Jeff Gordon's daughter, Ella, asked dad to step aside so she could get her photo snapped with the woman in neon green. NASCAR president Mike Helton swung by for a congratulatory handshake at her No. 10 Chevrolet. A tall man sporting a mullet and Dale Earnhardt Jr. garb nearly swooned while fans cheered when the Sprint Cup Series' woman of the hour doffed her white cap toward them in victory lane.

As perhaps the most omnipresent personality in her sport, Danica Patrick was in typically transcendent form Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

But on this historic day at the World Center of Racing, the focus was all on her on-track performance — becoming the first woman in the 65-year history of NASCAR's premier series to capture the pole position.
Patrick wins Daytona 500 pole

And in this case, Patrick, 30, will be starting first in stock-car racing's signature event: next Sunday's Daytona 500.

'I've had the experience with mothers, fathers, daughters, sons listening to them say the reason why they're here as a family is because of me,' said Patrick, who turned a 196.434-mph lap to best Gordon for the top spot. 'It's also nice to hear families talk about that a little girl might say, 'But mommy, daddy, that's a girl out there.' Then they can have the conversation with their kid about you can do anything you want and being different doesn�.