Sprint Unlimited
It's hard to talk about Daytona without talking about Dale Earnhardt....with 37 wins between the two top series at the track he was synonymous with Daytona. BUT my goal here is not to talk about any one driver in the first post(the next one is on the duels where I will focus on a driver) my goal here is to talk about the race...the first race of the year...the race for pole winners...the race formally known as the Bud Shootout but now known as the Sprint Unlimited.
History:
Before you think this is gonna be some kinda report it's not...just some information.
Originally called the Busch Clash, then the Budweiser shootout, now the Sprint Unlimited, this is the race for drivers who have won poles in the previous year or have won this race before. There are no points awarded for this race...just money. The format has changed over the years, as has the way to qualify for the race, but this year they have gone back to basics for qualifying for this race.
Past winners:
This is where I will talk a little about Dale Earnhardt...of his 37 wins at Daytona some obviously came in this race 6 to be exact(which by the way is a record) other drivers have multiple wins in this race including: Dale Jr(2), Tony Stewart(3), Jeff Gordon(2), Dale Jarrett(3), Ken Schrader(2), Neil Bonnet(2), and Kevin Harvick(2). Some of the REALLY good drivers have only have one win they are: Buddy Baker('79, 1st race winner), Darrell Waltrip('81), Bobby Allison('82), Terry Labonte('85), Bill Elliot('87), Geoff Bodine('92), Rusty Wallace('98), Mark Martin('99), Jimmie Johnson('05), Denny Hamlin('06, only rookie to win), Kurt Busch('11), Kyle Busch('12).
OK now for the totally partial part :)
My favorite running of this race was in 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr had just made the change from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports, and this was the first race with HMS and while he had not won a race since May '06 he was in the best equipment in the sport, had the best team mates in the sport, and is one of the best restrictor plate racers in the sport. Tony Eury Jr is known to bring good stuff to Daytona and Talladega, add HMS equipment, Eury know-how, and Earnhardt intuition and you know it's gonna be good, and OH MY was it, Dale Jr started deep in the field, but by the end of the last segment was in 2nd with Jimmie Johnson behind him, going into the final turn Johnson gave Jr a shot and sent him out front and to the win....his first win for HMS.
Hope y'all enjoyed this post, let me know what you think, what you like about and what you think could be tweaked on the next post.
Kimberly }{
History:
Before you think this is gonna be some kinda report it's not...just some information.
Originally called the Busch Clash, then the Budweiser shootout, now the Sprint Unlimited, this is the race for drivers who have won poles in the previous year or have won this race before. There are no points awarded for this race...just money. The format has changed over the years, as has the way to qualify for the race, but this year they have gone back to basics for qualifying for this race.
Past winners:
This is where I will talk a little about Dale Earnhardt...of his 37 wins at Daytona some obviously came in this race 6 to be exact(which by the way is a record) other drivers have multiple wins in this race including: Dale Jr(2), Tony Stewart(3), Jeff Gordon(2), Dale Jarrett(3), Ken Schrader(2), Neil Bonnet(2), and Kevin Harvick(2). Some of the REALLY good drivers have only have one win they are: Buddy Baker('79, 1st race winner), Darrell Waltrip('81), Bobby Allison('82), Terry Labonte('85), Bill Elliot('87), Geoff Bodine('92), Rusty Wallace('98), Mark Martin('99), Jimmie Johnson('05), Denny Hamlin('06, only rookie to win), Kurt Busch('11), Kyle Busch('12).
OK now for the totally partial part :)
My favorite running of this race was in 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr had just made the change from DEI to Hendrick Motorsports, and this was the first race with HMS and while he had not won a race since May '06 he was in the best equipment in the sport, had the best team mates in the sport, and is one of the best restrictor plate racers in the sport. Tony Eury Jr is known to bring good stuff to Daytona and Talladega, add HMS equipment, Eury know-how, and Earnhardt intuition and you know it's gonna be good, and OH MY was it, Dale Jr started deep in the field, but by the end of the last segment was in 2nd with Jimmie Johnson behind him, going into the final turn Johnson gave Jr a shot and sent him out front and to the win....his first win for HMS.
Hope y'all enjoyed this post, let me know what you think, what you like about and what you think could be tweaked on the next post.
Kimberly }{
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