Making her NASCAR debut on Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Danica Patrick ran outside of the top 20 for most of the event and then participated in a 12-car wreck to cap off a stellar day of racing.

From ESPN.com:

Patrick was hoping to learn as much as she could about a new style of racing. She ended up going to the school of hard knocks.

“It’s important to have realistic expectations,” Patrick said. “There’s going to be spikes in performance, I don’t doubt that. But there’s also going to be tough days. And today, I would say, was more of a tough day.”

After she finished sixth in last week’s ARCA event at Daytona, many people were encouraged about her debut. Obviously things didn’t go the way Patrick had hoped, but it’s only the first race of the season. She arguably has more pressure on her as well, given all the media attention she conjures up.

Photo from fOTOGLIF