New Bud Shootout rules turn out to be a disaster

When Budweiser changed the format to qualify for the Bud Shootout by getting away from the pole (now sponsored by Coors Light) it had a good idea...take the Top 6 teams from each of the 4 car makers. That gives you 24 Top drivers, right? Well it should except Dodge has struggled causing teams to jump ship and nobody thought about drivers like Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer changing teams. Then add the drivers changing brands like Juan Pablo Montoya & Robby Gordon leaving them out. But now you have drivers getting released like Bobby Labonte & Elliott Sadler making the new lineup not nearly as exciting. Not to mention what happens if Dodge bails on Nascar.

Expect Budweiser to head back to the drawing board next year and get creative. This year though will be a disaster with a lineup that has David Stremme (who didn't even race last year) Joey Logano, AJ Almendinger, Reed Sorenson?

No testing...yeah right...The Shootout gives Hendrick, RCR, Gibbs, Roush, GEM, Penkse, and MWR a true race condition test for the Daytona 500...so much for the little guys!

Terrible format for such a great event...

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TobaccoRoad on December 29, 2008 at 8:05am

Almost as bad as the BCS system for college football. I think the shootout needs a formula that nobody really understands.

Let's see: (Points finish + Ave. qualifying) / car number = Bud Shootout Points, higher the number the better. I think that formula will work for our guy!!

That aside you are right, the current system sucks.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by dawg on December 29, 2008 at 9:50am

We won't havt to worry about this next year. With Inbev buying AB, their probably won't be a Bud Shoot out next year. With sponsorship hard to find, if they can't replace Bud. It will probably just go away. Once they did away with the pole winners it pretty much sucked anyway. IMHO opinion, no big loss.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TOG on December 29, 2008 at 9:56am

taking away the luster of winning a pole was the most stupidest thing Nascar has done. One of my most memorable early Nascar moments was watching Ricky Rudd flip during the 1984 Busch Clash, LIVE on TV. This new format is pure filth, even if Robby made the race(had he been a Dodge still) . Earn your way in via a pole.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by IndyTim on December 29, 2008 at 10:01am

Yep....I don't think you should be able to be Champion without A). A Win B). A pole.....

Even Danica can sit on a Pole.........

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by BILL MORAN on December 29, 2008 at 10:04am

He could show up for the shootout in a dodge , and race the 500 in a toy if all is agreed upon BRILLENT FOR PR

and we all know this is not far fetched for RG

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Keith on December 29, 2008 at 10:32am

Over on SPEED, this has been knick-named "The BUTT Shootout".

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on December 29, 2008 at 11:51am

I seriously doubt The Shootout will go away. It kicks off the season and brings in too much money. Budweiser dropped the sponsorship of the pole award, but made sure they kept the sponsorship of the Shootout. Nascar can find another sponsor if necessary for this event easier than most sponsorship needs.

What will decide the ratings and popularity will be how they determine the lineup. Winning a pole was great for many years until drivers started dominating poles, then they added the drawings to fill spots. Then when Dale Jr didn't win a pole, Budweiser added previous winners of the shootout to have Junior locked in. Now with Khane, they've changed to the top 6 teams of each brand. As long as Dodge stays in Nascar, Khane is a lock (with only 7 teams).

In theory, you should have a great lineup...the Cup Champion guaranteed, and looking before all the changes a strong lineup equal to the ALL STAR race. The disaster is the rules didn't protect the lineup, instead it protected the owner's team. It also works as long as the 4 brands stay, if one bails out will they increase the other 3 brands by 2 spots each?

When you look after the all the changes the drivers that were removed from the lineup: Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Bobby Labonte, Clint Bowyer, Elliott Sadler, Robby Gordon. Those drivers are replaced by: Joey Logano, David Stremme, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, AJ Almendinger, #43 car driver (TBA). ... YIKES!

Budweiser will be happy since Khane is in the field, and if he wins then it will be considered a success regardless.

My biggest gripe is the rich getting richer theory...all the Top tier teams will get to use this race as a glorified test session for the Daytona 500. With testing eliminated this makes it even that much harder for smaller teams to win the race. The only multi car team that didn't get a car into the race is DEI (now DEI/Ganassi).

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Robby2Win7 on December 29, 2008 at 12:19pm

But look how well Robby has done the last few years at Daytona, having not run the Shootout or any type of testing........

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mario on December 29, 2008 at 1:12pm

I really don't see there being that much of an advantage of running the Shootout in preparation for the Daytona 500. Sure, the Shootout is run at night and there is a chance the Daytona 500 will end at night, but other than that there really isn't much that will give a team an advantage over those that don't run the Shootout. The Shootout this year is run in two segments (25 laps and 50 laps) with a 10 minute break between segments and it is 8 days before the 500. The Duel 150 races, in my opinion, are better at determining how a car will run on race day with 60 straight laps of racing during the day (when most of the 500 will be run) and is closer to the 500 so barring a major weather change, will probably be closer weather wise to the 500.

The biggest reason I don't see the Shootout giving that much of an advantage for the 500...RESTRICTOR PLATES. With NASCAR mandating restrictor plates, the cars are all bunched up anyways and anyone that is still around at the end and in the main pack has a shot at winning the race. Now, if the Shootout was at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Lowes Motor Speedway, or some other non-restrictor plate track, then I could see it possibly be more of a factor...but not at Daytona or Talladega.