CUP: Rain Ends Second Shootout Practice

Sprint Cup

CUP: Rain Ends Second Shootout Practice

Second of two Budweiser Shootout practices shortened by rain…

Mike Hembree | Posted February 17, 2012 Daytona Beach, FL

Jamie McMurray is a past winner at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images)

Evening rain shortened Friday’s second practice for Sprint Cup drivers entered in Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.

Drivers ran only a few minutes into the scheduled one-hour practice before a heavy mist forced NASCAR to red-flag the session. Jet dryers circled the track for a while, but officials soon cancelled the rest of the session.

Jamie McMurray led the brief session with a speed of 197.698 miles per hour. Juan Pablo Montoya, McMurray’s teammate, was second at 197.694.

The practice was the last before Saturday night’s Shootout, a 75-lap race that will mark the first competition of the 2012 season.

The race will be split into segments of 25 and 50 laps, with a 10-minute “pit session” scheduled between the segments.

The Shootout began in 1979 as a sprint race for pole winners from the previous season. Buddy Baker won the first race. The format and eligibility requirements have changed many times over the years.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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