Karah-Leigh Hancock
The 2010 NASCAR season is back in full gear, and everybody’s favorite drivers are back at Daytona International Speedway.
The Sprint Cup cars’ engines roared for the first time officially for the Budweiser Shootout practice on Thursday afternoon.
The Shootout, which will take place tonight, with coverage beginning on FOX at 8 p.m., is a 75-lap race.
Much like the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, the Shootout is split into two segments — a 25-lap segment and a 50-lap segment. The race is 187.5 miles in length.
For the second year in a row, NASCAR changed the criteria for drivers to be eligible for the Shootout. To be eligible to race in the Shootout, drivers must have either been one of the 12 drivers that qualified for the 2009 Chase, be a past Cup Series champion, be a past Budweiser Shootout champion, be a past Daytona points race winner or the reigning Rookie of the Year.
Of all the drivers making the shootout this year, Mark Martin has the most experience, having been in the race 22 times. Juan Pablo Montoya will be the Shootout newbie, making his first appearance in the non-points race.
On the pole for tonight’s race is Carl Edwards.
Drivers chose their starting positions Thursday night by picking various Budweiser bottles on stage before fans. In the bottle was a flag with a number on it.
Edwards was the lucky driver to pick the bottle with the word “pole” written on it, earning him the pole position.
Look for Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth to be strong during the race. All were near the top of the charts during both Shootout practices.
Before the drivers strap in to race each other in the Budweiser Shootout, they will do something different.
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 will be held before the Budweiser Shootout, starting at 1:05 p.m. on FOX, due to the Super Bowl taking place the next day.
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is a bit different than any of the usual races.
The two laps they run today will determine who sits on the front row for the Daytona 500 next Sunday. The other positions will determine the order for the Gatorade Duels that take place Wednesday afternoon.
In Friday’s Daytona 500 practice, only 46 of 80 laps were raced due to rain, and the second practice was canceled. Out of the laps that were practice, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest, followed by Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott.
After Daytona 500 qualifying takes place, Indy Racing League superstar Danica Patrick will make her stock car driving debut in the ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 race. She qualified 12th for the race.
During NASCAR Media Day on Thursday, which kicks off Speedweeks, the media bombarded Patrick about potentially making her NASCAR debut in next Saturday’s Nationwide race.
If everything goes smoothly for her today, Patrick will announce Monday whether she will be driving a Nationwide car for JR Motorsports (Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s racing team) next weekend.
