The NASCAR Sprint Cup season unofficially opens on Saturday night at Daytona for the Bud Shootout, a non-points race that sets up Speedweeks at Daytona ahead of next Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The Bud Shootout will have a field of 25 cars for the 75-lap exhibition race but one of those cars won’t belong to the defending Daytona 500 winner. Trevor Bayne is eligible for the event as a past Daytona 500 winner, but neither Wood Brothers Racing nor Roush Fenway Racing has opted to field a car for him.
Bayne has sponsorship to race for the Wood Brothers in the Daytona 500 but none for the Shootout. Roush Fenway Racing could have put Bayne – whose upset in the 2011 Daytona 500 is considered one of the biggest in race history – in a car for the race but also declined. Bayne is one of eight drivers eligible for the event who are not participating.
The top 25 in the driver standings from 2011 were eligible as well as past Cup points race winners and Budweiser Shootout winners – Kurt Busch is the defending champion. Last year’s race was the closest in history, with Busch defeating Jamie McMurray by .058 seconds.
Of the 25 cars entered, Hendrick Motorsports is the only team fielding four cars, while Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Fenway Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Richard Childress Racing will have three each. Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose will be making their first Shootout starts. Kevin Harvick opened as the +800 favorite on WagerWeb.com.
Since 2009, the Budweiser Shootout has been run in two segments, with the first at 25 laps, and the second a 50-lap sprint for the win. That’s 187.5 miles on the track’s high-banked, 2.5-mile layout. Following the first segment, a 10-minute “pit stop” gives crews the opportunity to make normal adjustments to their cars. That means tweaks they would do on a normal pit stop during a regular Sprint Cup Series event. Following the 10-minute “pit stop”, the event’s second segment includes a 50-lap sprint for the win.
The Budweiser Shootout field:
No. 1, Jamie McMurray, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 2, Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing
No. 5, Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 9, Marcos Ambrose, Richard Petty Motorsports
No. 11, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 14, Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 15, Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing
No. 16, Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing
No. 17, Matt Kenseth , Roush Fenway Racing
No. 18, Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 20, Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing
No. 22, AJ Allmendinger, Penske Racing
No. 24, Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 27, Paul Menard, Richard Childress Racing
No. 29, Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing
No. 31, Jeff Burton , Richard Childress Racing
No. 34, David Ragan Front Row Motorsports
No. 39, Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas Racing
No. 42, Juan Pablo Montoya, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
No. 48, Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports
No. 51, Kurt Busch, Phoenix Racing
No. 55, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing
No. 56, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip Racing
No. 88, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports
No. 99, Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing
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