A Wild Race, and a Wild Finish: Kyle Busch Edges Champ Tony Stewart for Budweiser Shootout Victory
The Budweiser Shootout is the race that starts off the 2012 NASCAR campaign with a bang. And let me tell you, it did just that last night. After saving his car from wrecking almost 3 times, Kyle Busch would come back to edge Tony Stewart at the finish line to win the 2012 Budweiser Shootout.
There were several wrecks during the Budweiser Shootout that took out half the field. Every single wreck that occurred during the the Shootout was caused by the new rules package. Drivers were bumping each other on the left side of the rear bumper. After that happens, the car that gets bumped immediately gets turned and that starts the “big one”.
The first wreck was caused by David Ragan bumping Paul Menard on Lap 9, thus causing a wreck that involved drivers like Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Paul Menard, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, and and Jeff Burton. Jeff Gordon was involved, but received very little damage and continued on.
The 2nd wreck of the race was the one that changed the complexity of the race. On Lap 55, Marcos Ambrose bumped Joey Logano. That caused a mutli-car pileup that involved Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Matt Kenseth.
The final wreck of the night was the most frightening for Jeff Gordon. After receiving a bump from Gordon on Lap 74, Kyle Busch made an incredible save to not crash into the other cars. However, the other cars spun out trying to avoid Kyle Busch, thus causing the multi-car pileup that involved Jeff Gordon flipping. The wreck involved Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, and Jimmie Johnson.
After the wreck on lap 55, only 10 cars were on the lead lap for the finish of the race. The rest were either damaged and could not run with the pack, or in the garage getting repaired.
As the Green-White-Checkered Finish commenced, eyes were on Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, and Brad Kesoloweski. As the drivers stated during Speedweeks testing, the tandem racing is going to decide the superspeedway races. It certainly did last night.
The cars that were able to get going were the ones who would be unstoppable. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart go together first and were almost a second away from Ambrose and Kesoloweski. Coming to the finish line, Busch made a jolting move to the high side, and Stewart made no attempt at a block. After that, Kyle Busch beat Tony Stewart by .013 seconds to win the 2012 Budweiser Shootout.
After the race, despite the wrecks, Tony Stewart had nothing but great things to say about NASCAR’s rule package. “I had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven’t had for a while. This is better than having to sit there and stare at the back of a spoiler for 500 miles.”
All in All, it was an exciting race. I hope that the drivers get use to the package in time for the Daytona 500 next Sunday. If they aren’t familiar with the package by then, I hate to say this, but we might see a wreckfest. And thats something I think we’ll hate to see.
If you want to see the video highlights from the Budweiser Shootout, please go to the home page, and click on the Video Section of “The Hub” to see the videos.
Without further adu, here is your official results from the Budweiser Shootout from last night.
1 .) Kyle Busch
2.) Tony Stewart
3.) Marcos Ambrose
4.) Brad Keselowski
5.) Denny Hamlin
6.) Greg Biffle
7.) Ryan Newman
8.) Clint Bowyer
9.) Carl Edwards
10.) Juan Pablo Montoya
11.) Jeff Burton
12.) A J Allmendinger
13.) Kasey Kahne
14.) Jimmie Johnson
15.) Jeff Gordon
16.) Jamie McMurray
17.) Kurt Busch
18.) Joey Logano
19.) Martin Truex Jr.
20.) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
21.) Matt Kenseth
22.) Kevin Harvick
23.) Paul Menard
24.) David Ragan
25.) Michael Waltrip