Budweiser Shootout Facts

by Mike Forde

NASCAR Media Services

Budweiser Shootout at Daytona Tidbits
· The number of participants has ranged from a low of seven in 1981 to a high of 28 in 2009.

The drivers with the most Budweiser Shootout appearances:
* Bill Elliott (23)
* Mark Martin (21)
* Rusty Wallace (19)
* Ken Schrader (18)
* Geoffrey Bodine (16)
* Ricky Rudd (16)
* Jeff Gordon (16)
* Mark Martin had appeared in the most consecutive Budweiser Shootout races, competing in 20 consecutive events from 1989-2008. The active leader in consecutive appearances is Jeff Gordon, with 16. This year marks his 17th.

There have been seven multiple winners in the Budweiser Shootout:
* Tony Stewart has won three of the last nine (2001, 2002 and 2007).
* Dale Earnhardt won six events, most all-time.
* Dale Jarrett won in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
* Other multiple winners: Neil Bonnett (1983 and 1984), Ken Schrader, (1989 and 1990), Jeff Gordon (1994 and 1997) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003 and 2008).
* Bonnett, Schrader and Stewart are the only drivers to win back-to-back races.
* Buddy Baker (1979), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Jeff Gordon (1994), Dale Jarrett (1996) and Denny Hamlin (2006) all won the first Budweiser Shootout in which they competed.

Only five times in the 31-year history of the race has the winner gone on to win the Daytona 500:

* Bobby Allison (1982)
* Bill Elliott (1987)
* Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000)
* Jeff Gordon (1997)
* There have been three winners from the pole: Darrell Waltrip (1981), Bill Elliott (1987) and Ken Schrader (1989).

Budweiser Shootout Manufacturer Recap
Manufacturer Victories Last Victory
* Chevrolet - 18 wins, last in 2009 – Kevin Harvick
* Ford - 7 wins, last in 2004 – Dale Jarrett
* Buick - 2 wins, last in 1982 – Bobby Allison
* Oldsmobile - 2 wins, last in 1980 – Dale Earnhardt
* Pontiac - 2 wins, last in 2002 – Tony Stewart

By the Numbers: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona
.08 –Margin of victory in seconds by Dale Earnhardt over Sterling Marlin in 1995, the closest margin in
1 – Laps led by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Dale Jarrett (2004) and Kevin Harvick (2009) in the Budweiser Shootouts they won
2.75 – Average finish by Dale Earnhardt, best by any driver with multiple starts
5 – Drivers who have won the event in their first appearance (Buddy Baker, 1979; Dale Earnhardt, 1980; Jeff Gordon, 1994; Dale Jarrett, 1996; Denny Hamlin, 2006)
14 – Number of different leaders in last season’s event, most since race began in 1979
19 –Starting position of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2003, the lowest starting position of a Budweiser Shootout race-winner
23 – Number of lead changes in last season’s event, highest number since race began in 1979
27 – Kevin Harvick’s starting position last season, the lowest by a race winner in the event’s history
28 – Number of participants in 2009, the largest field in the event’s history
44 – Laps led by Greg Biffle in 2005, the most by a driver who did not win the event
47 – Laps led by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008, the most in a single Budweiser Shootout