2009 Budweiser Shootout
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 2 Exhibition Races in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
 | |||
| Date | February 7, 2009 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km) | ||
| Distance | 78 laps, 195 mi (313.822 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 75 laps, 187.5 mi (301.752 km) | ||
| Average speed | 168.564 miles per hour (271.277 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Yates Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 23 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Network | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds | ||
The 2009 Budweiser Shootout was a special non-points race that officially opened the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on Saturday night, February 7 of that year at the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was btelecast by Fox, with radio broadcasting being done by Motor Racing Network (over-the-air) and Sirius XM Radio. Kevin Harvick won the race in a very similar finish to that of the 2007 Daytona 500, which was also won by Harvick.
Format change
Pole winners to manufacturers
In previous years, the InBev sponsorship of the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series allowed previous winners of the pole position in time trials of all races not cancelled due to weather to compete in a race. When Molson Coors took over title sponsorship of these events, the company was forced to make a change for the 2009 event.
The new format, announced in August of 2008 by the Belgium brewer and sponsor of the race, will reward manufacturers of the automobiles in the top stock car series in the United States – Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota – to place the top six teams for each of their brands based on the final 2008 Owners Points standings.
On January 16, 2009, it was announced that each manufacturer would receive a "wild card" entry to be awarded to the most recent Sprint Cup champion that had attempted to qualify for every race in the preceding year. If no driver qualifies for the wild card, it is awarded to the next car in owner's points for each manufacturer.
The results:
| Position | Car No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 3 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 5 | 44 | A.J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Dodge |
| 6 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Richard Petty Motorsports | Dodge |
| 7 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 8 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 9 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Penske Championship Racing | Dodge |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 11 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota |
| 12 | 98 | Paul Menard | Yates Racing | Ford |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 15 | 07 | Casey Mears | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 16 | 12 | David Stremme | Penske Championship Racing | Dodge |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 19 | 96 | Bobby Labonte | Hall of Fame Racing | Ford |
| 20 | 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Richard Petty Motorsports | Dodge |
| 22 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
| 23 | 43 | Reed Sorenson | Richard Petty Motorsports | Dodge |
| 24 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 25 | 82 | Scott Speed | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota |
| 26 | 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 27 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Dodge |
| 28 | 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
Race format change
Also altered for the 2009 race was the number of laps being run. The first segment, previously 20 laps (50 miles (80 km)) became a 25-lap (62.5 miles (100.6 km)) segment. The second segment of 50 laps (125 miles (201 km)) and other elements (such as the blind draw invert for the pole position) remained unchanged.