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Photos credited to Getty Images / Kurt Busch wins the Bud Shootout Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach for the first time on the newly repaved track.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Newly repaved track. Same old crashes in Saturday's 33rd running of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway..
Kurt Busch was certainly thrilled in racing to the finish line over 2010 Daytona 500 champ Jamie McMurray in yet another thriller that featured "the big one" that is a staple of restrictor-plate racing at Daytona in a crash-marred pile up that that took out six cars, including pole-sitter and fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR / A six-car accident brings out the second caution of the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.And Saturday's race may be a precursor to next Sunday's Daytona 500, cars running in tandem with the lead car depending on the rear driver literally on the bumper to get the needed push to stay upfront.
The track was repaved in the offseason for the first time since 1977 after last year's Daytona 500 was interrupted by a major pothole that required patching.
The victory marks Busch's first restrictor-plate win, the first time Dodge has visited Gatorade Victory Lane in the star-studded race and the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on the speedway's new asphalt.
"To experience victory lane here, no matter what the race is, is very special," Busch said. "I just have to thank Jamie McMurray; he stuck with us. He had an unbelievable amount of power to push us and kept us in the mix. When you have a friend like that, that's what it takes."
Busch was pushed to the lead by defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray, who finished second after Denny Hamlin was relegated to 12th place for passing below the yellow line coming to the checkered flag.
Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 champion, led the last 12 laps and rounded out the top three.
Pole-sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr., clearly the Daytona crowd's favorite, got caught up in a crash with several cars bunched up and trying for the same spot. Despite the disappointing 18th=place finish, Earnhardt described the non-points trace as "fun."
Jeff Burton, who led the race at the end of the first segment and finished eighth overall, led a race-high 32 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drew the pole position, was caught up in a multi-car incident which brought out the race's second caution of the night. He finished 19th.
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The 75-lap race included eight former Daytona 500 champions who have a combined 11 victories in "The Great American Race." Nine drivers exchanged the lead a record-breaking 28 times.
FAST FACTS
The Budweiser Shootout is a star-studded, non-points race that kicks off the season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The race is broken up into two segments of 25 and 50 laps, respectively, with a 10-minute break in between. The field is comprised of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions, the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year drivers from 2001-2010 and previous winners at the "World Center of Racing." The starting positions for the 24-car field were determined by a blind draw at the annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party.