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Budweiser Shootout

Daytona International Speedway

What: Sprint Cup circuit
Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
When: Saturday, February 18, 2012 8:29 pm EST
Laps: 75
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Race Length: 188.00 miles



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2012 NASCAR Series Season Opens With Shootout At Daytona

02/13/2012


It’s here. At last. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season ramps up this week with a bevy of traditional events leading up to the 54tn annual Daytona 500.

The “Great American Race” is set for 1 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 26 (FOX, MRN Radio, and SIRIUS/XM NASCAR Radio to broadcast nationally).

But first things first. Thursday’s 13th annual NASCAR Media Day opens Speedweeks activities at Daytona International Speedway, followed by Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and Sunday’s Coors Light Pole qualifying to set the front row for the 54th running of the Daytona 500.

All lead up to the following week’s Gatorade Duel (Feb. 23, 2 p.m., FOX), two 150-mile qualifying races to complete the Daytona 500 field; the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 (Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m., SPEED); the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 (Feb. 25, 1:15 p.m., ESPN); and, of course, The Great American Race.

Based on last year’s unprecedented NASCAR Sprint Cup Series dead-heat championship finish, and Trevor Bayne’s surprising and dramatic Daytona 500 victory in the legendary No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, the 2012 season is filled with anticipation.

First up is NASCAR Media Day, during which more than 50 of NASCAR’s stars will lay out their 2012 plans before an expected turnout of 300 print, broadcast and online reporters. NASCAR.com, ESPN, SPEED and SIRIUS/XM NASCAR Radio will broadcast live from Thursday’s two sessions – 8 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m.


Dress rehearsal for the Daytona 500 … The Shootout at Daytona will be held for the 34th time. The format is unchanged from 2011, with a slight wrinkle in eligibility requirements. Criteria are based upon the following qualifications, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series during the past season:

• Drivers finishing among the top 25 in the 2011 championship driver points
• Past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola champions and winners of Shootout events.

As has been the case since 2003, the Shootout will be run in two segments, the first 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. Other notes: All work must be done on pit road or in the garage; teams may not change springs, shocks or rear ends; all green- and yellow-flag laps in both segments will count. Following the 10-minute “pit stop,” the event’s second segment remains a 50-lap sprint for the win.

Those entered, 25 in all, in Saturday’s race: Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Paul Menard, Martin Truex Jr., Marcos Ambrose, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, Joey Logano, Michael Waltrip and Jamie McMurray.

Several drivers will be making their first appearances with new teams including Bowyer with Michael Waltrip Racing, Kahne with Hendrick Motorsports, Kurt Busch with Phoenix Racing, Ragan with Front Row Motorsports and Allmendinger with Penske Racing. Allmendinger already has one 2012 Speedweeks victory in last month’s GRAND-AM Sports Car Series Rolex 24. Kurt Busch is the defending champion of the Shootout.

A unique qualifying format … Sunday’s Daytona 500 Coors Light Pole qualifying session is the year’s only time trials in which just the front row positions are set. The remaining qualifiers are seeded into Thursday’s Gatorade Duel, a pair of 150-mile races from which the final starting grid for the Daytona 500 is set.

The front row starters and remaining top 35 owners’ cars are guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500. Where they start is based on how they finish in the Duel events, along with the two top finishing, non-top 35 cars in each qualifying race.

How important is Sunday’s qualifying? Critical in that the remaining starters – as many as four cars – will be based upon speeds recorded in time trials, which begin at 1:05 p.m. ET and can be seen live on FOX.

The most recent Daytona 500 pole winner to win the race was Dale Jarrett in 2000, one of two drivers (Bill Elliott is the other) to sweep Shootout, pole and race in the same season.

Fast Facts
What: 34th Annual Budweiser Shootout At Daytona
Where: Daytona International Speedway
Track Layout: 2.5-mile tri-oval
When: Saturday, Feb. 18
Time: 8:10 p.m. (ET)
TV: FOX, 8 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN; SIRIUS/XM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90
Distance: 75 laps/187.5 miles (25 laps in first segment; 50 laps in second segment)
2011 Winner: Kurt Busch

SOURCE

 

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Dodge Notes & Quotes - Bud Shootout First Practice Quotes - Daytona International Speedway
February 17, 2012 , DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T)

WHAT HAPPENED? “Some guys in front of me got together. It’s just the way it is. It’s the first time that we get back on the track and everybody is aggressive, learning what the limits are. Sometimes you get caught up in that. Our Miler Lite Dodge got caught up in it. It’s better to do it now than next Sunday. We’ll learn something from it.”

AJ Allmendinger (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T)

CAN YOU TELL US WHAT HAPPENED? “Everybody is getting the feel of it out there. The 51 car was moving around a lot; he was three wide a couple of times. I kind of got through the middle of the three-wide pack and thought that we were OK. It looked like the 51 and the 14 were hooked up and the 51 made a late move around the 56. When you’re pushing somebody and you just get off-centered to the left side of the car, it’s going to turn it. To me, that’s what happened and after that, I was just behind it.”

ARE YOU GUYS GOING TO A BACK-UP CAR? “Yeah, she’s destroyed. It’s not what we want in the first practice. It’s what happens here. It’s back to pack racing to a certain extent. You can see cars just in the pack are already over heating. Everybody is anxious. It’s disappointing. I’ll try to taken the lessons there, understanding what was happening and figure out what we want to do. Obviously, tomorrow is going to be a free-for-all. I think there are some lessons learned for the 500 on where to put yourself. Not a good start on the first day. We’ll keep working. We made a change from the first to second run and picked up a little bit of speed. We were struggling a little bit off the corner, so I felt like the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was a little quicker and more stable; at least we had that. We’ll see tomorrow.”

WAS IT HARD TO DRIVE IN THE PACK? “It’s the same way. Every time that I could see Brad (Keselowski) or get with him, I’d try to work with him. We had a good run going through the middle a couple of times and you just stall out. You can stall the guy out next to you and the guy next to him. It’s a big pack again. It’s going to be interesting. I still think in the end with two to go, three to go, you’re going to hook up if you’re at the front of the pack and push each other and just melt one down trying to get to the line. It’s definitely back to the way it used to be.”

WILL YOU GO BACK OUT IN PRACTICE TONIGHT? “No. I’ve wrecked enough cars today. That’s a good thing with the Penske Corporation. They build the cars the same; the cars are pretty equal. So it’s not like we’ve got to go out there and get a feel of what the next car is going to feel like. All the cars are close. The guys do a good job back in the shop.”

 

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NASCAR Results
Last Updated: Saturday, Feb 18, 2012 11:23 pm, EST
Budweiser Shootout
Status: Final Daytona International Speedway


Order Driver (No.) Car Pts/Bonus Laps Laps Led Winnings Lap Progress
1 Kyle Busch (18) Toyota 0/0 82 3 $198,550 Chart
2 Tony Stewart (14) Chevrolet 0/0 82 7 $94,800 Chart
3 Marcos Ambrose (9) Ford 0/0 82 1 $54,800 Chart
4 Brad Keselowski (2) Dodge 0/0 82 0 $45,800 Chart
5 Denny Hamlin (11) Toyota 0/0 82 0 $44,800 Chart
6 Greg Biffle (16) Ford 0/0 82 17 $43,400 Chart
7 Ryan Newman (39) Chevrolet 0/0 82 0 $42,050 Chart
8 Clint Bowyer (15) Toyota 0/0 82 0 $40,025 Chart
9 Carl Edwards (99) Ford 0/0 82 0 $38,025 Chart
10 Juan Pablo Montoya (42) Chevrolet 0/0 82 1 $36,525 Chart
11 Jeff Burton (31) Chevrolet 0/0 81 0 $36,025 Chart
12 A J Allmendinger (22) Dodge 0/0 80 1 $35,525 Chart
13 Kasey Kahne (5) Chevrolet 0/0 79 0 $35,025 Chart
14 Jimmie Johnson (48) Chevrolet 0/0 74 1 $33,525 Chart
15 Jeff Gordon (24) Chevrolet 0/0 73 16 $33,025 Chart
16 Jamie McMurray (1) Chevrolet 0/0 73 11 $32,525 Chart
17 Kurt Busch (51) Chevrolet 0/0 73 0 $30,025 Chart
18 Joey Logano (20) Toyota 0/0 54 1 $28,025 Chart
19 Martin Truex Jr. (56) Toyota 0/0 54 7 $25,025 Chart
20 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) Chevrolet 0/0 54 12 $23,025 Chart
21 Matt Kenseth (17) Ford 0/0 54 0 $21,025 Chart
22 Kevin Harvick (29) Chevrolet 0/0 54 4 $20,025 Chart
23 Paul Menard (27) Chevrolet 0/0 8 0 $18,030 Chart
24 David Ragan (34) Ford 0/0 8 0 $16,030 Chart
25 Michael Waltrip (55) Toyota 0/0 8 0 $15,032 Chart

 

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Dodge Notes & Quotes - Bud Shootout Race Recap - Daytona
February 19, 2012 , DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - KESELOWSKI FINISHES FOURTH IN BUD SHOOTOUT AT DAYTONA

Allmendinger Caught Up In Third Multi-Car Mishap; Finishes 12th

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Dodge Boys elected to go with a bit of strategy Saturday night in the Bud Shootout here at Daytona International Speedway. Brad Keselowski and A.J. Allmendinger elected not to mix it up at the front of the field early in the race, but wait for the closing laps, team up and mount a charge for the win.

Unfortunately, the rest of the field viewed the final laps as a “shootout” too. Although the race had plenty of aggressive driving early that led to nine-car and five-car mishaps, it was calm in comparison to the closing laps.

As Keselowski and Allmendinger attempted to team up with five to go, the rest of the field was shuffling for position too. The Penske Racing duo were separated and had to take advantage of any drafting help and opportunity they could find. The shuffling led to another nine-car mishap as the field exited turn four to take the white flag, bringing out the caution and extending the race for a green-white-checkered finish. Keselowski escaped the mishap, Allmendinger didn’t.

Keselowski’s No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was clean and in fourth as the field regrouped for the restart. He tried to get position to make a run for the win, but could not find an opening and settled for fourth. Kyle Busch edged Tony Stewart for the win.

"It's crazy and you just can't predict what's going to happen,” said Keselowski. “You just hope that you're in the right position and it takes a team effort to do that. The Miller Lite Dodge team did that today and came up just a bit short.”

Keselowski’s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, explained the race strategy. "Our plan was to see how the race played out and do the opposite of what the leaders were doing,” he said. “They were dicing it up pretty hard at the beginning and there wasn't really anything to be gained to get up to the front that early. Our strategy played out like we thought the race was going to run. It eliminated a lot of cars that we didn't have to race and we were able to keep our car clean.”

Allmendinger’s crew attempted to repair the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger, but the damage to the left rear was extensive. He wasn’t a factor in the two-lap shootout to the checkered flag.

“I think we were about a half-of-a-corner from being perfect,” he said. “I got to the outside and got attached to (Jamie) McMurray, pushing him. I thought man, if we get off (turn) four coming to the white, it’s game over for everybody because we were so clean and had such a run. It’s just one of those things. At times, I thought our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was really fast and there were other times when I thought it wasn’t very good. That’s just the way this racing is. If you time it right and get the right run, you can pull it off. If we got off four, it would have been between me and the 1 (McMurray) for the win. It’s disappointing. We’ll try it again in the (Daytona) 500.”

Race Results
Bud Shootout
Daytona Int’l Speedway
1. Kyle Busch
2. Tony Stewart
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Greg Biffle
7. Ryan Newman
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Carl Edwards
10. Juan Pablo Montoya
11. Jeff Burton
12. A.J. Allmendinger