This Week in Auto Racing February 5 - 7
Tue 2nd, February 2010
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - It's Super Bowl weekend in Miami, but 250 miles up the road from there, NASCAR begins its new season with a "Super Saturday" of events at Daytona International Speedway -- the Budweiser Shootout and qualifying for the Daytona 500.
Sprint Cup Series
Budweiser Shootout - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
For the second year in a row, eligibility for the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona has changed significantly.
NASCAR announced in December the starting field for the Budweiser Shootout will include the 12 drivers who competed in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Past Cup champions as well as previous winners of the Shootout, the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona also are eligible. Joey Logano earned a spot in the show since he was last season's top rookie in Cup.
Last year, the top-six teams from each car manufacturer -- Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota -- became eligible for the pre-season, non-points race at Daytona. NASCAR made a change to the eligibility list shortly before the race, allowing each manufacturer to enter a seventh "wild card" entry. The field increased from 24 cars to 28. Tony Stewart was among those who benefited from the additional entry. Stewart, a three-time Budweiser Shootout winner, originally was not qualified since he formed a new team and switched from Toyota to Chevrolet, but he made the field as a wild card.
Once again, the Budweiser Shootout is divided into two segments, with the first at 25 laps and the second a 50-lap sprint to the finish. A 10-minute intermission is scheduled after the first segment, as teams can change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments to the car.
Due to NASCAR's continued suspension of pre-season testing, this event will be the first opportunity for many Cup teams to gather information under race conditions in preparation for next week's Daytona 500.
Kevin Harvick is looking forward to the start of this season, as he defends his title in the Budweiser Shootout.
"It's fun to kind of get everybody back in the swing of things, Harvick said. "I know the fans are excited to get cars back on the racetrack."
Eligible drivers for the Budweiser Shootout also will get the first opportunity to experience NASCAR's rule modifications for Daytona. NASCAR is relaxing on its bump-drafting rules and increasing the size of the restrictor plate for Daytona.
Drivers now will be able to bump draft each other throughout the high-banked turns at Daytona. NASCAR eased up on this rule for drivers to make racing more competitive and enjoyable for fans.
The size of the restrictor plate holes has widened to 63/64ths of an inch, making it the largest plate since the 1989 Daytona 500.
"I'm pretty happy about the new plate," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's going to give the car a little more throttle response. I'm glad that NASCAR isn't going to police the bump drafting so we can all police ourselves and show our personalities. Hopefully our personalities will be a little more visible on the racetrack."
The starting lineup for the Budweiser Shootout will be determined during a "draw party" held Thursday evening at Daytona. Saturday's race is scheduled to start at 8:10 p.m. (et).
Daytona 500 qualifying - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
The qualifying date for this year's Daytona 500 has been moved from Sunday to the same day as the Budweiser Shootout to avoid conflict with the Super Bowl.
Daytona 500 qualifying, which determines the first two starting positions for NASCAR's biggest race of the season, will be held prior to the ARCA race. There will be no track activity at Daytona on Sunday.
The Gatorade Duel at Daytona -- slated for Thursday, February 11 -- are the two 150-mile qualifying races which determine the remaining 43-car field for the Daytona 500. Saturday's pole qualifying results will determine the starting lineups for the Gatorade Duel, with the odd-number finishers competing in the first race and even-number finishers running in the second event.
No driver has ever won all major four Speedweeks events at Daytona -- the Daytona 500 pole, Budweiser Shootout, Gatorade Duel and Daytona 500. Cale Yarborough (1984), Ken Schrader (1989) and Dale Jarrett (2000) have won three of the four events.
Last year's Speedweeks winners were: Martin Truex Jr. (Daytona 500 pole), Harvick (Budweiser Shootout), Jeff Gordon (Gatorade Duel race one), Kyle Busch (Gatorade Duel race two) and Matt Kenseth (Daytona 500).