After becoming the first woman to win the pole at the Dayton 500, Danica Patrick became the first women to not only lead a green-flag (racing under norma conditions, without incident, which would be run under a yellow flag) lap at the "Great American Race," but one of only a handful of drivers to lead laps at the Dayton 500 and the Indianapolis 500 (the Indy Car event).
Staying in or near the top 10 throughout the day, she went from third to eight in the last lap and though critics praised her for even finishing, Patrick was less than satisfied.
"I would imagine that pretty much anyone would kick themselves and say what could I have, should I have done to give myself that opportunity to win. I think that's what I was feeling today, was uncertainty as to how I was going to accomplish that. There was plenty of time while you were cruising along. I was talking to Tony (Gibson, crew chief) and my spotter (Brandon Benesch) on the radio, 'What do you see people doing? What's working? What is not?' I was thinking in the car, 'How am I going to do this?' I didn't know what to do exactly," she said. "So I feel like maybe that's just my inexperience? Maybe that's me not thinking hard enough? I don't know. Getting creative enough? I'm not sure," according to Fox News.
Her finishing spot meant she barely missed the record of sixth place set by Janet Guthrie in the Volunteer 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 28, 1977.
"She did an incredible job today, as well as an incredible job a number of times last year," third-place finisher Mark Martin said. "There will be more of that to come. And it will be good for the sport," reported Fox News.
As for the fan support, Patrick's presence earned a 10.0 overnight rating and 22 share on Fox. That's up 30 percent from 2012, when rain pushed the event to a Monday night. The network said Monday it was the highest overnight rating since 2006, stated Washington Post.
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