Which driver became the first woman to win a Cup Series pole in 2013?

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win a NASCAR Cup Series pole in 2013 by qualifying fastest for the Daytona 500. Her 45.817-second lap put her on pole for NASCAR’s biggest race.

Patrick drove the No. 10 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing and shared the front row with Jeff Gordon. She finished eighth in the race, making her the first woman to lead laps in the Daytona 500 and, at that time, the highest-finishing woman in the event’s history.

The achievement is sometimes confused with Patrick’s earlier IndyCar milestones or with Shawna Robinson’s 1994 Nationwide Series pole. Robinson was the first woman to win a pole in that series, but Patrick’s 2013 accomplishment was specifically in NASCAR’s premier Cup division and the Daytona 500.