Danica Patrick finishes 6th in stock car debut

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.

“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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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