The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup (it's no longer Nextel) season officially begins next Sunday with the 50th running of the Daytona 500, but for all intents and purposes it revs up Saturday night in Daytona with the Bud Shootout.
In its current format, it is made up of two segments: a short 20-lap segment, followed by a 10-minute "pit stop," when crews may make normal adjustments to their cars. The race then concludes with a 50-lap segment.
The field consists of all of the pole position winners from the previous season as well as former event winners.
Kurt Busch will be on the pole (as chosen randomly) for the 30th annual running of this non-points race, which will have a record 23 drivers racing at Daytona for the first time in the Car of Tomorrow (now called the new winged car). The car was phased in at 16 of the series' 36 races last season, but Daytona wasn't among them; it will be run on all tracks this year.
"I think it's going to be an interesting race," Busch said. "I'm glad to be a part of it because you get to run with a tight group of competition. These guys are tough and you get to learn with this new car.
"Who knows? I mean I could be 23rd on the first lap just because of how violent the draft could be with the car. We've had packs of eight, maybe 10, but now we've got 23 that are going to hold it to the floor so we'll see what happens."Mark Martin drew the outside pole, while the unlucky two in the back row are Jeff Gordon – the WagerWeb.com co-favorite at +400 - and Ryan Newman.
"It's an honor being in the Budweiser Shootout each year because it recognizes the hard work that the entire team has done to put our car on the pole," Newman said.
There have been only three winners to start from the pole in 29 races. In fact, only 11 winners have started inside the top-five vs. 14 winners starting from outside the top-10. The lowest starting position for a winner of the Shootout was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started from the 19th spot and crossed the finish line first in 2003; Dale Jr., with his new Hendrick Motorsports team, is the co-favorite for this race with Gordon at +400. Reigning points champ Jimmie Johnson is right behind at +500.
"The Shootout is great practice for the 500, but more this year than any," said Denny Hamlin, who won the Shootout as a rookie in 2006. "It's about the new car on this track for the first time. A lot of people have been moved around, so you're going to have new teammates working together, and, for us, it's about going to a new manufacturer - a chance to make sure our engine is OK and everything is good on that front."
Tony Stewart (+600 at WagerWeb.com) has won this race three times and is the defending champion.
But Stewart's (and Busch's) team, Joe Gibbs Racing, is switching from Chevrolet to Toyota. Stewart won three races in his final season driving Chevys. Toyotas have performed well, though, during preseason testing at Daytona, Las Vegas and California, where the first three races will be contested.
"It's a good sign, or I'm assuming it's a good sign. You just don't know what everybody else is doing, so you don't know if everybody else is showing their hand," Stewart said.
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