Shootout full of two-car drama

In 33 years the Bud Shootout has never seen so many lead changes. Two-car packs made the Budweiser Shootout a rather bland display of racing at Daytona. Big packs of the past that were familiar at Daytona have been replaced by two-car tandems that reached speeds of nearly 207 mph.

Kurt Busch won the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday evening, beating Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman back to the line. It was one of 28 lead changes on the evening.

“I want to thank my engine department: Jamie McMurray,” Busch said in victory lane.

But the finish didn’t come without some controversy. After all, it’s Daytona.

Coming off the fourth turn, Busch was third behind Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin. Hamlin ducked out behind Newman and passed Newman’s No. 39. NASCAR deemed the pass to be illegal since Hamlin’s car dropped beneath the double yellow line that NASCAR deems out of bounds.

“I knew I was a sitting duck,” Newman said. “I knew it was going to happen off of four. I just didn’t know where [Hamlin] was going to go.”

“It just worked out that I got behind Kurt,” McMurray said. “I’m glad I could push him to the win.”

Two-car packs also dominated the first 25 laps of the event. Jeff Burton won the segment, being pushed by his Richard Childress Racing teammate, two-time defending Shootout champ Kevin Harvick.

A six-car incident caused the night’s first yellow. Carl Edwards and Regan Smith came up too quickly on Dale Jr., causing the polesitter to slam the outside wall. The wreck also caught Kevin Conway, Joey Logano and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Two laps later Mark Martin got into Kyle Busch at the entrance of turn one and spun Busch’s Toyota around.

“I turned Kyle around I have no idea why or how that happened,” Martin said on FOX. “Everything was good, we went into turn one and he just went around…I can’t figure out why that happened.”

This was Martin’s 23rd start in the Bud Shootout, tying him for the most Shootout appearances of all time with Bill Elliott—who was eligible to run but didn’t race.

The win was Busch’s first win on a restrictor plate track. However, if Busch wants to win the Daytona 500 in one week, he might not want to look at the history books. Only five Shootout winners have gone on to win the Daytona 500.