Shootout starts to misfire

Format change leaves pole-sitters in the dust

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff  |  February 7, 2009

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Until 1998, it was known as the Busch Clash, a non-points mad dash for cash among the pole winners from the previous season. It was staged on the first Sunday of Speedweeks, a day after pole qualifications for the Daytona 500.

And it was always a smash.

Now? It's not expected to be as much. Although the event's name was changed to the Bud Shootout and then, in 2001, to the Budweiser Shootout, the composition of the field remained, basically, unchanged. Until this year, when the 31st running of the event underwent a major format change. The distance has been increased from 70 to 75 laps - a 25-lap segment, followed by intermission and a 50-lap segment - and the field now consists of the top seven drivers from each of NASCAR's four manufacturers.

And so, in one driver's opinion, the changes have devalued pole qualifications.

"I would say that other than getting to pick the first pitbox, it doesn't have any value anymore," said Greg Biffle.

"You look at a guy [who] gets the pole, like [David Reutimann] at Homestead [last November], guys are celebrating. I was so excited when I got the pole at Darlington [last May] and the team was all high-fiving each other, and why? Not because we got the pole, but because we're in the Bud Shootout.

"We take a third car [to Daytona], and we learn for the race."

It was one of the perks of winning a pole. Another perk was extra track time at Daytona to work on race setup and to measure yourself against your competitors.

Paul Menard will rely upon the sum of his Shootout experiences (zero) to guide him when he starts tonight's race from the pole position. Menard, who was one of four first-time pole winners last year, drew the exalted spot in a blind draw Thursday. He will be joined on the front row by Elliott Sadler, whose best Shootout finish in three starts was a 12th in his 2004 debut.

"When we started on the pole in July [at Daytona for the Coke Zero 400], I was able to get a good, clean start," Menard said. "That's what I want to do [tonight] - get a good, clean start and then protect the bottom and let them line up behind me. Hopefully, we can hold them off."

Of the 15 drivers who won poles last year, only five will be starting among the top 10 tonight, raising concerns about those making their first start, such as rookies Joey Logano (Row 10, 19th starting spot) and Scott Speed (Row 2, fourth starting spot). To that end, Menard and Speed crashed together during practice yesterday.

"The Shootout is still going to be an exciting race," Biffle said. "But for us, on the inside, [the format change] took the excitement out of [winning a pole]."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalled how huge it was to win last year's Shootout, especially since it emphatically answered any questions about his decision to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. for Hendrick Motorsports.

"It is exciting to win any race," Earnhardt said. "But we just came out of the box as a new team. I got some great help from my teammates [Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon] in that race, which was really inspiring to me. It made me feel great to have them helping me in the race to win. It is so easy to get competitive and you are competitive toward each other. But when it really came down to it, they saw opportunity, they worked with me, and that was really good."

Asked about his mind-set entering his second year at Hendrick Motorsports, Earnhardt said, "I feel a little more comfortable and a little less concerned. Going into a race season with a new team, you have not had any laps with them, man. You really wonder how it is going to work out. We kind of have an idea that we are a pretty good team. We make a few adjustments, do some things right, catch a few breaks, and we are a great team. We are going to try and make that happen this year."

Carl Edwards, who finished runner-up to Johnson in last year's Sprint Cup championship and was picked as the Driver of the Year by the National Motorsports Press Association, was the media's selection to win this year's Sprint Cup championship.

In a poll conducted by www.NASCARMedia.com, Edwards garnered 70 first-place votes, far ahead of Johnson (37), who finished second.

"It's an unreal compliment for 70 [media members] to think that I will win it all," Edwards said. "What Jimmie has done is spectacular. For the media to say they think that I might be able to stop that is pretty neat."

NASCAR already has tested its drivers under its new substance abuse and drug testing policy. Asked about getting tested for the first time, Johnson acknowledged it was "kind of odd to go into a room with another man and have him watch you pee in a cup," he said. "It was one of the first times I experienced that. Outside of that, they did the screening process and an uncomfortable three or four minutes trying to go to the bathroom, that was about it." Was it necessary? "Yeah, absolutely," Johnson said. "I mean, we need to be proactive. We need to separate ourselves from other sports. We need to be on top of this stuff, especially when the issues that popped up through the years with illegal drugs, we absolutely need a policy and I'm glad it's in place." . . . Johnson reported the left middle finger he sliced during the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona was doing much better after having the five stitches removed. "It's still a little ugly and swollen," he said. "But I've got motion and grip, so outside of being a little clumsy and swollen, it's doing well." . . . After a seven-year absence, Geoffrey Bodine, of Chemung, N.Y., has returned to Daytona in the hopes of qualifying an unsponsored Toyota. But the 59-year-old winner of the 1986 Daytona 500, who finished third in his last start here in 2002, won't be the oldest among the 57 people trying to qualify for one of 43 spots in the field Feb. 15. That honor will belong to James Hylton, a 74-year-old NASCAR veteran from Inman, S.C., who will attempt to qualify the No. 60 Lowery Plumbing Dodge.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, race teams, sponsors and sanctioning bodies was used in this report.