Danica Patrick and Boss Tony Stewart
Celebrating Her 1st Historical Sprint Cup Pole Win

Another Glass Ceiling Broken

We want to recognize a day in history and the power of female energy by saying Congratulations to Danica Patrick for becoming the first woman to secure a pole position in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series and the Daytona 500!

Another glass ceiling has been broken! Yes!!

And congratulations to her Boss Tony Stewart for having the courage to hire her for his Stewart-Haas Racing Team!! He really is a pretty smart man.

Tony Stewart took a lot of criticism for bringing Danica into the Sprint Cup Series for 2013. Well let’s face it, he took a lot of criticism for helping her from day 1 to come into Nascar. Some of that criticism even came from me and I love the guy. (Why Nascar Fans Don’t Like Danica).

Last week I wrote about why we as Nascar fans need to ask Is It Time To Evolve Our Opinion Of Danica?  The answer to that question is Yes There’s no doubt about that now.

There will be those who will still criticize her running in Nascar. Saying she only got the pole because of the equipment that a bunch of men (or at least the majority) put together. If that’s true, then why didn’t Jimmy Johnson win the pole? Or for that matter, why didn’t her Boss keep the pole he had secured in his run of qualifying?

Yesterday FOX pulled out a new toy with their Ghost Car, laying an image of one car next to another and comparing their qualifying runs simultaneously.  It was a pretty kewl toy. But it also showed how the driver does make a difference in their individual run for that illusive pole position. And when you’re talking about 100ths of second difference between this position and that; that tiny little difference really does matter.

Look at the difference in lap time between the pole and 2nd. Only .033 seconds kept Jeff Gordon off the pole. And Ryan Newman beat his boss out of a position by .005. That’s 5 one-thousandth of a second. When you look at the lap times between the top 10 drivers it’s easy to see how the smallest difference in driving lines can change a position on the track and on the starting grid.

Top 20 – 2013 Daytona 500 Qualifying Results (Speeds/Time)

Yesterday Danica proved she has the ability, besting her boss and team-mate Ryan Newman to secure the pole for the 55th Running of the Daytona 500 on February 24, 2013. She becomes the first woman in Nascar history to win a pole in the leagues premier series. (Read more from Bob Pockrass and  Jeff Owens Danica Patrick wins historic pole for Daytona 500).

One thing I noticed immediately from the male dominated race media was their short-sighted view of what this means to the female gender. Over and over they I heard how Danica is an inspiration for little girls everywhere. Yes she is. But the first thing I think of when I hear that, is that men simply don’t get it.

Danica is an inspiration to ALL women regardless of age. She shows everyone that no matter what the profession, car driver, lawyer, doctor, Minister; you can be and do whatever you desire. In the face of criticism, against the odds and with a great deal of grace and perseverance.  It’s never to late to reach for that dream! Whither you’re 10 or 50 or more in most cases. If you want to try to make an effort to reach for that elusive dream that you were told you can’t acquire because you’re a “girl”; Danica has shown..you can achieve it.

Congratulations to Danica and the entire SHR team.

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