Between the odd mix of experience among drivers entered in the newly formatted Budweiser Shootout and the lack of off-season testing to get drivers back in the groove of racing at 200 mph on the edge of out of control, the Inaugural race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was anything but ordinary.
For fans who were aching to see some darting, dodging, beating, banging and crashing, Saturday night's Bud Shootout certainly delivered. They say rubbing is racing and as far as the 28 superstars trying to put on a spectacular show for the fans, there is no doubt that they delivered just that.
The tone was set early on, with a multi-car crash on lap 3 that took out rookies Joey Logano and Scott Speed among others. There was a record 23 lead changes as well as a record 8 cautions. Drivers Greg Biffle and David Stremme were each involved in 3 cautions and struggled just to stay out of the way of everyone else.
Due to the high number of cautions, the finish was a green-white-checkered attempt that ended in one of the wildest cautions of the night. And our favorite, Denny Hamlin, was caught up in the may lay. He finished a disappointing 13th, the final car on the lead lap. His race car was destroyed but there is no question Hamlin, as well as the 27 other drivers who were competing last night, learned exactly what would be in store for them come next Sunday.
Whether the Budweiser Shootout was an advantage for the guys competing in it last night is yet to be seen, but for drivers who were itching to climb back into their race cars and fans who have struggled to occupy their Sunday afternoons it was long overdue and more exciting than words can express. Whether your driver won or was a casualty of one of the many cautions, it was a welcome return to the sport that makes hearts beat faster and the hair on your arms stand on end.
The results of the 2009 Budweiser Shootout are as follows:
- 29 Kevin Harvick
- 26 Jamie McMurray
- 14 Tony Stewart
- 24 Jeff Gordon
- 44 AJ Allmendinger
- 9 Kasey Kahne
- 99 Carl Edwards
- 17 Matt Kenseth
- 2 Kurt Busch
- 18 Kyle Busch
- 83 Brian Vickers
- 98 Paul Menard
- 11 Denny Hamlin
- 48 Jimmie Johnson (accident)
- 07 Casey Mears (accident)
- 12 David Stremme (accident)
- 16 Greg Biffle (accident)
- 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (accident)
- 96 Bobby Labonte (accident)
- 00 David Reutimann (accident)
- 19 Elliott Sadler (accident)
- 55 Michael Waltrip (accident)
- 43 Reed Sorenson (engine)
- 31 Jeff Burton (accident)
- 82 Scott Speed (accident)
- 6 David Ragan (accident)
- 7 Robby Gordon (accident)
- 20 Joey Logano (accident)
