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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: A Happy Ending
The Budweiser Shootout at Daytona was exactly what the doctor ordered for a NASCAR community that spent the winter mired in economic bad news...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 07, 2009   Daytona Beach, FL
Kevin Harvick wheels the No. 29 Chevrolet to the checkered flag as the yellow comes out to win the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. (Photo: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway was exactly what the doctor ordered for a NASCAR community that spent the winter mired in economic bad news and grave concerns about sponsors, fans and car counts.

Once the green flag fell under a cool, clear Florida sky, all the bad news was wiped out in a thrilling battle that proved to be a classic Saturday night shootout in every sense. Ultimately, Kevin Harvick prevailed in a case of déjà vu all over again, making a frenetic end-of-the-race charge eerily reminiscent of his 2007 Daytona 500 victory over Mark Martin. In the process, Harvick ended a 71-race winless streak, as he put his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Impala SS into victory lane.

BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT RESULTS

All told, the 75-lap race featured a record 14 leaders and 23 lead changes, a smattering of crashes and the kind of intense, live-wire competition that seemed to have the entire 28-car field on the edge of calamity with every single lap. In short, it was a compelling way to kick off the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and a badly needed boost in these perilous economic times.

There were great storylines — Harvick making his late race charge in a green-white-checkered finish, Jamie McMurray’s Roush Fenway Racing Ford dominating the closing stages of the race before being relegated to the runner-up spot and Tony Stewart scoring a hard-earned third-place finish in the maiden race of his Stewart-Haas Racing team.

TOM JENSEN BLOG: This Bud's For You

Along with the thrill of victory, came the inevitable agony of defeat for a whole host of drivers. Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates Scott Speed and Joey Logano were taken out in an early race crash not of their own making. After blowing an engine Friday night in practice, Jeff Burton got knocked out in a wreck, too, as did Dale Earnhardt Jr., pole-sitter Paul Menard and others. Poor Greg Biffle got turned around by other drivers no less than three separate times.


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