NASCAR history was made in Las Vegas at the Sam's Town Nationwide Series race when Danica Patrick finished higher than any other woman in history by being the fourth car to cross the finish line.

Patrick has made a career of making dramatic breakthroughs. In her rookie Indianapolis 500 in 2005, Patrick roared into the national consciousness by leading with seven laps to go. She settled for fourth, at the time the highest finish by a woman in the 500. Patrick also was the first female to lead the race. Sports stardom and endorsement deals followed. She became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and a GoDaddy girl in Super Bowl commercials.

But it took her nearly three years to win in the IZOD IndyCar Series, at Twin Ring Motegi in April 2008. She was the first woman to win a closed-course race in a major racing series, big-time history. But in the period between her fourth at Indy and that victory, there were those who thought her fame was not justified by her talent. The reality was that Patrick was a young driver learning her craft and compiling competitive finishes and her team, Andretti Autosport, was steadily losing ground to Roger Penske's and Chip Ganassi's teams.

Patrick has made a career of making dramatic breakthroughs. In her rookie Indianapolis 500 in 2005, Patrick roared into the national consciousness by leading with seven laps to go. She settled for fourth, at the time the highest finish by a woman in the 500. Patrick also was the first female to lead the race. Sports stardom and endorsement deals followed. She became a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and a GoDaddy girl in Super Bowl commercials.

But it took her nearly three years to win in the IZOD IndyCar Series, at Twin Ring Motegi in April 2008. She was the first woman to win a closed-course race in a major racing series, big-time history. But in the period between her fourth at Indy and that victory, there were those who thought her fame was not justified by her talent. The reality was that Patrick was a young driver learning her craft and compiling competitive finishes and her team, Andretti Autosport, was steadily losing ground to Roger Penske's and Chip Ganassi's teams.

More From Sasquatch 92.1 FM