Motorsports - Patrick first woman to take Daytona 500 pole
Danica Patrick will start from the Daytona 500 pole position
after posting the fastest qualifying speed for the Great
American Race on Sunday and becoming the first woman to take the
pole for a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.  Patrick, who ran a partial
Sprint Cup program last year, signalled she was ready to race
full-time against the big boys of American stock car racing by
clocking 196.434 mph (316.11 kph) around Daytona International
Speedway.  Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon joined Patrick on
the front row for next Sunday's race, joking afterwards that he
was at least the fastest man.  Patrick's top speed was the
fastest qualifying effort at Daytona since 1990.  "I'm just the
driver, this is a team pole," she told reporters after her
qualifying effort. "I was a little bit nervous.   The remainder
of the 500 field will be set in a pair of qualifying races
scheduled for Thursday.  The qualifying triumph marked another
in a growing list of firsts for P