Budweiser Shootout to feature top performers, not pole winners
NASCAR’s preseason all-star-type event likely won’t have defending Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman, two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart nor veteran Mark Martin in the field when it goes green to kick off the 2009 season at Daytona International Speedway.
The Budweiser Shootout has scrapped its eligibility requirements that competitors be either pole winners from the previous season or previous Shootout winners and will adopt a new format that will include the top six teams from each manufacturer in the final owner points.
“You want to keep it simple,” DIS President Robin Braig said. “We’ve watched the NBA All-Star Game, Major League Baseball and other sports try to select their participants, and it gets complicated. We just wanted it absolutely understandable, promotable [and] marketable.”
If the season ended today, Chevrolet drivers making the race would be Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears (in the Richard Childress Racing No. 07). The Dodges of Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler, Juan Pablo Montoya, Bobby Labonte and the eventual replacement in the No. 12 Penske Racing car of Ryan Newman would be in the field.
Ford’s representatives would be Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray and Travis Kvapil. Filling out Toyota’s roster would be Kyle Busch, Joey Logano (in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20), Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip.
Newman and Stewart are moving to Stewart-Haas Racing next year and would not be among the six Chevrolet teams eligible for the event.
“[Newman’s missing] just comes with the territory,” said NASCAR Vice President of Competition Jim Hunter. “It wouldn’t necessarily happen, but there are circumstances where drivers change teams, teams change car makes. There are all sorts of possibilities.”
Budweiser used to sponsor NASCAR’s pole award, so tying in the pole winners into the event was a natural fit. But Coors now sponsors the NASCAR pole awards, and that at least enhanced discussions on whether to change the eligibility requirements.
“We had been talking about how to keep the Shootout fresh anyway,” said Anheuser-Busch Vice President of Global Media and Sports Marketing Tony Ponturo. “But I won’t kid you that obviously, with Coors having the pole winner, that created a faster dialogue about how to address it.”
Drivers who have won poles this year not currently in the top six among their manufacturers include Furniture Row Racing’s Joe Nemechek, Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Paul Menard and Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ Patrick Carpentier and Newman.
Past winners of the event who are still at least active part time and won’t be eligible will be Stewart, Martin, Ken Schrader, Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte.
“If I were someone like Joe Nemechek or someone else who might be affected adversely, I wouldn’t be too happy about it,” Hunter said. “But change occurs, and this is a non-points event. This is a special event, so we’ll move forward with it.”
Hunter said NASCAR’s competition department would have to determine what would happen if a team eligible for the Budweiser Shootout changes manufacturers in the offseason.
