.434 mph)
2nd: Jeff Gordon 45.850 (196.292 mph)
3rd: Trevor Bayne 45.924 (195.976 mph)
4th: Ryan Newman 45.931 (195.946 mph)
5th: Tony Stewart 45.936 (195.925 mph)
Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
8th: Kyle Busch 45.973 (195.767 mph)
10th: Matt Kenseth 45.983 (195.725 mph)
11th: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 46.016 (195.584 mph)
21st: Jimmie Johnson 46.134 (195.084 mph)
23rd: Brad Keselowski 46.163 (194.961 mph)
25th: Kevin Harvick 46.215 (194.742 mph)
Go-or-Go Homers* (With Times):
1st: Danica Patrick 45.817 (196.434 mph)
3rd: Trevor Bayne 45.924 (195.976 mph)
16th: Austin Dillon 46.063 (195.385 mph)
31st: Michael Waltrip 46.317 (194.313 mph)
32nd: Josh Wise 46.331 (194.254 mph)
34th: Michael McDowell 46.501 (193.544 mph)
35th: Scott Speed 46.502 (193.540 mph)
43rd: Joe Nemechek 47.357 (190.046 mph)
44th: Mike Bliss 47.509 (189.438 mph)
45th: Brian Keselowski 48.946 (183.876 mph)
(*: Since this session just sets the line-up for the Duels, nobody goes home yet. But, based on the statistics, the two drivers who would not run well in the two races would be Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss. Anything can happen and we will find out Thursday.)
Note: I will not be able to do the two Duel races on Thursday because of school and some extracurricular activities. You should pretty much be able to see the finishing results and know what happened. I hope this is not an inconvenience.
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
-Photo:
http://www.cfnews13.com/content/dam/news/images/2013/02/danica-patrick-daytona-pole-0217.jpg
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