#10-Danica Patrick won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Daytona 500 with a lap of 45.817 seconds, 196.434 mph. Patrick is the first female driver to win a pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Janet Guthrie previously held the record for top starting position by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, twice starting ninth in 1977. She started ninth at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977. The previous best starting position for a female in the Daytona 500 was 18th by Janet Guthrie in 1980. This is Patrick?s second NASCAR pole, also winning the Coors Light Pole for the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona last season. Patrick, who is running for the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award, is the first rookie to win the Daytona 500 pole since Jimmie Johnson in 2002. Patrick is the 11th different pole winner in the last 11 Daytona 500s. It was the fastest Daytona 500 pole-winning speed since 1990. #24-Jeff Gordon (second) posted his 26th top-10 start in 41 races at Daytona International Speedway. This is the fourth time Gordon has started on the front row for the Daytona 500. He won the pole in 1999 and started second in 2006 and 2011.(NASCAR)
