I read this article today, and thought that y'all would also find it interesting. I'll bet that there is a fact or two that you didn't know about the Bud Shootout. We already know that there will be 21 drivers eligible for the next Shootout come February, now we just have to wait for it!



A history of the Shootout, from Busch to Budweiser
Earnhardt holds record with six victories in the then Busch Clash
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
February 9, 2006
01:25 PM EST (18:25 GMT)


A good way to make Ken Schrader look old is by pointing out that Kyle Busch was just 3 years old when he won the Busch Clash in 1989.

Both Schrader and Busch are in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR's annual race for the previous year's Bud Pole winners.

The race was called the Busch Clash from 1979 to 1997 and the Bud Shootout from 1998 to 2000.

This year marks the 28th Budweiser Shootout, a race that was first run during Dale Earnhardt's rookie season. Earnhardt went on to win the event a record six times.

The race was the brainchild of Anheuser-Busch, who dubbed the inaugural 1979 event the Busch Clash. It was held on the afternoon of Feb. 11, 1979, right after Kyle Petty won the Daytona ARCA event.

The event has grown significantly as TV began to take a more active role in NASCAR. In 1991, the format was changed from a 20-lap event to two 10-lap segments. It was changed to a single 25-lap event in 1998, but the most significant change came in 2001, when it became 70 laps.

The race is still 70 laps but, in 2003, it was broken up into two segments, with a 50-lap sprint serving as the second segment.

That change coincided with the race moving from its traditional Sunday slot to Saturday night, where it remains today.

Some notable moments of the Budweiser Shootout:

•1979: Buddy Baker averaged 194.384 mph to win the first Busch Clash. Rookie Dale Earnhardt finished second as Oldsmobiles swept the first three positions.

•1980: Dale Earnhardt edged out best friend Neil Bonnett to win the first of his record six victories in the Clash. Earnhardt went on to win the title that year.

•1981: Darrell Waltrip gets his lone Busch Clash victory. It was the first Clash win for Buick. Waltrip was the first driver to win from the pole. Only seven cars started the race, a Clash low.

•1982: Bobby Allison gets his lone Busch Clash victory. It was the final Clash win for Buick.

•1983: Neil Bonnett gets the first of his two consecutive Busch Clash victories.

•1984: Ricky Rudd, driving for Bud Moore, survives a wild end-over-end accident coming off Turn 4 during the Clash. Rudd's eyes were so swollen from the crash that he practiced his Daytona 500 car by duct-taping his eyes open.

"I just kind of took all the extra skin and taped it to my eyelid and taped it up to my forehead and put my helmet on and went on," Rudd said.

•1985: Terry Labonte, fresh off his first NASCAR title, wins his only Clash.

•1986: Dale Earnhardt wins the Clash for the second time.

•1987: Bill Elliott wins the fastest Clash (197.802 mph) in history.

•1988: Dale Earnhardt wins his third Clash. Implementation of restrictor plates brings the average speed down to 191.489 mph.

•1989: Ken Schrader wins the first of his two consecutive Busch Clashes.

•1990: Ken Schrader wins again. Greg Sacks finishes second, by far his best showing in three tries.

•1991: Dale Earnhardt wins again and goes on to win the NASCAR title. Earnhardt won the race despite starting last in the second 10-lap segment.

•1992: Geoff Bodine wins the Clash, and Ernie Irvan is a career-best second.

•1993: Dale Earnhardt again. No. 5.

•1994: Jeff Gordon wins the Clash in his first try.

•1995: Sixth and final Clash victory for Dale Earnhardt.

•1996: Dale Jarrett wins his first Clash in Robert Yates' brand-new No. 88 Ford. Jarrett becomes just the third driver to win the Clash and the Daytona 500 in the same year.

•1997: Jeff Gordon becomes just the fourth driver to win the Clash and the Daytona 500 in the same year.

•1998: Rusty Wallace leads a 1-2-3-4 finish by Ford in a Taurus making its NASCAR debut. His brother Kenny finishes second.

•1999: Mark Martin, coming off his finest NASCAR season, wins his only Shootout.

•2000: Dale Jarrett wins the Clash and the Daytona 500 again. It is Ford's third consecutive victory.

•2001: Tony Stewart wins, scoring the first Shootout win for Joe Gibbs Racing. It is also the first for Pontiac.

•2002: A record 22 starters participated. Tony Stewart wins again.

•2003: First night race for the Shootout. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins from the 19th spot, the lowest position by a winner in the event's history.

•2004: Dale Jarrett, coming off his worst season with Robert Yates Racing, scores a mild upset with his third Shootout victory.

•2005: Jimmie Johnson gets his first Shootout victory. It is Chevrolet's 14th Shootout victory -- double the number of any other manufacturer.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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