The first race of the NASCAR season is a non-points exhibition race, the Bud Shootout. The Shootout is one of the two non-point Sprint Cup events during the NASCAR season (the other is the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway in May.) The race takes place at Daytona International Speedway the weekend before the Daytona 500.
The race started in 1979 as the Busch Clash. In 1998 the name was changed to the Bud Shootout. The "official name" was changed to the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in 2001, but is still known to one and all as simply the Bud Shootout. Over the years NASCAR has tinkered with the format of the race and the qualifications for entry.
2009 Update: The Bud Shootout will be around at least three more years after Budweiser extended their sponsorship with NASCAR, but the Pole Award is now being sponsored by a rival brewing company (Coors), necessitating a change in the Bud Shootout which had featured the Bud Pole Award winners in recent years. The new format puts the spotlight on the manufacturers: 28 teams will be in the race, the top six teams from each of the four manufacturers based on owners' points and a "wild card" entry that must meet certain criteria. The "wild card" entry can be a past Sprint Cup champion who attempted to qualify for all 36 races last year, or it must be the seventh place car in owner points from the manufacturer. If the seventh place car is no longer active, the next car in owner points would be designated. The race was also increased from 70 to 75 laps with segments of 25 and 50 laps around a 10-minute intermission.
2010 Update: By the start of the 2010 season, Dodge was down to just three Cup drivers, the Penske Racing organization. As this would limit the size of the field, NASCAR decided to put the focus on past Daytona winners -- all past Shootout and Daytona Cup race winners would be eligible to compete in the 2010 race, along with all former Cup champions and the reigning Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
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