Danica Patrick takes Daytona 500 pole, makes history

Danica Patrick, driver of the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Danica Patrick made history Sunday by winning the pole for the Daytona 500, the first female to do so in Sprint Cup history. She makes her second start in the Great American Race flanked by four-time Cup champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon.

Only the 2011 race-winner Trevor Bayne's Ford challenged the new Chevy SS with five of the top six qualifiers sporting Hendrick power, though only Patrick and Gordon's positions are locked in because of the unique structure of Daytona 500 qualifying.

Thursday's Duel at Daytona sets the rest of the field. The cars who qualified in odd-numbered positions run in the first of the two 150-mile races. Those who qualified in even-numbered positions start in the second race, according to the qualifying times. Slots 33-36 go to the four fastest cars from qualifying that haven't already scored a spot. Positions 37-42 are provisionals, going to the first six cars in 2012 owner points not already qualified, and the 43 spot is, as usual, the past-champion's provisional, going to the most recent eligible Cup champion who competed in 2012, or the next highest car in 2012 owner points.

While Patrick and Shawna Robinson both won poles in the Nationwide Series, Patrick's the first to do so in Sprint Cup. Janet Guthrie started ninth twice in Cup racing.

Full results:


POS DRIVER          
1 Danica Patrick
2 Jeff Gordon
3 Trevor Bayne
4 Ryan Newman
5 Tony Stewart
6 Kasey Kahne
7 Denny Hamlin
8 Kyle Busch
9 Joey Logano
10 Matt Kenseth
11 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13 Juan Pablo Montoya
14 Paul Menard
15 Casey Mears
16 Austin Dillon
17 Carl Edwards
18 Clint Bowyer
19 Martin Truex Jr.
20 Jeff Burton
21 Jimmie Johnson
22 Jamie McMurray
23 Brad Keselowski
24 Marcos Ambrose
25 Kevin Harvick
26 Aric Almirola
27 Greg Biffle
28 Mark Martin
29 David Gilliland
30 David Ragan
31 Michael Waltrip
32 Josh Wise
33 Kurt Busch
34 Michael McDowell
35 Scott Speed
36 Terry Labonte
37 Regan Smith
38 Dave Blaney
39 Bobby Labonte
40 J.J. Yeley
41 David Reutimann
42 Travis Kvapil
43 Joe Nemechek
44 Mike Bliss Chevrolet
45 Brian Keselowski

Tune in to SPEED for the Duel at Daytona on Thu, Feb 21 2:00 PM ET.