Monday, February 13, 2012

2012 Budweiser Shootout Odds & Ends

Budweiser Shootout Facts
Kurt Busch won last years Bud Shootout by the closest margin ever (Getty)

* The number of participants has ranged from a low of seven in 1981 to a high of 28 in 2009 (25 are entered for this year’s event).

* The drivers with the most Shootout appearances:
o Bill Elliott (23)
o Mark Martin (23)
o Rusty Wallace (19)
o Ken Schrader (19)
o Jeff Gordon (18)

* Mark Martin had appeared in the most consecutive Shootout races, competing in 20 consecutive events from 1989-2008. The active leader in consecutive appearances is Jeff Gordon, with 18. This year marks his 19th.

* There have been eight multiple winners in the Shootout:
o Tony Stewart has won three of the last 10 (2001, 2002 and 2007).
o Dale Earnhardt won six events, most all-time (1980, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995).
o Dale Jarrett won in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
o Other multiple winners: Neil Bonnett (1983-1984), Ken Schrader, (1989-1990), Jeff Gordon (1994 and 1997), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2003 and 2008) and Kevin Harvick (2009-2010).
o Bonnett, Schrader, Stewart and Harvick are the only drivers to win back-to-back races. No driver has ever won three consecutive Shootouts.

* Buddy Baker (1979), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Jeff Gordon (1994), Dale Jarrett (1996) and Denny Hamlin (2006) all won the first Shootout in which they competed.

* Only five times in the 32-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).

* Two drivers have swept the Shootout, Daytona 500 pole and Daytona 500 from 1979-2010: Dale Jarrett (2000) and Bill Elliott (1987).

* One driver has swept the Shootout, Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400 from 1979-2011: Bobby Allison (1982).

* Seven drivers have won the Shootout (1979-2011) and the same season’s championship. Dale Earnhardt is the only one to have accomplished it multiple times – four times:
Tony Stewart (2002)
Jeff Gordon (1997)
Dale Earnhardt (1993)
Dale Earnhardt (1991)
Dale Earnhardt (1986)
Darrell Waltrip (1981)
Dale Earnhardt (1980)

* Four drivers have won consecutive Shootouts (1979-2010). None went on to win that year’s Daytona 500:
Kevin Harvick (2009-10)
Tony Stewart (2000-01)
Ken Schrader (1990-91)
Neil Bonnett (1983-84)

By the Numbers: Shootout at Daytona
.058 –Margin of victory in seconds by Kurt Busch over Jamie McMurray in 2011, the closest margin in Shootout history
1 – Laps led by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Dale Jarrett (2000 and 2004) and Kevin Harvick (2009) in the 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)
6 – Number of Shootout wins by Dale Earnhardt, the series leader
7 – Number of fewest starters in the field for the Shootout (1981)
11 – Number of starts before winning, most since race began in 1979 (Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin)
14 – Number of different leaders in the 2009 event, most since race began in 1979
19 – Number of wins by Chevrolet in the Shootout, leads all manufacturers
27 – Kevin Harvick’s starting position in 2009, the lowest by a race winner in the event’s history
28 – Number of lead changes in the 2011 event, highest number since race began in 1979
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 Shootout
98 – Number of all-time laps led in the Shootout (1979-2011) held by Dale Earnhardt

- compiled by Ray M. Smith, NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications

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