Eight years later, Shootout field still chasing Dale Earnhardt
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
Brushing up on the Budweiser Shootout:
They’ve run eight Shootouts since Dale Earnhardt’s passing, but it’s worth noting that no one is even close to his record of six wins in the non-points event. The leading active driver is Tony Stewart, who can bump his win total up to four with a victory in Saturday’s 75-lap affair.
Earnhardt didn’t win a Shootout, though. His half a dozen victories came when the event was still billed as the Busch Clash. At only 20 laps in length, it was a fitting name for the season’s first contest.
As for Stewart, the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, is one of only three drivers to score consecutive wins in the event. Stewart turned the trick in 2001-02. The other two? Keep reading.
Jeff Gordon (2), Dale Jarrett (3) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) are the only other drivers to score multiple wins in the event, although they never went back-to-back.
There was a time when drivers earned spots in the race by winning a pole the previous year. But fields of 10 or fewer (there were five such fields between 1979 and 1990) became a tough sell. It didn’t help that the race only lasted 20 laps, which was the case from 1979 through 1997). Fans barely had time to take their seats before the checkered flag was flying.
Today, the system used to determine who is in the field is a bit more complicated. Maybe not as complicated as figuring out NASCAR’s driver rating formula, but it’s close.
To qualify for this year’s Shootout, a driver had to satisfy one of the following criteria; qualify for the previous year’s Chase; have won a Cup championship; have won a Shootout; have won a Cup race at Daytona; or be the series defending Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
Only drivers who have competed in the Cup series within the past two seasons are eligible. “Competed” in this case includes any attempts to qualify for a race. That being said, 28 drivers are eligible for this year’s race.
So who else managed consecutive wins in the Shootout? Neil Bonnett was the first, scoring victories in 1983 and ’84. And he accomplished the feat with two different teams.
Ken Schrader had consecutive wins in 1989 and ’90, and was the first to win the event for car owner Rick Hendrick.
