Danica Patrick is the first NASCAR driver to top 1 million Twitter followers. The racer reached that mark just before the season opener at the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

“It just shows what incredible and loyal fans I have,” she said during an interview with the Associated Press prior to the race. “It’s pretty humbling that 1 million people are curious about what I have to say and what I’m doing. I really can’t thank everyone enough for their passion and interest.”

The next driver in line to Danica Patrick’s Twitter record is six-time champion Jimmie Johnson with 530,000 followers. Juan Pablo Montoya leads all IndyCar drivers with just under 800,000. Patrick’s boyfriend, NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, is followed by 126,000 fans. There’s no question as to who reigns with regard to social media. Patrick thanked longtime personal sponsor TISSOT for introducing her to Twitter, and GoDaddy, her NASCAR sponsor, for allowing her to be “organic, real and fun” while communicating via social media.

Boasting 1 million followers puts Danica Patrick ahead of Lindsey Vonn, Maria Sharapova, Mia Hamm, and Anna Kournikova. The only really big time female athletes she trails in Twitter followers are Serena Williams, who has 4 million followers, and U.S. soccer player Alex Morgan’s 1.3 million Twitter followers. Not bad at all for a girl from NASCAR.

Patrick showed off her Revo Sunglasses before her race on Sunday.

Pretty cool pre-race shot for @RevoSunglasses! pic.twitter.com/L4Lz6ry6TX

— Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick) February 23, 2014

She also thanked her fans for helping her reach the 1 million mark for Twitter followers.

Wow….Thank you fans for caring and being curious enough about me to help reach 1 million followers!!!!

— Danica Patrick (@DanicaPatrick) February 22, 2014

Naysayers can talk about Danica Patrick not having earned her ride in the Sprint Cup Series, but it’s pretty clear to see who has more than a million people behind her–and who doesn’t.

Do you follow @DanicaPatrick on Twitter?

Image via YouTube