BIGGER SHOOTOUT AT THE BUDWEISER CORRAL!
Historically the Budweiser Shootout was the pre-season, crowd pleasing event for all drivers who earned a pole position in the past season. It was a bit of high speed fun, a good way to get fans interested in NASCAR again, a week before the season opener, the Daytona 500.
This year NASCAR has opened the Shootout field to include the drivers that made it into the 2010 Chase, past Cup Series champions and past Bud Shootout champions, past Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 champions and all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year drivers from 2001 to the present day. This means that 30 drivers will be racing in the Bud Shootout.
Do we care? On one hand it is another step away from tradition for NASCAR, on the other hand it is only the Budweiser Shootout. Did drivers want to get a pole as it gave them the chance to race in the next years Shootout, or did they want to start tomorrow's race from the front of the pack? It's still a short race, still a crowd pleaser, still a pre-season warm up. It gives NASCAR the chance to see how the track / plate / tyre / aero package works before the 500, with the chance to tweak it before the big race.
To me the Budweiser Shootout is a bit of fun, nothing more, nothing less! As long as the Shootout remains a bit of fun, then the more the merrier!
WHATS YOUR POINT?
Rumours have it that from 2011 NASCAR drivers must choose which series in which they wish to earn championship points. No longer can a driver race in all three championships and earn drivers points in all three, from now you can only earn points in one. What effect will this have? Will it put Cup drivers off racing in the Nationwide or Truck series? Will it encourage the Nationwide only drivers, and put them at the top of the points charts, and back in in the limelight? I hope it does! Until NASCAR make an official announcment we can only speculate... and speculate we will!!
LOST AND FOUND!
Lost - Auto Club Speeday have lost 100 miles off of their only 2011 Cup Series race, making it 400 miles long. Found - New enthusiasm towards the Californian race?
You would hope that with a shorter race length would come a new sense of urgency in the race. Less laps means less time to sort your car out, less time to get to the front, and hopefully more excitement for the fans!
I think 400 miles should be the average NASCAR Cup Series race length. In my world I would have a few 500 mile races, including say Daytona, Darlington and Talladega, a few 500 lap races, Bristol and Martinsville for example, a 600 miler at Charlotte, and even a few 350's at some of the mile-and-a-half tracks, Pocono, and maybe even the second Martinsville race. The rest would be 400 miles long.
Shortening the Auto Club race is the first hint of the changes to come, and to keep us interested NASCAR will keep drip feeding the changes to us for as long as they can.
So NASCAR... if 2010 was "Have at it boys"... What's 2011... Bring it on!?
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