Here we go again. For the second time in three year, the qualification requirements for the Budweiser Shootout were changed again. The opening race of Speedweeks was once only a field of the previous years Bud Pole Award winners and previous Shootout winners. But in 2008, when Coors Light began to sponsor the pole award for NASCAR's premiere series, the format for the race was changed.
Instead of allowing Coors Pole winners in the Bud Shootout, NASCAR decided to allow the top six cars from each of the four manufacturers from the 2008 owner points. Later, they added a wildcard seventh driver who was either a past champion or the next highest car for that manufacturer in the owner standings. This led to a twenty eight car field, which lead many fans and drivers to question where the exclusivity the event once possessed had gone.
Now, in 2010, a new format has been thought up to create more of an emphasis on drivers who have performed well at Daytona through the years. Now the field will include the twelve Chase drivers and rookie of the year from 2009, as well as past Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 and Bud Shootout winners. Past series champions are also admitted into the 2010 season's inaugural event.
This would be a good setup, if there were more drivers with jobs in the field. NASCAR got what they wanted and got Dale Jr in the show as a past winner (he was twenty fifth in points and would have been out with the top six format), but they excluded several competitive drivers in the process. Drivers who won races and had a strong 2009 are now forced to watch at home. Coke 600 winner David Reutimann, the "Tasmanian Devil" Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex, Jr, Elliott Sadler and other competitive drivers will be replaced with drivers like Derrike Cope, Geoff Bodine, John Andretti, Terry Labonte and Sterling Marlin who have not run a cup race in several years. Cope's last win was in 1990 and Bodine hasn't run a Cup event since Dover in 2004. So why should they get to race over a proven winner like Reutimann or a hot shoe like Ambrose? Having guys like Jeff Burton and Michael Waltrip in the race is exciting because they will actually contend for the win, but digging up has-beens like Andretti, Bodine and Cope to help raise the level of competition has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've seen NASCAR come up with in some time. Absolutely unbelievable.
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