Major changes coming to Budweiser Shootout in '09

No matter how you pour it, Ryan Newman is still the odd man out when it comes to the new Budweiser Shootout format.

With only the top six teams in 2008 owner's points from each manufacturer earning berths in the 2009 season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, the first race under the new format will provide some unusual twists next February.

Of those drivers who suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in, Newman's situation is the most interesting. He won a pole this season at Phoenix, but that's no longer a prerequisite for entry and neither is being a past race winner -- they are out as well.

Newman's No. 12 Dodge is solidly in the top 35 in owner's points, but because he'll be driving the No. 39 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, whomever takes over that ride next season will find themselves racing in the Shootout.

So Newman -- who won the 2008 Daytona 500 -- isn't eligible.

That's the same situation for three-time Shootout winner Tony Stewart, who will watch upstart Joey Logano climb behind the wheel of the No. 20 Toyota in next year's 75-lap exhibition. And Casey Mears, not Clint Bowyer, will benefit from the owner's points accumulated the No. 07 Chevy in 2008.

"That can happen in any year with contracts and people switching teams," NASCAR's Jim Hunter said. "That wouldn't necessarily happen every year, but there are certainly circumstances where drivers change teams, where teams change car makes. It's simply based on car-owner points from the previous year."

But on the other side of the equation, that would put two Michael Waltrip Racing teams outside of the top 25 in owner's points -- the No. 44 currently driven by David Reutimann and Waltrip's No. 55 -- into the Shootout field, with 12 races to go.

"Whether it's the Chase, or the All-Star Race or the Bud Shootout, there's always going to be one of your top players left out of the lineup," Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig said. "That could be growing pains, but we certainly realize that even in the format that we have for the Bud Shootout, we've missed a couple of NASCAR's stars."

Pole-winners Joe Nemechek, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Menard also now find themselves on the outside looking in. But Hunter said the benefits of changing the format to give the four car manufacturers more of a role in the Shootout outweighed losing the uniqueness of having as many underdogs in the field.

"That is one of the downsides," Hunter said. "It's still performance-driven, but in the new format, it's performance-driven for an entire season as opposed to winning a pole position for an event."

The new format appears to be slanted in favor of the big-money, multi-car teams. All five Roush cars would represent Ford, while Chevrolet would be split between three Hendrick and three Childress teams. Gillett Evernham and Penske cars would account for four of the six Dodges in the field, while all three Gibbs entries would represent Toyota.

Anheuser-Busch's Tony Ponturo admitted that sponsorship of the pole award by a rival brewer contributed partially to the decision to radically change the format of the Budweiser Shootout.

"We're always looking to freshen things up, to create new excitement," Ponturo said. "With Coors having the pole-winner, that obviously created a faster dialogue about how to address it. This was, we think, a very exciting solution and gives us the continuation of a 30-plus-year heritage with the Budweiser Shootout."

Also:
• NASCAR Says ... Explanation for Shootout changes