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Shootout at the Speedway
And now, Winston Cup class, for your first test of the year ...
Posted: Sunday February 11, 2001 11:08 AM
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Jeff Gordon (right) thinks the Bud Shootout is a good way to prepare for the rest of the season. AP |
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- All the theories, all the hunches, everything this year's top class of Winston Cup drivers think they know about their cars gets tested Sunday in the 70-lap Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.
It's the first real chance they have to get out on the track, in race conditions, and learn about how their car reacts to the changes mandated by NASCAR.
The drivers have practiced, a lot, for sure. They've tested.
But this is racing, pretty much full out, drafting and maneuvering and seeing how their cars react to temperature and wind and the nuances of the 2.5-mile track where the Daytona 500 will be run in a week.
| Bud Shootout Lineup |
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There will be seven Chevrolets, seven Fords, three Pontiacs and a Dodge in the lineup for Sunday's 70-lap Budweiser Shootout.
Complete lineup: click here. |
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Being the Shootout, it's not for everyone. Only drivers who won poles last season, past champion of the Shootouts and one other driver randomly selected from a pool of second-round fastest qualifiers from last season drive in this race.
That makes 18 drivers who get to find out how the new aerodynamics package, and other changes, will affect their cars. The race, too, has been moved from 25 laps to 70, so teams should get a better idea of how their cars will handle the 200-lap Daytona 500
The Shootout should be an invaluable tool in preparing for the Gatorade 125 qualifying races Thursday, too. That's where most of the Daytona 500 field will come from.
And, of course, it'll help in next Sunday's 500.
"Even though it's not the same car that we'll be running in the 500," says Jeff Gordon, "it's still a great test for the team, for myself, and it's a great way to get the season started and get a race under our belt before we go into competition in the 125s."
Finally, it should aid one driver in one more key area.
Sunday's winner takes home $200,000.
| Storylines We're
Following |
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Awesome Bill
Now that we know the Dodges can run, after Bill Elliott took the pole for the Daytona 500 in qualifying Saturday, the next question is how they'll do in races. Elliott starts in the No. 13 position in the Shootout. We'll be watching.
Pontiac problems?
Only one Pontiac cracked the Top 10 in qualifying Saturday, the No. 20 of Tony Stewart, which finished fourth. Defending Winston Cup champ Bobby Labonte should be around, somewhere, as will Johnny Benson and Ken Schrader. Shouldn't they? Schrader, by the way, is on the pole for the Shootout.
The new package
The Shootout gives fans, too, a chance to see some more exciting racing, supposedly. The changes NASCAR made to the Winston Cup car setups will be tested. Will it be more exciting than last year? Could it be less?
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| Our New Favorite Driver |
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Jerry Nadeau
Sure, he got pushed out of his front-row spot for "cheating," as it were, in qualifying. Fact is, he just got a smidgen over that same line that everyone else is pushing up against. He'll go back for Monday's qualifying, run in a 125 Thursday and, you watch, have a decent 500 come next Sunday.
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| Bandwagon |
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Dodge
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Do you believe now?
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Bill Elliott | |
Never, ever, ever count this guy out
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Ray Evernham | |
Like him or not, he knows racing
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Saturday's Dash
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More yellow than the Glance likes to see
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Infield yahoos | |
Yeah, you get them at the Kentucky Derby, too. But this is what gives racing a bad name
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| The Bottom Line |
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NASCAR officials are waiting, a little nervously, to see how the changes they demanded on the cars will affect racing. They hope more teams have a chance to win, and more lead changes and jockeying will come because of it. But speed has gone out the window. Elliott ran 183.565 to win the pole Saturday. Fourteen years ago he ran 210.364, the track qualifying record. Restrictor plates, indeed.
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