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. -- 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