2009 Budweiser Shootout

2009 Budweiser Shootout

Race details
Race 1 of 2 Exhibition Races in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	February 7, 2009 (2009-02-07)
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	78 laps, 195 mi (313.822 km)
Scheduled Distance	75 laps, 187.5 mi (301.752 km)
Average speed	168.564 miles per hour (271.277 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Paul Menard	Yates Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	23
Winner
No. 29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Network
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

The 2009 Budweiser Shootout was a special non-points race that officially opened the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Saturday night, February 7 of that year at the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was btelecast by Fox, with radio broadcasting being done by Motor Racing Network (over-the-air) and Sirius XM Radio. Kevin Harvick won the race in a very similar finish to that of the 2007 Daytona 500, which was also won by Harvick.

Format change

Pole winners to manufacturers

In previous years, the InBev sponsorship of the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series allowed previous winners of the pole position in time trials of all races not cancelled due to weather to compete in a race. When Molson Coors took over title sponsorship of these events, the company was forced to make a change for the 2009 event.

The new format, announced in August of 2008 by the Belgium brewer and sponsor of the race, will reward manufacturers of the automobiles in the top stock car series in the United States – Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota – to place the top six teams for each of their brands based on the final 2008 Owners Points standings.

On January 16, 2009, it was announced that each manufacturer would receive a "wild card" entry to be awarded to the most recent Sprint Cup champion that had attempted to qualify for every race in the preceding year. If no driver qualifies for the wild card, it is awarded to the next car in owner's points for each manufacturer.

The results:

Position	Car No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
2	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
3	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet
4	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
5	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge
6	9	Kasey Kahne	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge
7	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
8	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
9	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Championship Racing	Dodge
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
11	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Racing Team	Toyota
12	98	Paul Menard	Yates Racing	Ford
13	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
14	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
15	07	Casey Mears	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
16	12	David Stremme	Penske Championship Racing	Dodge
17	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
18	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
19	96	Bobby Labonte	Hall of Fame Racing	Ford
20	00	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota
21	19	Elliott Sadler	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge
22	55	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota
23	43	Reed Sorenson	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge
24	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
25	82	Scott Speed	Red Bull Racing Team	Toyota
26	6	David Ragan	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
27	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Dodge
28	20	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota

Race format change

Also altered for the 2009 race was the number of laps being run. The first segment, previously 20 laps (50 miles (80 km)) became a 25-lap (62.5 miles (100.6 km)) segment. The second segment of 50 laps (125 miles (201 km)) and other elements (such as the blind draw invert for the pole position) remained unchanged.