Stage is Set for 2008 Budweiser Shootout
February 9, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
With the drop of the green flag on the 2008 NASCAR season just hours away, this year’s Budweiser Shootout is already grabbing headlines all over the racing world. After the first practice session many fans had already suspected that things could turn ugly in this one rather quickly with the way the drivers were complaining about the handling of the cars. The main gripe was focused around the fact that the car formerly known as the “Car of Tomorrow” was extremely loose raising alarms for several teams since this is the first time the COT is being run at Daytona.
On the sixth practice lap yesterday, the teams’ worst fears came true when the no. 07 Chevrolet of Clint Bowyer made contact with the no. 12 Dodge of Ryan Newman. The contact sent Newman spinning down the backstretch and collecting the cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, David Gilliland, and Bill Elliott along the way. Also involved in the accident were former teammates Carl Edwards and Mark Martin who collided after avoiding the initial spill.
The damage sustained by the 8 teams involved in the accident were severe enough to cause them to all call on their backup cars for tonight’s event. As if that weren’t bad enough, though, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch decided to rekindle their fiery feud from last season shortly after the track reopened from the accident. Stewart and Busch made contact down the backstretch, and it was just enough to send Kurt spinning into the wall and Stewart spinning onto the apron. As the cars made their way down pit road, Busch banged the side of the no. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camri three times, instigating Stewart to block Busch’s entrance back into the garage area. This feud began at last year’s running of the Daytona 500 when they made contact while running 1-2 on the track, essentially taking them both out of the race.
The two drivers were immediately called down to the NASCAR hauler and then called in for a meeting at 5:00 am this morning. NASCAR official, Jim Hunter, reported to nascar.com that there have not yet been any fines or penalties issued, and the punishment for the two drivers remains to be determined, if any. “This is the NASCAR everybody fell in love with,” he said. So, the stage has been set for what is sure to be one of the most interesting and memorable Budweiser Shootouts in recent memory.
A good way for a couple of punks to get the year started.
Yeah, these two have been going at it forever now it seems. If they’re smart, they’ll keep plenty of distance between them at the 500.
Funny how that works, so many cry about how “vanilla” NASCAR has become, yet when two don’t play that game they are called “punks.”
The only reason they are punks is because they are
If someone get pissed they should retalate but is always seems these two are starting the shit.
I think the emotions that these two guys show on and off the track is an attribute to their passion for the sport. There are obviously boundaries that these guys need to stay within, and these two seem to cross those lines often – particularly Stewart – but, all in all, I believe the sport could use more guys like them.
There are a lot of those drivers out there but most know when to give and take a little stewart didn’t wreck busch on purpose and sure the hell didn’t want to tear his car up somtimes you gotta give a little and lets face it you really don’t want stewart mad this early in the season usally that means he’ll have a good season when in these kinds of situations.
Stewart’s best years have typically been those seasons that he’s made headlines off the track as well. As an avid fan of the #20, I should probably be rooting for him to continue the rest of the year like this!