Tonight, the NASCAR season has its unofficial start with the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Despite the end of pre-Daytona 500 testing, NASCAR’s gotten plenty of ink in the lead-up to Speedweeks.
Most of it has involved the new format of the Shootout. And when you have multiple stars, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., come out and say they hate it, people are gonna listen (especially to Junior) and writers are gonna write.
Meanwhile, the IndyCar world is slowly starting to come out of a deafening quiet. The whole “Milka Duno to Newman/Haas/Lanigan” rumor that Robin Miller threw up earlier this week got fans riled up. If they were in off-season hiberation, they’ve been roused awake thanks to that particular doozy…Â More info
In a blast from the past that will almost certainly wake up the echoes, ’85 and ’87 Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott was fastest Saturday in two Sprint Cup practice sessions at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott, 53, ran 187.645 mph in the morning session and 187.950 in the afternoon session on Saturday. The ’88 Cup champion and one of the sport’s most popular drivers is running a limited schedule this year for Ford-based Wood Brothers Racing…. More info
 record field of 28 Sprint Cup cars will start Saturday’s NASCAR Budweiser Shootout, with a new format for the nonpoints race that favors car manufacturers over pole winners.
The made-for-TV race that began 31 years ago is the unofficial opener for the Sprint Cup series at Daytona International Speedway. In the past, the race honored the previous year’s pole winners and former winners of the Shootout.
NASCAR changed the format after Coors replaced Budweiser as sponsor of the Cup pole award before last season. Budweiser wanted to continue sponsoring the Shootout, and the tie-in to pole winners no longer was a good fit…Â More info
To Jimmie Johnson, the elimination of preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway means the 2009 season should begin much the same way the ’08 season ended. Considering last season concluded with his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, that’s fine with Johnson.
“I think the start of the season, you’ll see the usual suspects up front,” said Johnson, whose quest for four in a row begins today with the opening of practice for the Feb. 15 Daytona 500. “It’s going to be more difficult for teams to close that gap without being able to go test.” … More info