DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - The Budweiser Shootout has the proper
name.... a Shootout.... anybody's race.... A
no-holds-barred, fistfight with stock cars..... NASCAR stock
cars. Whoowee.... What a race! And what a finish.
After a caution fell with just six laps remaining, the
second of the race for Michael Waltrip, who was turned
sideways by Ryan Newman, the stage was set for a spectacular
finish and America's best professional race drivers didn't
disappoint a huge crowd. Kevin Harvick, sidelined with
the flu for a week leading up to Saturday night's race at
Daytona International Speedway, won the race, taking the
lead with just two laps remaining. The race actually
ended under caution when Greg Biffle's car had a flat tire
to trigger an eight-car pileup behind winner Harvick,
runner-up Kasey Kahne and third-place finisher Jamie
McMurray. Just before the race, Harvick, who had never
run a lap in his car before strapping in for the race, told
a national FOX network television audience, "I'll earn my
paycheck tonight." And that he did. Harvick ran in
front or close to it the entire final 50 laps of the 75-lap
race and held off some stirring challenges by Tony Stewart
and McMurray, as well as a pack of other snarling drivers,
who bumped and banged each other all night. The night might
have been a chilly one but the action was hot and heated.
Carl Edwards appeared to be the car to beat, dominating
the first 25 laps, but he was shuffled out of line with
about 30 laps to go and was eventually involved in the crash
at the end. The win for Harvick and his Shell-sponsored
Richard Childress Chevrolet team was his second in as many
years and was worth $200,000. Rounding out the top 10
behind Harvick, Kahne and McMurray were Kyle Busch, Denny
Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Brian Vickers, Stewart and
Montoya. Pole-sitter Edwards led the first lap of the
25-lap opening segment with Vickers on his bumper in the Red
Bull Toyota. After just a few laps, the cars were
bunched like bananas as they darted and diced around the
bumpy, two-and-a-half mile, high-banked, tri-oval.
Edwards continued to lead after 10 laps with Harvick running
second and Stewart third. Trailing that trio was Jimmie
Johnson, Kahne, Biffle, Vickers, McMurray, Earnhardt Jr. and
Kenseth. Johnson, who started 16th, slipped silently
forward as he has done so often during the past four seasons
when he captured the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship an
unprecedented four years in a row. At 20 laps, Stewart
was challenging Edwards with a push from Kahne. Meanwhile,
Harvick was shoving Edwards as the four cars battled lap
after lap, side by side, inches apart. The racing was
unbelievable with the biggest carburetor restrictor plate
since ol’ D.W. (Darrell Waltrip) won the Daytona 500 in
1989. By the time they reached the 25-lap intermission
point, when Michael Waltrip brought out the night's first
caution with a spin out of Turn 2, it was Edwards still in
front with Stewart a close second. Kahne was next followed
by McMurray, Harvick, Vickers, Johnson, Biffle, Burton and
Gordon. Although it wasn't easy, Edwards was the
official leader of every one of the first 25 laps. Stewart
actually challenged Edwards just about every lap towards the
end of the first segment, but Edwards held him off at the
start/finish line where official lead changes are recorded.
