Bud Shoot Out expands by 4 cars

[Chris]

Bud Shootout: Who's in? Read between the lines
Here's the skinny on the 2009 Budweiser Shootout (tentatively, of course; this is just an educated guess until the behind-closed-doors maneuvering is complete and the official entry list is filed):

Tony Stewart is in. What, you thought owner/driver Smoke -- in a Chevrolet, no less -- would not be in the first "race" of the year? He'll drive the No. 14 Chevy, formerly the No. 70
Bobby Labonte is in. The car owner points for Yates Racing's No. 38 Ford will be moved to Hall of Fame Racing's No. 96, which was a Toyota in 2008. What, you thought "alliance" was something different than "merger"?

Robby Gordon is in. Apparently there was more room at the Toyota Inn for the Dodge defector rather than for Scott Speed's then-No. 84/now-No. 82, which actually was a Toyota in 2008.

Sam Hornish Jr. is in. Benefiting from Gordon's manufacturer switch as well as the contraction of a few cars, ol' Sammy gets to take the green flag in Penske Racing's No. 77 Dodge.

And the Gillett Evernham's No. 10 makes the cut, though no driver has been officially named to fill the seat. (A.J. Allmendinger remains the choice du jour.)

As previously reported, the Shootout format has changed for 2009: The top six teams in owner points from each manufacturer earn berths in the season-opening exhibition race at Daytona. (complete list)

On Friday, two caveats:

• Any owner outside of the top six in year-end owner points whose driver is a past Cup Series champion that attempted to qualify for all 36 races (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 owner points from each manufacturer will be eligible to compete in the event.

So using the best information available, the lineup looks something like

2009 Budweiser Shootout
Chevrolet    
Driver           How he gets in ...
Jimmie Johnson Finished first in owner points; first Chevrolet car
Kevin Harvick Finished fourth in owner points; second Chevrolet car
Casey Mears Replacing Clint Bowyer as driver; third Chevrolet car
Jeff Burton Finished sixth in owner points; fourth Chevrolet car
Jeff Gordon Finished seventh in owner points; fifth Chevrolet car
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Finished 12th in owner points; sixth Chevrolet car
Tony Stewart Wild card: past Cup Series champion

Dodge
Driver           How he gets in ...
Kasey Kahne Finished 15th in owner points; first Dodge car
David Stremme Replacing Ryan Newman as driver; second Dodge car
Kurt Busch Finished 19th in owner points; third Dodge car
Reed Sorenson Replacing Bobby Labonte as driver; fourth Dodge car
Elliott Sadler Finished 24th in owner points; fifth Dodge car
TBA No driver officially announced for No. 10 car; sixth Dodge car
Sam Hornish Jr. Wild card: seventh-highest Dodge car

Ford
Driver           How he gets in ...
Carl Edwards Finished second in owner points; first Ford car
Greg Biffle Finished third in owner points; second Ford car
Matt Kenseth Finished 11th in owner points; third Ford car
David Ragan Finished 13th in owner points; fourth Ford car
Jamie McMurray Finished 17th in owner points; fifth Ford car
Travis Kvapil Finished 23rd in owner points; sixth Ford car
Bobby Labonte Wild card: seventh-highest Ford after No. 38 car points applied to No. 96

Toyota
Driver           How he gets in ...
Denny Hamlin Finished eighth in owner points; first Toyota car
Joey Logano Replacing Tony Stewart as driver; second Toyota car
Kyle Busch Finished 10th in owner points; third Toyota car
Brian Vickers Finished 20th in owner points; fourth Toyota car
David Reutimann Finished 26th in owner points; fifth Toyota car; points moved to No. 00
Michael Waltrip Finished 29th in owner points; sixth Toyota car
Robby Gordon Wild card: Finished 34th in owner points; moving to Toyota in 2009

[smyler]

R. Gordon & M. Waltrip in the Shoot Out?  Give me a break.

I thought this was suppossed to be a race amongst the best?.... but I guess not.  Sorry folks, I honestly do hate to be negative but this is one more bit of socialism and I can do without that.  I really won't even pay attention to this fiasco.  I wish NASCAR had something to do with allowing honest competition rather than propping up the weak.  It would not bother me if there had only been 11 teams involved if only those 11 were previous winners of this event or last years pole winners.

Maybe I'm the only one that this bothers.

I hate that the economy is so bad right now but if it ends up there are only 33 cars in some of the races I will not be bothered either.  The true American way is for those who can will do and those who can't won't.  At least it used to be. 

[20forLogano]

R. Gordon & M. Waltrip in the Shoot Out?  Give me a break.

I thought this was suppossed to be a race amongst the best?.... but I guess not.  Sorry folks, I honestly do hate to be negative but this is one more bit of socialism and I can do without that.  I really won't even pay attention to this fiasco.  I wish NASCAR had something to do with allowing honest competition rather than propping up the weak.  It would not bother me if there had only been 11 teams involved if only those 11 were previous winners of this event or last years pole winners.

Maybe I'm the only one that this bothers.

I hate that the economy is so bad right now but if it ends up there are only 33 cars in some of the races I will not be bothered either.  The true American way is for those who can will do and those who can't won't.  At least it used to be. 

Smyler,
never been a race about the best, just pole winners.  But I liked the old way better.  You win a pole you make the Bud Shootout and gain an advantage on some.  They are just making this a test session for the lack of testing this year.

[scott b]

This format is a big ugly mess.  Nice going, NASCAR, now neither of the two non-points events are worth watching IMHO.  I wouldn't even call them races, just exhibitions. 

[Tonyfan14]

Guess I'll be watching the Shootout now. 

[DougS]

  They are just making this a test session for the lack of testing this year.

My first thought when they announced this wild card format.

Especially since no one is testing this year! Right....... Wink wink even rousch is out after wanting everyone to sign a pact. But JGR isn't testing performance, only testing brake packages wink wink.

Once again a Brian brain fade. Loved the idea of open the tracks one day early instead of sending teams to pikes peak in colorado NASCAR definately saved money there for owners. Good Job Brian and Darby!

[Skig]

I liked it when it was based upon pole winners from the previous year.  When Bud stopped being the Official Sponsor of Whatever, I assumed the name would be changed to the Coors something or other, and Bud would move on.  When I heard that Bud was keeping the rights to this "thing" but the format would change I called shennanigans.  Now this latest move, that I called the Tony rule in another thread, just further taints whatever the Hell it is they were trying to preserve in the first place.

I mean seriously, when Jr. was the face of Bud, and before him, when they were throwing money all over the place, they were everywhere.  When they sign with Kasey, and stopped writing the fat checks to NASCAR, you never seen or heard of them.  The announce team wouldn't even say more than the #9 Dodge for Pete's sake.  Yet they want to try and hold onto the tradition of kicking off the season with this crap???

Thanks Brian.  You never cease to amaze.

[20forLogano]

this is just a shame.  I mean this race already consists of non-points so there are some dumb moves that take place and generally cars are destroyed.  Brian France is the biggest dumb-ass there is right now.  He is detroying this sport.

[Tonyfan14]

How is he destroying the sport when he just put in one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR in the race?? This race was screwed up when they had a kid like Joey in the race and not the guy who actually deserved to be in race in Tony. Just from looking on other forums there were a heck of alot of fans who were not going to watch the race because Tony was not in it. Now that he is it wouldn't surprise me to see the ticket sales go up a little. NASCAR had to do something to fix this race a little.

[skool]

How is he destroying the sport when he just put in one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR in the race?? This race was screwed up when they had a kid like Joey in the race and not the guy who actually deserved to be in race in Tony. Just from looking on other forums there were a heck of alot of fans who were not going to watch the race because Tony was not in it. Now that he is it wouldn't surprise me to see the ticket sales go up a little. NASCAR had to do something to fix this race a little.

Not to make light of you or TS Tonyfan, but gimme a break!  Ticket sales for the Bud shootout are not going to go up just because TS is now in it.

"Hey honey, Tony is now in the race!  Let's make that trip to Daytona after all!"  yeah right!

The others are right, they should just stick with the old format. Now there is nothing special about it. Just another show.

[SMOKEN14]

The others are right, they should just stick with the old format. Now there is nothing special about it. Just another show.

  So you think this punk logano deserves to be in the shootout instead of Stewart? They need to change the rules so the driver gets in not the car. Logano with 3 finishes of 32nd and better should be sitting in the stands or at home   

[Tonyfan14]

Well adding Tony in the race can only help the ticket sales and the tv ratings.  I know from going on all the Tony forums that many of those fans were not going to watch the race if he wasn't in it. 

[south jersey girl]

jeez...you mean Tony Stewart is in the race now ?? ?? ??

now I'm definitely not going to watch





...kidding

I'm probably not going to watch it, but it doesn't have anything to do w/ Tony.  I much preferred the old format with the pole winners and past bud shoot out winners

[skool]

  So you think this punk logano deserves to be in the shootout instead of Stewart? They need to change the rules so the driver gets in not the car. Logano with 3 finishes of 32nd and better should be sitting in the stands or at home   

Did I say this punk logano deserves to be in the shootout instead of Stewart?  No I dont think I said that.  Did the punk win a pole last year?   See  my original comment about leaving the BS qualifiactions as they were.   What part of that was hard to understand?

[skool]

Well adding Tony in the race can only help the ticket sales and the tv ratings.  I know from going on all the Tony forums that many of those fans were not going to watch the race if he wasn't in it. 

If you only watch a race because you favorite is in it, then you are shallow and dont really love the sport of racing.