Patrick won the pole position for the 2013 Daytona 500, becoming the first woman ever to claim a NASCAR Cup Series pole.
On February 23, 2013, in qualifying for the Daytona 500, Danica Patrick recorded a lap that made her the first woman in NASCAR history to win a pole position in the sport's premier Cup Series. Driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, Patrick's qualifying speed put her atop the field for NASCAR's most prestigious race, the season-opening Daytona 500.
NASCAR, like IndyCar, had long been an overwhelmingly male-dominated sport, with only a handful of women having ever attempted to qualify for Cup Series events. Winning the pole for the Daytona 500—often called 'The Great American Race'—was an extraordinary feat given the intense competition and depth of talent in the field, including many of the sport's biggest stars.
The achievement made international headlines and was widely covered by mainstream sports and general news media, further cementing Patrick's status as a trailblazer across multiple racing disciplines. It demonstrated that her crossover from IndyCar to NASCAR, a transition many had doubted would be successful, was paying dividends at the very highest level. The pole position remains a landmark achievement in NASCAR history and is frequently cited alongside her IndyCar win as one of the two signature milestones of her career.