DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- If first impressions mean anything, this little lady is going to rock your world.

Danica Patrick wasn't quite the conquering hero in her stock car debut -- finishing sixth in the ARCA race Saturday night -- but it was a performance to remember.

This was no sideshow, not on the track, that is. It was total madness when she got out of the car, with a horde of reporters and fans crowding around the tiny woman in a firesuit as police escorted her to her hauler.

Patrick took it all in stride. She proved her point. She showed she means business. She is not just a pretty face.

Patrick took all the danger that Daytona can offer and held it together.

She got wrecked and made a remarkable save. She fell back, kept her cool and raced her way back to the front in the final laps.

The wow factor was there, and it came from how she drove the No. 7 Chevy, not because she happens to be a huge national celebrity.

"I had so much fun in a race car today," Patrick said. "I enjoyed mixing it up. I can't wait to do it again."

Neither can anyone else who saw her get after it in a typically wild crashfest of a Daytona ARCA race. Did anything surprise her?

"Everything was a little surprising, but nothing crazy," Patrick said. "A lot of yellows today, but other than that, the car does get really loose when you get hit."

Patrick got hit and she did some hitting. She held her own and didn't give an inch.

And she definitely wowed us.

Wow factor No. 1: Patrick went spinning into the infield grass after getting hit by former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet.

"We came out of [Turn 4] and he was kind of dropping back," Patrick said. "He tried to cut over to get the inside line but I was there. I can't go below the yellow line to pass, so it collected us. I could either back off and wuss-out or keep my foot in it and make him react to me."

She didn't "wuss-out." Patrick held her ground and Piquet slammed into the lime-green GoDaddy-sponsored ride. Patrick's car scooted back up the track and appeared headed for a nasty crash into the wall.

But she showed amazing car control and made a surprising save (one that many a Sprint Cup driver wouldn't make), keeping the car straight as it headed back down to pit road.

Big wow.

Wow factor No. 2: The incident with Piquet moved Patrick to the tail end of the lead lap. On a restart with 17 laps to go, she was 23rd.

It was go time. Patrick drove the wheels off it, mashing the gas and doing everything she could to get back to the front.

Her strategy all race was to stay against the yellow line down low. That wasn't going to work at the end.

"You have to check up a lot down there," she said. "So I started working the outside line. I said to myself, 'Now I know what Dale Jr. sees in the outside line.'

"You don't have to lift up there. Up high you just keep your foot in it. I took a couple of chances and dove in between a few people a couple of times."

Patrick stepped on it and kept moving up. She made up four spots in one lap. She was 11th with 12 laps to go; eighth with nine laps remaining. With five laps left, Patrick had worked her way to fifth.

Bigger wow.

Then she decided to go for broke. She wanted to win. But she got greedy.

"It was really cool to come back into the top five again," she said. "So at that point I said, 'What the heck. I'm not going to win sitting right here. I made it this far, so let's see what else I can do.' I went high and unfortunately not many takers came with me."

Patrick moved out of line to move outside and dropped back to seventh. She banged into former motocross star Ricky Carmichael heading for the checkered flag to finish sixth.

“

It was really cool to come back into the top five again. So at that point I said, 'What the heck. I'm not going to win sitting right here. I made it this far, so let's see what else I can do.' I went high and unfortunately not many takers came with me.

” -- Danica Patrick

"Me and Ricky had a little side bumping at the end," she said. "That was really cool. I got bumped everywhere out there."

For a while, it looked like Patrick wouldn't be the top-finishing female in the race. Alli Owens, a Daytona Beach native, was running third on the final restart. She got shuffled back and later spun on the backstretch, finishing 23rd.

But Owens also showed she belongs. If Patrick succeeds, more women like Owens will get a chance and gain sponsorship to move up.

And oh, by the way, ARCA veteran Bobby Gerhart won the race. He joked about the lack of interest he received from the media. Was he overshadowed?

"Overshadowed? By what? Did I miss something?" he asked. "Honestly, I'm glad [Patrick] was here. She brought some well-needed attention to this series."

The mastermind to Patrick's impressive effort was crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who was constantly coaching her on the radio.

"She wanted me to give her all the information I could," Eury said. "Some of it may have sounded like the obvious, but it was just refreshers for her to make sure we didn't make any mistakes."

Patrick made some mistakes, but the story was how she overcame them.

The pressure will increase now for her to compete in the Nationwide race next Saturday as her NASCAR debut. If so, she will take a race away from JR Motorsports driver Kelly Bires.

"I haven't made any decision on that," Patrick said. "I'm just thinking about what I learned, what I could do better and everyone's hard work. We've not talked about next weekend.

"Kelly is running the full season and it's either me or him. He's been a really great teammate [at Daytona]. He's racing for points and I have to think about that."

Whether next weekend or two weeks from now in Fontana, Calif., Patrick's NASCAR debut just got a lot more interesting.

Saturday was only one event, one initial test in a league full of drivers who often wreck more than they race.

But school was in session for a celebrated newbie. She passed the test with flying colors. Patrick just might have what it takes.

Terry Blount is a senior writer for ESPN.com. His book, "The Blount Report: NASCAR's Most Overrated and Underrated Drivers, Cars, Teams, and Tracks," was published by Triumph Books and is available in bookstores. Click here to order a copy. Blount can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Mark Martin doesn't kid himself when it comes to his popularity versus that of fellow GoDaddy.com driver Danica Patrick, who made her stock-car debut in Saturday's ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway.

"I would say if she ran that lap in that car it would be a bigger story," said the 51-year-old Sprint Cup driver, pointing to the No. 5 Chevrolet he put on the pole for next Sunday's Daytona 500. "You see what I'm saying? You get it?"

Got it.

And if the driver Martin bumped from the top spot, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., ran that lap, it would have been an even bigger story.

That's just reality. No matter what Martin did on this sunny, windy afternoon, he was going to be somewhat overshadowed by the most popular female driver in the world and the most popular driver in NASCAR.

"Listen, I like it like that," Martin said with his ageless grin. "I've been real fortunate to have a lot of success in my career and still fly under the radar versus the amount of success I've had. That's cool. I'm a flying-under-the-radar kind of guy."

The radar is pointed at Patrick and Earnhardt. They had more people around their cars throughout the day than Auto Club Speedway has in the stands on race day.

OK, that's an exaggeration. But it puts into perspective where Martin ranks versus the other two.

That's all right with him and his team. They know come Feb. 14 they'll be competing for the biggest trophy in NASCAR other than the one given to the series champion, and Patrick will be watching on television.

"You might not see him on 'SportsCenter,' but if you walk through this garage and say, 'Name your top five drivers,' he's there," crew chief Alan Gustafson said. "The people that know, know."

That Martin and Earnhardt are on the front row could be scary for the rest of the garage. It could be an early sign that the changes made by Gustafson and Lance McGrew, Earnhardt's crew chief, to make the two teams work as one in the same building are coming together.

"Absolutely, without a doubt," McGrew said. "Now more than ever the 5-88 is one team with two cars. Get used to seeing that."

We were used to seeing Martin run this way. He won five races, seven poles and finished second in points to teammate Jimmie Johnson a year ago at an age when most drivers are retired.

Earnhardt? Uh, well, he suffered through the worst season of his career. He didn't win a race or a pole and finished 25th in points.

He struggled so badly that team owner Rick Hendrick made it his offseason goal to turn the team around. Getting Gustafson and McGrew to realign the shop to work more in conjunction, as Johnson and Jeff Gordon's team do in the adjacent building, was the starting point.

This is proof of success.

"When we went out [Friday] and he ran a .70 [-second lap] and we ran a .72, I looked at Alan and said, 'It is supposed to be like that, right?'" Martin said. "And he said, 'Yeah!' So, yes, we hope to both raise our games this year, the No. 5 and the No. 88."

Hendrick was as proud of Gustafson and McGrew as if they'd won the Daytona 500.

"It doesn't mean a whole lot to have two cars run the same speed," he said. "But confidence, that's what we need. We need a little boost and some good news there."

It's funny to hear Hendrick say one of his teams needs a boost. He's won the past four championships with Johnson and nine of the past 15. He swept the top three spots a year ago with Johnson, Martin and Gordon.

But in Earnhardt's case, building confidence was essential.

"We need a lot," he said. "This is nice. We just need to keep it going. You can never have enough good things happen to you."

Martin doesn't lack for confidence. Outside of Johnson, you can't find a driver with more.

What he doesn't have in 25 previous tries is a Daytona 500 victory. He'd like that as much as NASCAR wants Patrick and Earnhardt to succeed to bring in more fans and boost television ratings.

But instead of talking about what he hasn't done, Martin spent time talking about what the 5 and 88 can accomplish if this indeed is a precursor for the future.

That's class.

It truly is a shame Martin doesn't get the attention Patrick and Earnhardt get. He's accomplished more in racing than the two have combined, and that probably won't ever change.

Becoming the oldest driver to win a pole shows just how good he is because, according to Earnhardt, "I had a little bit more motor than he did."

Before the Earnhardt conspiracy theories begin, it's only one horsepower at best, and he is one of the best on restrictor-plate tracks. Added Hendrick diplomatically, "They're all good."

And next Sunday, they'll be on the front row of the Daytona 500.

"And, by the way," Martin said, "it's nice.

"But I'm still under the radar compared to Danica. Even though we got the pole we're still under the radar."

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the front row for the Daytona 500 on Saturday.

Martin, the only driver to top 191 mph during qualifying, earned his first Daytona 500 pole. Earnhardt will start second, trying to rebound from the worst season in his Sprint Cup career.

The front-row sweep validates, at least for a week, the offseason moves team owner Rick Hendrick made in an attempt to get Earnhardt's team turned around.

"It's such an incredible accomplishment for the 5 and 88 team," Martin said. "It's all about the team. That was not an accomplishment of mine. ... To have Dale Jr. on the outside of the front row, locked in, just means we're doing something right."

Earnhardt was nearly as optimistic.

Dale Jr.

Martin

"This is a start, and hopefully we can keep the ball rolling over the next several days and have a good Speedweeks," Earnhardt said.

Martin and Earnhardt are the only drivers in the 43-man field who have their starting positions locked in.

The top 35 drivers from last season are guaranteed starting spots in next Sunday's race, but their positions will be set in Thursday's 150-mile qualifying races. Eight other spots will be up for grabs in those races, which could be wild affairs since NASCAR is giving drivers more horsepower and more leeway for aggressive driving.

Martin and Earnhardt, meanwhile, might just want to stay out of trouble.

Hendrick Motorsports, the most successful team in NASCAR right now, spent the offseason trying to get Earnhardt more in line with teammates Jimmie Johnson, Martin and Jeff Gordon -- who swept the top three spots in the final standings last season.

Earnhardt, the sport's most popular driver, went winless in his No. 88 Chevrolet. He notched just five top-10 finishes, had his crew chief fired midway through the year and suffered through the most confidence-rattling season of his 10-year Cup career.

After celebrating Johnson's fourth consecutive Sprint Cup championship, Hendrick made getting Earnhardt's team turned around his top priority. He restructured shop practices and shifted a lead race engineer and a key mechanic from Martin's successful team to Earnhardt's struggling crew.

Whether the moves pay off won't really be known for some time, but for at least a week, it looks like Hendrick pushed all the right buttons.

"It takes a little bit of the pressure off and relieves a little bit of the stress," Earnhardt said.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Danica Patrick says she'll announce Monday whether she will enter next Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, but her crew chief doesn't want to wait.

“

I'm all for it. I want her to get as much seat time as she can.

” -- Tony Eury Jr., on whether Danica Patrick should make her Nationwide debut at Daytona

"My vote will be go," Tony Eury Jr. said after the IndyCar Series star finished sixth in her stock-car debut Saturday night in the ARCA series. "I'm all for it. I want her to get as much seat time as she can."

Eury said he and team co-owner Rick Hendrick originally were skeptical about Patrick competing in the Nationwide race at Daytona because there are so many Sprint Cup drivers in the field.

But, Eury said, the way Patrick rallied from a spinout that left her in last place with fewer than 30 laps remaining was impressive.

Eury added that his father, Tony Eury Sr., stayed in Mooresville, N.C., to finish working on the Nationwide car if Patrick opts to race.

"We're ready to go," he said. "Pops stayed at home to final up some stuff and make sure the cars are ready."

Patrick, who has said all along it would be 50-50 on whether she entered the race, remained non-committal Saturday. Kelley Earnhardt, co-owner of JR Motorsports, also was hesitant to commit.

If Patrick listens to others like she said she would, though, and if Eury's vote carries much weight, she'll be in.

"I would like to see her do it," Eury said. "She did great. I couldn't have asked for too much more. I was impressed."

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Bobby Gerhart held yet another trophy.

Danica Patrick held her own.

Gerhart's record sixth ARCA victory at Daytona International Speedway was overshadowed by the successful stock car debut of the IndyCar star, who rallied from a midrace spinout to finish sixth Saturday in the crash-filled race.

“

I bumped from the side. I bumped from the front. I got bumped from the back. I learned a lot, and I had so much fun in a race car today. So I can't wait to do it again.

” -- Danica Patrick

"It was a lot of fun," Patrick said. "I bumped from the side. I bumped from the front. I got bumped from the back. I learned a lot, and I had so much fun in a race car today. So I can't wait to do it again."

Patrick's first foray into stock car racing was widely anticipated, and she didn't disappoint.

After spending much of the race among the top 10, she bumped fenders with Nelson Piquet Jr. and spun out through the infield grass on lap 54, costing her any realistic hopes of a victory. But she charged through the field in the closing laps, getting as high as fifth with three laps left.

It impressed Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sister Kelley, who was instrumental in putting together the deal that brought Patrick to the family's JR Motorsports team.

"I think she showed us she was able to drive," Kelley Earnhardt said. "One time I saw her up on the high side, she pulled down low. I kept thinking, 'Come on, let's up pull off an Earnhardt. Pass 18 cars in three laps and win this thing.'"

But she didn't have enough to catch Gerhart, who has won the ARCA season opener six of the last 12 years.

"As a little kid, I dreamed of having an opportunity to come here and race," Gerhart said. "When that happens, naturally comes the passion to come out and win, but I couldn't imagine doing it this many times."

Mark Thompson was second, followed by John Wes Townley, James Buescher and Patrick Sheltra.

Gerhart, who said he hadn't yet met Patrick, understood his name probably wouldn't end up in the headlines.

"Overshadowed by what? Did I miss something?" Gerhart deadpanned. "I'm glad she was here, really. It brought some very, very well-needed attention to this series."

Patrick will race a partial schedule in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series this season. She has not yet decided if she will compete in the Nationwide opener at Daytona next Saturday.

"I'm really just thinking about today, what I learned and what I can do better," Patrick said.

Her car owners seemed pleased. Earnhardt Jr. sprinted from the NASCAR drivers meeting to congratulate her, while Rick Hendrick -- who owns a stake in JR Motorsports -- was quick to praise her over the in-car radio.

"You drove the wheels off that thing, girl," Hendrick told her. "We are proud of you."

Patrick replied, "Thank you very much."

The Daytona ARCA race is notorious for its frequent and spectacular crashes -- "You need to wear a helmet if you watch it from the stands," driver Scott Speed said earlier in the week -- and this year's race was no exception.

The car carnage started early, when Bill Baird's car got wildly loose on lap 7 and collided with Steve Blackburn, resulting in an eight-car pileup. The race restarted 10 laps later -- and the field couldn't even get through a full lap without another wreck.

Dakoda Armstrong's car spun out and was hit hard by Craig Goess, bringing the race to a halt again. Patrick artfully swerved high to avoid the wreck.

Another female driver in the field, Jill George, walked away safely after her car overturned in a frightening accident on lap 27. The race was red flagged in the aftermath of the accident as track safety workers repaired a fence.

Patrick learned about drafting at Daytona the hard way on lap 49, when she moved out of the low groove and lost touch with the leaders, slipping from sixth to 11th.

She noted over her in-car radio that the car was beginning to get loose and slide around on the track -- and things were about to get much worse.

On lap 54, Piquet Jr. tapped fenders with Patrick on the frontstretch, spinning Patrick into the infield grass.

"Grass is not good for grip," Patrick recalled thinking as her car was sliding.

She made an impressive save, managing to keep her car from sliding into the wall. Patrick was able to get back in the race but slipped to 24th.

The most frightening wreck of the day came a few laps later, when Barry Fitzgerald's car went tumbling wildly in the infield grass next to the backstretch. The car flipped seven times before coming to a stop, but Fitzgerald was able to climb out of the car.

Patrick's performance is likely to overshadow the wrecks and Gerhart's win, but Gerhart said he didn't mind.

"I actually welcome the opportunity to have a national platform to compete at," Gerhart said. "Hopefully when somebody talks about this series now, they're not going to say, 'You do what?"

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kevin Harvick started Speedweeks in bed, started the Budweiser Shootout in a backup car and started the final few laps out of the lead.

After all that, he ended up in Victory Lane.

Again.

Harvick won the exhibition race for the second consecutive year by moving from fourth to first and passing leader Greg Biffle with two laps remaining in Saturday night's kickoff race to Speedweeks. Biffle's wreck moments later ended the race under caution, giving Harvick his first win since the Shootout victory a year ago.

He hasn't won a points race since the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500, and was not ready to proclaim his Shootout victory a precursor for a possible repeat in next week's 500.

"I know we started last year the same way," he said of the 2009 Shootout win -- the lone bright spot in an otherwise abysmal season for Harvick and all of Richard Childress Racing.

And, the way he started Speedweeks was a reminder of just how topsy-turvy the 11 days in Daytona can be.

He was battling the flu and too ill to travel to Daytona on Thursday for Shootout practice, so teammate Clint Bowyer drove the Chevrolet in the first session. Then it was marred by a seven-car accident that destroyed the No. 29, forcing RCR to pull out its backup car.

Jeff Burton practiced that for Harvick, who was able to get to Daytona in time for Friday's 500 practice. That got rained out after just two laps.

So Harvick was all too aware of the bizarre things that can happen between now and the Feb. 14 race.

"I've been here enough times now that you know this can be a funny week and it can mess with you," he said. "Time after time, hour by hour can bring something unexpected, just like getting sick to start the week. That's not something that you can plan for. And wrecking a car in the first practice with somebody else driving it.

"There's just so many things, so many different variables that can get thrown at you this week. This place can knock you down as fast as it can pick you up. You've got to be able to maintain even keel and be able to keep that focus ... because strange things happen."

There wasn't much in Harvick's way once the race began Saturday night. Although no one could touch pole-sitter Carl Edwards in the first 25-lap segment, Harvick clearly had a strong car and told his team during the break that if he could get out front, no one would catch him.

He was right, too. But Michael Waltrip's accident with five laps left brought out a caution that forced a change of strategy. Harvick wanted to pit, but lost the lead when Biffle and Kasey Kahne decided to stay on the track.

Harvick led most of the 24-car field down pit road, took two tires, and restarted in fourth for the two-lap sprint to the end. He quickly pulled out of line to dive underneath Biffle and claim the lead. He was pulling away when Jeff Gordon rammed into the back of Biffle, triggering an eight-car accident behind the leader.

NASCAR waited several moments before calling caution, presumably to see if the wreckage cleared and the race could end under green. Instead, Harvick passed under the yellow flag and won under caution. Kahne finished second and Jamie McMurray was third.

"For us all to win together, it kind of gives you that team bonding and a little bit of swagger in your step that everybody knows they can win," he said. "We got beat down in the middle a little bit last year and we kind of built that up as we got toward the end of the year. But there's nothing like slinging Budweiser in Victory Lane.

"It just gives those guys confidence and gives us everybody that confidence that we've done it a lot and we can still do it a lot."

There was some confusion, though, as to the rules of the finish. Although NASCAR told drivers in the pre-race meeting there would be just one attempt at a green-flag finish, several drivers believed they saw on television that the race must end under green.

"I did see that I think on TV it said it must end under green," McMurray said. "But, I mean, they would have just kept wrecking."

Harvick was reluctant to celebrate over the radio because he was confused by the procedure.

"I was a little bit off kilter on that one," he admitted. "I read something somewhere that the race will end under green. Maybe it was just on a TV telecast as I was delusional sleeping in bed. I don't know. Maybe I dreamed it."

Kyle Busch finished fourth and was followed by Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers and Joey Logano. Gordon was eighth, while Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 10.

The race had high expectations because of NASCAR's offseason decision to loosen up the rules and allow bump-drafting. The message sent to drivers was "Have at it, boys," and most everyone expected a wild race.

Instead, it was fairly calm and most of the activity was limited to single-car accidents. That took some drivers by surprise, especially since it took less than 30 minutes of practice Thursday for a multi-car accident to tear up several cars.

"It was an anticlimactic ending, that's for sure," Hamlin said.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Lynda Petty, the wife of seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty, has been diagnosed with central nervous system lymphoma.

In a statement Thursday, the Petty family said she will be treated at Duke University Medical Center. Richard Petty said in the statement that his wife is in "good hands" and the family is "very optimistic" that her treatment will be successful.

The family thanked friends and fans for their support and asked to have their privacy respected during her illness.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press