The 2009 Budweiser Shootout Observations - Kevin Harvick Wins

The Budweiser Shootout started out with a bit of a fizzle as the broadcast was a little blotchy on my end of my Comcast cable transmission in the Bay Area.

Dierks Bentley's song seemed to not be connected with FOX so we experienced what felt like someone at the track was holding up their cell phone so we can catch the experience.

The track itself seemed to be having issues as the National Anthem was cutting in and out.

During the Anthem, I believe we got a sample of Scott Speed's attitude as he had a sort of mocking attitude to the snaggy Anthem transmission that got caught on camera. Nice start so far.

I think Scott Speed will be the new wildcard this year, if what I've read in the past is any indicator of things to come.

Ahh... the Shootout starts and we have NASCAR racing back on our TV's for the 2009 season.

The first caution involved Logano, Speed, Ragan, R. Gordon. There was a lot of checking up that seemed a bit dangerous as cars started to accordian a bit for a few laps before this incident.

Ad Opinion:
The Kasey Kahne GPS ad was pretty funny, and one of my perennial favorites, the Mikey fan asking Michael Waltrip to sign his simulated wrecked diecasts.

I can't mock that too much as I've done that with a Ryan Newman diecast from '01, '02. I towed an Alltel diecast behind my truck. These things handle as well as the real cars! After one sharp turn, I had myself my Ryan Newman superspeedway raced diecast. (He used to get caught up in everything at the superspeedways. I was frustrated.)

New Rules, An Opinion:
I get the new rules NASCAR have dispatched on the sport. They want all the manufacturers represented. And by setting the rule to the top "x" of cars for each manufacturer gets some folk in the race that shouldn't be. Then of course, NASCAR recognized a slight shortcoming and had to add a gimme type of rule to allow Tony Stewart to be in the race.

I still sit in shock watching last years Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman, sitting on the sidelines watching the race while some new drivers that shouldn't even be near this race are in it.

As my wife puts it, (A live fan perspective) That's f****ing bull**** with all these new rules. It should be the driver, not the car that gets in this race. Oh, wait, she's not a fan anymore after all the new rules that pop up every year.

In-Race Opinion:
Is it me, or was the track excessively bumpy tonight? Or has it just been that long since we've seen a race? Nah, these cars ARE much more jumpier than they used to be. I don't remember so many near accidents in a race, as they've been having every lap it seems.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that after a few laps the cars got real loose. It seemed that way throughout the field.

Meanwhile, David Stremme in Ryans old No. 12 Dodge seems to be in it a lot as Stremme takes out Greg Biffle with 3 laps to go. If this race is any indicator, this driver placement of Stremme may not pan out as well as I had hoped for him. This was the third altercation for Stremme tonight.

By virtue of a multi car wreck in the last lap of the race, Kevin Harvick gets himself past Jamie McMurray just before the yellow flag as Jeff Gordon got into the 07 car that took the rest of the field out.

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick, being in the right spot at the end of the race.

Image credit: Jerry Markland of Getty Images

Extraneous Budweiser Shootout Tidbits

Here's some Budweiser Shootout Tidbits for you:

• 91 drivers have participated in the Budweiser Shootout;
42 of those drivers have participated in two or less; 28 in only one.

• There have been as few as seven drivers in one race, (1981) and a high of 23 in 2008.
(Which will be broken this year)

• Whose competed the most times in the Budweiser Shootout?:

• Bill Elliott (23)
• Mark Martin (21)
• Rusty Wallace (19)
• Ken Schrader (18)
• Geoffrey Bodine (16)
• Ricky Rudd (16)

• Whose competed in the most consecutive number of Shootouts?
Mark Martin has appeared in 20 straight events from 1989-2008.
Unfortunately, Mark will not compete in this year’s race.
With that, the active lead will be taken over by Jeff Gordon with 16 (including this year’s event).

• How many multiple winners have there been?
There have been seven multiple winners in the Budweiser Shootout:

• Tony Stewart has won three of the last eight Budweiser Shootouts (2001, 2002 and 2007).
• Dale Earnhardt won six of the 23 races between 1979 and 2001. His six victories came in 12 appearances.
• Dale Jarrett won in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
• The other multiple winners: Neil Bonnett (1983 and 1984), Ken Schrader (1989 and 1990), Jeff Gordon (1994 and 1997) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003 and 2008).
• Bonnett, Schrader and Stewart are the only drivers to win back-to-back races.

• Who won the Shootout in their first appearance in the race?

• Buddy Baker (1979),
• Dale Earnhardt (1980),
• Jeff Gordon (1994),
• Dale Jarrett (1996) and
• Denny Hamlin (2006)

• How often has the winner gone on to win the Daytona 500?:

• Bobby Allison (1982)
• Bill Elliott (1987)
• Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000)
• Jeff Gordon (1997)

• Do you know how many drivers won from the pole?

• Darrell Waltrip (1981),
• Bill Elliott (1987) and
• Ken Schrader (1989).

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Budweiser Shootout Manufacturer Win Stats

Budweiser Shootout Manufacturer Recap


Manu: Victories, Last Victory, Driver
Chevrolet 17 2008 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ford 7 2004 – Dale Jarrett
Buick 2 1982 – Bobby Allison
Oldsmobile 2 1980 – Dale Earnhardt
Pontiac 2 2002 – Tony Stewart
I bet Tony wants to change that stat!)
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Some Bits and Pieces About the Budweiser Shootout

By the Numbers: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

.08 seconds
Is the margin of victory Dale Earnhardt beat Sterling Marlin by in 1995. The closest margin in Budweiser Shootout history

1 lap.
The # of laps led, by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980) and Dale Jarrett (2004) in the Budweiser Shootouts they won

2.75 –
The average finish in the Budweiser Shootout by Dale Earnhardt, best by any driver with multiple starts

5 –
The # of Drivers who have won the event in their first appearance
(Buddy Baker, 1979; Dale Earnhardt, 1980; Jeff Gordon, 1994; Dale Jarrett, 1996; Denny Hamlin, 2006)

19 –
The number of lead changes in 2001, the highest number since race began in 1979

19 –
The starting position of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003, the lowest starting position of a Budweiser Shootout race-winner

23 –
Is the largest number of participants in the Shootout ever, in 2008.
That number will be broken this year with 28 cars competing.

44 –
The most laps led in the Shootout by a non-winning driver. Greg Biffle (2005) Ain't that a wonderful stat to have?

47 –
The most laps ever led in the Shootout... Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2008)

Reformat of 2009 Budweiser Shootout

NASCAR announced Friday a revision to the 2009 Budweiser Shootout on February 7th at Daytona format that provides each manufacturer with a wild card entry, increasing the size of the field from 24 to 28 cars, highlighting the manufacturers� involvement in NASCAR, and featuring more drivers for fans to support.

As was announced last August, the lineup will consist of the top six teams from each manufacturer, based on the final 2008 car owner points. Eligibility is based on owners competing in this event with the same manufacturer as 2008.

The new wrinkle calls for each manufacturer to be able to enter a seventh car, or wild card entry, based on the following criteria:

• Any owner outside of the top six in year end 2008 owners points whose driver is a past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion that attempted to qualify for all of the 2008 events (only one position will be filled per manufacturer and will be based on the most recent past champion per manufacturer).
• If an owner/manufacturer does not have a past champion driver, the next highest eligible owner outside the top six in year end 2008 owners points from each manufacturer will be eligible to compete in the event.

At least NASCAR fixed the anti-Tony rule they messed up putting out there last year.

Source: NASCAR Press Release