After what seems like an eternity of waiting for the fans, NASCAR will officially drop the green flag on its 2011 season this Saturday, February 12th, with the 33d annual running of the Budweiser Shootout on the high banks of the Daytona International Speedway. Waiting at the end of this traditional non-points event will be a winner’s check worth in excess of $200,000 for a 75 lap sprint to the checkers. Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout will be broadcast live by Fox Sports with the pre-race show beginning at 8 pm eastern time.
[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]This race has a rather storied history that dates back to 1979. It began, as “The Busch Clash” and was an invitational only race for those drivers who won the Busch pole on qualifying day for races held the prior year.
This inaugural event was a 20 lap shoot out with $500,000 winner take all on the line. Needless to say that was astounding money for winning a race back then and the intensity level of this event went through the roof. NASCAR veteran Buddy Baker won that first race and crossed the line just a mere car length ahead of runner up driver Darrell Waltrip.
Over the years there has been some fine tuning to the race format as well as the driver eligibility requirements. In 1981 the race only had seven entries. That was because qualifying day, from the 1980 season, was completely dominated by only seven drivers. That led NASCAR to consider some fine tuning for the eligibility requirements for the Shootout.
The format for the 2011 Budweiser Shootout will be 75 laps, 187.5 miles, around the Daytona International Speedway’s 2.5 mile oval. Yellow flag caution laps will count towards the 75 lap total. The race will be conducted in two segments of 25 and 50 laps with a ten minute break between segments to allow teams to make adjustments and repairs
The eligibility changes that evolved over the years led to a possible 30 entries for this year’s race. As of last Monday, it now appears that 25 of those teams will take the green flag Saturday night. The eligibility criteria for the 2011 Budweiser Shootout is:
All 12 drivers who participated in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship
Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions.
Former Budweiser Shootout winners.
Past winners of the two Daytona Speedway points races: the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400.
Former NASCAR Rookie of the Year winners from the 2001 through the 2010 racing seasons.
The 2011 Budweiser Shootout will also contain a variety of rather interesting story lines. Chief among them is Daytona’s brand new track surface which will be raced on for the very first time. Following last year’s pot hole debacle, it was decided to completely repave the track. That led to last month’s pre season testing where the new surface received extremely high marks from the drivers.
That new surface has also led to a new tire compound from Goodyear. The new Daytona tire, reported to be very similar to the one used last year at Talladega, also received high marks from the teams during last month’s testing sessions. But, like the new surface, the Goodyear tires will be under first ever bonafide racing conditions so tire wear will be closely monitored by everyone Saturday night.
Also taking the green flag for the first time ever Saturday night will be the newly designed front end of NASCAR’s stock cars. The new nose, now minus the front end splitters and fasteners from last year, also received high marks during the January test sessions especially in the areas of bump drafting. But it’s also an area that will be heavily monitored by crew chiefs.
Also making its debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be the new self venting Sunoco Race Fuel can. This newly designed fuel can is largely a cost cutting measure for the teams because it eliminates the need of the catch can man standing behind the car during pit stops. This new can was tried and tested last year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and received some good reports. But, still. it’s still a major change for the Sprint Cup teams that will warrant the attention of the crew chiefs.
On the topic of fuel the Budweiser Shootout’s second segment of 50 laps could present a challenge for crew chiefs. They could find themselves making a decision relative to fuel mileage including the possibility of a gas and go only stop.
Pre race set ups and subsequent adjustments in Saturday night’s race will also become a key point of focus for crew chiefs. That’s because the car set ups for the Budweiser Shootout and the upcoming Daytona 500 are virtually identical.
The starting line up for the Budweiser Shootout will be determined by a Friday night blind draw ceremony. By the way, this drawing in the past has often been the source of some very funny entertainment. The blind draw ceremony will be presented live by the SPEED Channel Friday night beginning at 8 pm eastern time.
Weather could also become a factor leading up to the Budweiser Shootout weekend. The Friday forecast, for the Daytona Beach area, calls for showers and a daytime high of 59 degrees. That forecast could curtail, or even cancel, a scheduled practice session for the Shootout teams. Saturday’s forecast calls for a return to sunny skies with a daytime high of 60 degrees.
If there’s any driver that warrants a great deal of attention Saturday night it’s Kevin Harvick. He won the Budweiser Shootout for the first time in 2009 and then won last year’s race. No one in the history of this event has ever won this race three consecutive and Harvick would like to be the first to accomplish that extremely difficult feat. Harvick would also love to deliver a win for his brand new primary sponsor. He will be driving his first race with Budweiser on the hood of his Richard Childress Chevrolet. Anytime a primary sponsor is also the race sponsor then that team has a tendency to dig a little harder to pull off the win.
Interestingly enough, the numbers from Las Vegas has a totally different opinion regarding the outcome of the Budweiser Shootout. Micah Roberts, from “Las Vegas Insider Dot Com”, recently released his top five finish list for the race. That list is topped by Clint Bowyer, from Richard Childress Racing, who is favored to win the Budweiser Shootout at 14 to 1 odds. Speculated to finish second is Joey Logano, from Joe Gibbs Racing, at 25 to 1. The remainder of the “Las Vegas Insider” top five includes Juan Pablo Montoya at 20 to 1, Kevin Harvick at 5 to 1 and Jeff Gordon in fifth at 8 to 1.
The 2011 Budweiser Shootout entry list, presented in order by car number along with eligibility status, is as follows:
#09. Bill Elliott. Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. Past series champion, past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 winner, 1987 Shootout winner.
#1. Jamie McMurray. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, presented by Felix Sabates, Chevrolet. Past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 winner, past Rookie of the Year winner.
#4. Kasey Kahne. Red Bull Racing Toyota. Past Rookie of the Year winner.
#5. Mark Martin. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. 1999 Shootout winner.
#11. Denny Hamlin. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 2006 Shootout winner.
#14. Tony Stewart. Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender, two time series champion, past Coke Zero 400 winner, 2002 and 2007 Shootout winner.
#15. Michael Waltrip. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. Past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 winner.
#16. Greg Biffle. Roush Fenway Racing Ford. 2010 Chase contender, past Coke Zero 400 winner.
#17. Matt Kenseth. Roush Fenway Racing Ford. 2010 Chase contender, past series champion, past Daytona 500 winner.
#18. Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 2010 Chase contender, past Coke Zero 400 winner.
#20. Joey Logano. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Past Rookie of the Year winner.
#22. Kurt Busch. Penske Racing Dodge. 2010 Chase contender, past series champion.
#24. Jeff Gordon. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender, past four time series champion, past four time Daytona 500, past Coke Zero winner, 1994 and 1997 Shootout winner.
#29. Kevin Harvick. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender. past Daytona 500 winner, 2009 and 2010 Shootout winner.
#31. Jeff Burton. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender, past Coke Zero 400 winner.
#33. Clint Bowyer. Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender.
#39. Ryan Newman. Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Past Daytona 500 winner, past Rookie of the Year winner.
#42. Juan Pablo Montoya. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, presented by Felix Sabates, Chevrolet. Past Rookie of the Year winner.
#47. Bobby Labonte. JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota. Past series champion.
#48. Jimmie Johnson. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. 2010 Chase contender. five time series champion, past Daytona 500 winner, 2005 Shootout winner.
#64. Derricke Cope. Max Q Motorsports Toyota. Past Daytona 500 winner.
#78. Regan Smith. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. Past Rookie of the Year winner.
#88. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 winner. 2003 and 2008 Shootout winner.
#97. Kevin Conway. Nemco Motorsports Toyota. Past Rookie of the Year winner.
#99. Carl Edwards. Roush Fenway Racing Ford. 2010 Chase contender.
