5 Questions After ... Budweiser Shootout


We finally saw some racing last Saturday night, so it’s time to start spouting off at the mouth again! Oh, come on, you know you missed me! We saw fenders flyin’, engines dyin’, and grown men cryin’ (not really) during the weekend, and boy what a sight it was!




However, this crazy NASCAR chick has some questions!



What happened to Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports? … 2009’s strongest teams failed to deliver on Saturday night. Though all three of JGR’s cars finished in the top 10, all three hung around the back of the pack for most of the night. Hendrick Motorsports didn’t really make much noise either, unless you count the love tap Jeff Gordon gave Greg Biffle, causing the inevitable “Big One.” But does that really count?



Did anyone else get dĂ©jĂ  vu? … The race ended exactly the same way it did last year. Not only did it end under caution, but we had the same exact winner. You know what’s even stranger? Jamie McMurray finished 2nd last year. He finished 3rd this year. If it starts to rain during the 500 and Matt Kenseth is towards the front, I think I’m going to start preparing for the Apocalypse.



Did they finish all of their wrecking in practice? … The drivers only spent a total of 14 laps under caution (there were five yellow flags thrown all night). That’s pretty tame, considering the fact that a handful of drivers couldn’t even make it through practice without having to resort to a back-up car. Of course, was it really any surprise when the race actually ended under caution? I think not.



What was with all the confusion about the race ending under green? … Somebody didn’t get the memo! Apparently, it was SPEED Channel that informed us that the Budweiser Shootout was supposed to end under green. No word on why they thought that, but it certainly caused some confusion. It certainly begs the question though … shouldn’t the race be required to end under green anyways?



Did anyone notice I hadn’t mentioned Danica yet? … Darn! So close! Well now that I brought it up, it looks like she’ll be running the Daytona Nationwide race. I have to admit, she didn’t do too bad in the ARCA race. We’ll see how she does against some Cup guys.



Bonus questions: Is anyone already confused about qualifying? … Will Kevin Harvick let his teammates practice the car for him again? … Did anyone bring their umbrella? Looks like a wet Daytona!

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Photo courtesy of NASCARMedia. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
5 Questions After ... Budweiser Shootout 5 Questions After ... Budweiser Shootout Reviewed by Summer Dreyer on Tuesday, February 09, 2010 Rating: 5