More Drivers Eligible for NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout

Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

Fans who make it to NASCAR's first event of 2011 -- the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race held a week before the season-opening Daytona 500 -- might want to keep a program nearby.

Feb. 12's Shootout, firmly removed from its days of featuring only the previous season's pole winners, got its sixth change in the past 13 years Friday when NASCAR announced the eligible drivers for the 75-lap race.

It'll include those you would imagine -- all 12 of last year's Chase for the Sprint Cup qualifiers -- and a few others, too, including past NASCAR Sprint Cup champions, past Shootout winners, past winners at Daytona and the Rookie of the Year winners from 2001-2010.

Yep, say hello to last year's de facto rookie of the year Kevin Conway in the Budweiser Shootout.

"When you take a look at the field for this year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, it's loaded with all-star caliber drivers," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, in the press release revealing the expanded field.

 

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