Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. — Talk about a shootout. They’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

Kevin Harvick drove his Richard Childress Chevrolet to the front of the field on the very last lap Saturday night to capture one of the wildest Budweiser Shootouts in the history of Daytona International Speedway.

Harvick cruised across the finish line after a split-second crash behind him and runner-up Jamie McMurray wiped out a group of contenders, including defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson, contenders Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers, as well as Casey Mears and pole-sitter Paul Menard.

Harvick credited a late-race strategic call by RCR crew chief Todd Berrier and the never-say-die attitude displayed by his crew.

“We came in and put tires on with I don’t know how many laps to go.” Harvick explained. “I got a little bit behind there early. Michael Waltrip had a flat tire. He blew up or something. I like lost the draft and just came back up through there and I was thinking the same thing. Man, we won a Daytona 500 this exact same way by just never giving up. I want to thank Shell and Pennzoil and Chevrolet and all these people that help us on this No. 29 car. These guys and the fans, I mean man, if that’s not fun to watch, I don’t know what is.”

The stage was set for a 190-mile-an-hour showdown. when a caution fell with three laps remaining in the two-part 75-lap race. David Stremme nipped Greg Biffle coming out of turn four sending Biffle into the outside wall. Biffle had to realize it just wasn’t his night since he had been a victim of several other miscues by various drivers earlier in the race.

When the green flag fell for a green/white/checkered finish, McMurray was leading with Harvick second. Harvick ducked low coming out of turn two on the final lap and passed McMurray.

“I saw the 29 coming, I moved up and I thought I was high enough.” McMurray recounted in post-race interview. “I didn’t think there was room between him and the wall and he just snuck in there. You feel like a sucker when you’re in the front of this deal. You get away from the guy so much in the corner that you have to drag the brake a little bit to try to keep him close enough, but when you get the white flag it’s hard to drag the brake. I guess I didn’t slow down enough and they got a big run down the backstretch.”

By the time Harvick got to turn three, all heck broke loose behind him.

Johnson was tapped by someone, who was tapped by someone else and the next thing you knew, cars were spinning all over the place with smoke covering the track like a late-night campfire. When it cleared, the bright yellow No. 29 of Harvick was home free.

Trailing the winner and runnerup was Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, two former champions who gave it their all to win. AJ Allmindinger was fifth, followed by Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch.

This was one of those races you absolutely had to watch every minute of every lap because drivers swapped the lead faster than you can imagine.

Lap 26, Edwards leads. A couple of laps later, Kahne’s in front. Then Gordon takes the lead. Then McMurray. Next thing you know, Hamlin’s out front. Then Kyle Busch. Then fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. streaks to the front.

The lead changed so fast, the announcers had a hard time talking that fast.

Matt Kenseth took a turn in front, as did Vickers, until it came down to the end. It was a night every manufacturer could brag a little about because every different make had its moment at the front of the pack.

Paul Menard drew the pole position for the start of the two-segment, non-points race. Menard, however, fell back after one lap in front, and Denny Hamlin charged to the lead.

The fireworks started on lap four when cars checked up in front of David Ragan, who was turned sideways, triggering a multi-car spin that involved Mears, Robby Gordon, Joey Logano, Scott Speed and Greg Biffle.

Gordon took responsibilty for causing he accident. “I don’t know what happened. It looked like the 48 was in front of the 6. He (Ragan) ducked down to go three-wide. He might have checked up. I got into the back of him and just didn’t see the closing speed…my fault.”

Logano, Robbie Gordon and Ragan were done for the night.

“I’m very disappointed.” Regan told reporters in the garage area , as his No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion was being loaded onto the Roush Fenway Racing team hauler. “Our UPS Ford was fine the first few laps and someone on the outside just got checked up and it was a chain reaction. I don’t know who was behind me, I think it was the 7, but wasn’t really paying attention and just drove into the back of us and kind of made a mess.”

Logano, the Joe Gibbs Racing prototge, was obviously and equally disappointend by his efforts coming to such an abrupt end, as gathering all-important seat-time was the goal of the No. 20 Home Depot team and the driver.

“It’s tough — you start in the back and that’s kind of what happens.” said the young New Jersey native. “Just saw one get loose, checked up and then saw he was coming down so I floored ahead to the apron and just clipped me enough to send me back head-on into the wall. Its tough for the whole Home Depot bunch — they try hard. I felt like we had a decent car for the first couple laps. I was just trying to get a feel for it before we went up there and mixed it up with everyone. It sucks — it’s too early. Nowhere to go in that situation — I didn’t get to learn much at all with only five or six laps into it.”

Jeff Gordon zig-zagged through the accident, moving his DuPont Chevy back and forth dodging cars like he was playing hopscotch on the high-banked pavement.

The race restarted on Lap 8 with Earnhardt out front. He was followed by Elliott Sadler on the outside and Hamlin on the inside. Sadler broke free and went to the front on Lap 10 with Hamlin in tow.

Kurt Busch was next with Tony Stewart fourth. Stewart took the lead on lap 13 and Carl Edwards had roared into second.

NASCAR’s best drivers were duking it out as though it were the last lap of the Daytona 500 and the fans were loving it.

By Lap 17, Edwards was in front with Hamlin second. Allmindinger shoved his Dodge into the second spot a couple of laps later, and Johnson drove his Chevy into the ring, moving from back in the pack to third place. Jeff Gordon was in fourth.

McMurray showed his hand on Lap 21 by moving into the top five.

On Lap 22, Hamlin made contact with David Reutimann, who gathered up David Stremme. Both Reutimann and Stremme plowed sideways off through the dirt on the inside of the backstretch but managed to keep their machines off the retaining wall.

At the end of the first segment at 25 laps, Edwards was first with McMurray second. Johnson was third, followed by Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Vickers, Gordon, Allmindinger and Earnhardt.

Race Fast Facts
Daytona International Speedway
Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
Age: 33
Team : No. 29 - Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet
Owner: Richard Childress
Crew Chief: Todd Berrier
Kevin Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona his first victory in five appearances in the pre-season event.
This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in the Budweiser Shootout.
Jamie McMurray (second) posted his second top-10 and his best ever finish in four Budweiser Shootouts.
Tony Stewart (third) posted his eighth top-five finish in 10 Budweiser Shootouts.
The 23 lead changes and 14 leaders both set records for the Budweiser Shootout.

Unofficial Race Results for the Budweiser Shootout - Saturday, February 7, 2009
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 78 Laps - 195 Miles - Purse: $1,217,154

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Winnings Status Times Laps
1 27 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 78 $200,000 Running 1 1
2 15 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 78 $100,000 Running 4 16
3 6 14 Tony Stewart Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet 78 $60,000 Running 1 4
4 28 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 78 $51,000 Running 2 2
5 18 44 A J Allmendinger Valvoline Dodge 78 $50,000 Running
6 14 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 78 $49,000 Running 1 2
7 11 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 78 $47,000 Running 2 11
8 25 17 Matt Kenseth DEWALT Ford 78 $45,000 Running 1 1
9 12 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 78 $43,000 Running
10 10 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 78 $41,500 Running 2 6
11 7 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 78 $41,000 Running 1 2
12 1 98 Paul Menard Menards/Quaker State Ford 78 $40,500 Running 1 2
13 5 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 78 $40,000 Running 2 4
14 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 77 $38,500 Accident 1 2
15 24 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 77 $38,000 Accident
16 20 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 73 $37,000 Accident
17 26 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 72 $35,000 Accident
18 9 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet 64 $33,000 Accident 4 23
19 8 96 Bobby Labonte Ask.com Ford 63 $30,000 Accident
20 22 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 56 $28,000 Accident
21 2 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 54 $26,000 Accident 1 2
22 17 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 43 $25,000 Accident
23 3 43 Reed Sorenson McDonald’s Dodge 36 $23,500 Engine
24 23 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 32 $21,000 Accident
25 4 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 4 $20,000 Accident
26 16 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 3 $19,000 Accident
27 13 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Dodge 3 $18,000 Accident
28 19 20 Joey Logano # Home Depot Toyota 3 $17,154 Accident
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 80,000 - Kevin Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, his first career victory in the pre-season special event. Prior to the green flag the following drivers dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #20 Logano (missed drivers meeting); #31 Burton (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 31 Mins, 57 Secs. Average Speed: 127.243 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 8 for 23 laps: Laps: 5-8 (#6,7,20,82 accident turn 3 [None]); 24-25 (#00,12 accident backstretch [None]); 33-35 (#16,31 accident turn 2 [None]); 38-40 (Oil on track [None]); 56-58 (#00,12,19 accident frontstretch [None]); 65-68 (#16,88,96,98 accident turn 4 [None]); 74-76 (#12,16,00 accident turn 4 [None]); 78-78 (#07,11,18,48 accident turn 4 [None]).
Lead Changes: 23 among 14 drivers: P. Menard 1-2; D. Hamlin 3; D. Earnhardt Jr 4-10; E. Sadler 11-12; T. Stewart 13-16; C. Edwards 17-25; J. McMurray 26; K. Kahne 27-28; J. McMurray 29; J. Gordon 30; J. McMurray 31-32; D. Hamlin 33-35; Kyle Busch 36-40; D. Earnhardt Jr 41-49; M. Kenseth 50; D. Earnhardt Jr 51-56; C. Edwards 57-58; Kyle Busch 59; D. Earnhardt Jr 60; J. Gordon 61; J. Johnson 62-63; B. Vickers 64-65; J. McMurray 66-77; K. Harvick 78;
Next Race: Feb. 15, 2009 - Daytona 500