DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Danica Patrick will feel a little less nervous than she did a year ago when the Daytona 500 goes green Sunday. Patrick won the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500 to become the first woman ever to win a pole for a NASCAR Cup race.
Sporting News: http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/danica-patrick-daytona-500<http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2014-02-22/danica-patrick-daytona-500-2014-lineup-starting-spot-tony-stewart-kevin-harvick> [image: Inline image 1] http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series.html One to watch - Danica Patrick [image: Inline image 2] [image: Inline image 3] Danica Patrick competes during NASCAR Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, in Daytona Beach, Fla NASCAR is second only to the National Football League among professional sports franchises in terms of television ratings in the United States. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150 countries. The 2013 Sprint Cup Series Champion is Jimmie Johnson, who also won 5 consecutive Sprint Cup Series drivers' championships from 2006-2010. Previously, the most consecutive championships had been three in a row by Cale Yarborough in the late 1970s, the only other time when a driver has won three or more Sprint Cup championships in a row. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR [image: Inline image 4] Jimmie Johnson (2008 car shown) has won the Drivers' Championship a record five consecutive times from 2006 to 2010. [image: Inline image 5] Richard Petty (1983 car shown) was the first to reach seven Drivers' Championships. [image: Inline image 6] Dale Earnhardt (1994 car shown) is the other driver to have won seven Drivers' Championships. Overall, twenty-nine different drivers have won the Championship, with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt holding the record for most titles at seven. List of NASCAR champions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASCAR_champions
