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NASCAR - Nextel Cup - Budweiser Shootout Preview

DATE: Saturday, February 10th

SITE: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida

TRACK: 2.5-mile tri-oval

ANNUAL: 29th

TELEVISION: FOX

RADIO: MRN

START TIME: 8:30 p.m. (et)

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Denny Hamlin

RUNNER-UP: Dale Earnhardt Jr

POLE SITTER: Ken Schrader (Finished 14th)

LAPS: 70

MILES: 175

TOTAL PURSE: $1,119,920

PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $213,380; 2nd - 113,377; 3rd - 62,877 (2006 figures)

2006 Finish
Finish	Driver	Start	Finish	Driver	Start
1	Denny Hamlin	15	11	Michael Waltrip	21
2	Dale Earnhardt Jr	19	12	Bill Elliott	12
3	Tony Stewart	3	13	Elliott Sadler	6
4	Scott Riggs	8	14	Ken Schrader	1
5	Jimmie Johnson	2	15	Kyle Busch	14
6	Matt Kenseth	16	16	Carl Edwards	11
7	Mark Martin	13	17	Ryan Newman	7
8	Jamie McMurray	17	18	Kasey Kahne	5
9	Joe Nemechek	4	19	Jeff Gordon	10
10	Dale Jarrett	9	20	Kevin Harvick	18

2006 Budweiser Shootout Facts and Figures
AVERAGE SPEED: 153.627 m.p.h.
TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 10 minutes, 18 seconds
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.154 second
CAUTION FLAGS: 3 for 13 laps
LEAD CHANGES: 16 among 9 drivers
POLE WINNER: Ken Schrader

Past Budweiser Shootout Winners (car) and Speed

2006 -- Denny Hamlin (Chevrolet) -- 153.627 m.p.h.

2005 -- Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) -- 181.399 m.p.h.

2004 -- Dale Jarrett (Ford) -- 150.826 m.p.h.

2003 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet) -- 180.827 m.p.h.

2002 -- Tony Stewart (Pontiac) -- 181.295 m.p.h.

2001 -- Tony Stewart (Pontiac) -- 181.036 m.p.h.

2000 -- Dale Jarrett (Ford) -- 182.334 m.p.h.

1999 -- Mark Martin (Ford) -- 181.745 m.p.h.

1998 -- Rusty Wallace (Ford) -- 178.998 m.p.h.

1997 -- Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) -- 185.376 m.p.h.

1996 -- Dale Jarrett (Ford) -- 184.995 m.p.h.

1995 -- Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet) -- 188.482 m.p.h.

1994 -- Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) -- 188.877 m.p.h.

1993 -- Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet) -- 186.916 m.p.h.

1992 -- Geoff Bodine (Ford) -- 189.070 m.p.h.

1991 -- Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet) -- 189.474 m.p.h.

1990 -- Ken Schrader (Chevrolet) -- 192.308 m.p.h.

1989 -- Ken Schrader (Chevrolet) -- 192.926 m.p.h.

1988 -- Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet) -- 191.489 m.p.h.

1987 -- Bill Elliott (Ford) -- 197.802 m.p.h.

1986 -- Dale Earnhardt (Chevrolet) -- 195.865 m.p.h.

1985 -- Terry Labonte (Chevrolet) -- 195.865 m.p.h.

1984 -- Neil Bonnett (Chevrolet) -- 192.926 m.p.h.

1983 -- Neil Bonnett (Chevrolet) -- 192.513 m.p.h.

1982 -- Bobby Allison (Buick) -- 191.093 m.p.h.

1981 -- Darrell Waltrip (Buick) -- 189.076 m.p.h.

1980 -- Dale Earnhardt (Oldsmobile) -- 191.693 m.p.h.

1979 -- Buddy Baker (Oldsmobile) -- 194.384 m.p.h.

NOTE:

Formerly called Busch Clash (1979-1997), Bud Shootout (1998-2000).

Last Race Results
RACE: Ford 400 (November 19, 2006)
SITE: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Miami
MILES: 400.5
LAPS: 267
WINNER: Greg Biffle
RUNNER-UP: Martin Truex Jr
THIRD: Denny Hamlin
FOURTH: Kasey Kahne
FIFTH: Kevin Harvick
POLE WINNER: Kasey Kahne (Finished 4th)
TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 12 minutes, 23 seconds
AVERAGE SPEED: 125.375 m.p.h.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.389 second
CAUTION FLAGS: 11 for 43 laps
LEAD CHANGES: 15 among 10 drivers
LAP LEADERS: K. Kahne 1-18; Ky. Busch 19-46; K. Kahne 47-104; D. Earnhardt
	Jr. 105-106; J. Johnson 107-108; P. Menard 109; K. Kahne
	110-117; D. Earnhardt Jr. 118-162; M. Truex Jr. 163-189; E.
	Sadler 190-206; K. Kahne 207-209; S. Riggs 210; K. Kahne
	211-213; G. Biffle 214-248; J. Yeley 249-256; G. Biffle 257-268.

Budweiser Shootout Entry List
Car	Driver, Hometown	Car/Name
01	Mark Martin (Batesville, AR)	Chevrolet/U.S. Army
2	Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV)	Dodge/Miller Lite
5	Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV)	Chevrolet/Kellogg's-CARQUEST
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC)	Chevrolet/Budweiser
9	Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA)	Dodge/Dodger Dealers/UAW
10	Scott Riggs (Bahama, NC)	Dodge/Valvoline/Stanley Tools
11 *	Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA)	Chevrolet/FedEx
12	Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN)	Dodge/Alltel
16	Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA)	Ford/National Guard/Subway
17	Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI)	Ford/Kraft/Post/DeWalt
19	Elliott Sadler (Emporia, VA)	Dodge/Dodge Dealers/UAW
20	Tony Stewart (Rushville, IN)	Chevrolet/Home Depot
21	Ken Schrader (Fenton, MO)	Ford/Little Debbie
24	Jeff Gordon (Pittsboro, IN)	Chevrolet/DuPont
29	Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA)	Chevrolet/Reese's Caramel Cup
31	Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA)	Chevrolet/Cingular Wireless
37	Bill Elliott (Dawsonville, GA)	Chevrolet/TBA
38	David Gilliland (Torrance, CA)	Ford/M&M's
44	Dale Jarrett (Hickory, NC)	Toyota/UPS
48	Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA)	Chevrolet/Lowe's
55	Michael Waltrip (Owensboro, KY)	Toyota/NAPA
60	Boris Said (Carlsbad, CA)	Dodge/TBA
83	Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC)	Toyota/Red Bull

* - defending champion.

Leading Contenders (Finish the last six years)
Driver	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Denny Hamlin	---	---	---	---	---	Won
Dale Earnhardt Jr	6th	2nd	Won	2nd	7th	2nd
Tony Stewart	Won	Won	15th	7th	4th	3rd
Scott Riggs	---	---	---	---	---	4th
Jimmie Johnson	---	---	7th	9th	Won	5th
Matt Kenseth	---	---	3rd	---	---	6th
Mark Martin	8th	12th	17th	4th	8th	7th
Dale Jarrett	4th	6th	18th	Won	15th	10th
Bill Elliott	12th	18th	16th	14th	17th	12th
Elliott Sadler	---	---	---	12th	---	13th
Ken Schrader	16th	4th	6th	13th	16th	14th
Kyle Busch	---	---	---	---	---	15th
Ryan Newman	---	15th	4th	16th	2nd	17th
Kasey Kahne	---	---	---	---	9th	18th
Jeff Gordon	11th	3rd	2nd	5th	3rd	19th
Kevin Harvick	---	---	9th	3rd	---	20th
Brian Vickers	---	---	---	---	19th	21st
Greg Biffle	---	---	---	---	5th	---

Sports Network Selections

Pick to Win - Jimmie Johnson

Darkhorse - Greg Biffle

Last Week's Pick to Win (Jimmie Johnson) - Finished 9th

Last Week's Darkhorse (Ken Schrader) - Finished 29th

NOTES:

Tony Stewart, Neil Bonnett and Ken Schrader are the only drivers to win this race two consecutive years. Dale Earnhardt was a six-time champion of this race. Seven times, the winner of this race has gone on to capture the Nextel Cup championship - Dale Earnhardt (1980, 1986, 1991, 1993), Darrell Waltrip (1981) Jeff Gordon (1997) and Stewart (2002). The Shootout winner has doubled as the Daytona 500 winner five times: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987) Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000), Jeff Gordon (1997). This event is not an official race and does not count in the point standings. A total of 24 drivers are eligible for this year's race.

Last year, Denny Hamlin defeated Dale Earnhardt Jr by less than a second for the win. Chevrolet has won this race 15 times, including last season, while Ford has posted seven wins in this event. Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac have two wins each.

Bill Elliott has appeared in 21 Bud Shootout's, while Mark Martin will be competing in his 19th straight Shootout, the most of any driver. Only five drivers have won this race in their first appearance: Buddy Baker (1979), Dale Earnhardt (1980), Jeff Gordon (1994), Dale Jarrett (1996) and Denny Hamlin (2006). There are six multiple winners of this race led by Dale Earnhardt with six. Dale Jarrett is a three- time champion while Jeff Gordon, Neil Bonnett, Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart are two-time winners. Earnhardt's average finish in this race was 2.75.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the best average finish among active drivers with 3.60. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. won this race in 2003, he started in the 19th position, the furthest a driver has come from to win. The average starting position for a winner is 8.78 and 12.70 the last 10 years.

Budweiser has sponsored the annual pre-season, non-points race at Daytona since 1979. Called the Busch Clash until 1998, the name was then changed to the Bud Shootout. Renamed the Budweiser Shootout for the 2001 edition, the event underwent the most significant changes in the format and eligibility since the inception of the event in 1979.

Next week, the Nextel Cup Series regular season begins in Daytona Beach with the Daytona 500, with Jimmie Johnson as the defending champion.