NASCAR Shootout Tickets

The NASCAR Shootout brings with it the first chance to buy cheap tickets for the Sprint Cup racing season. In a prime-time spot under the racing lights, the Shootout race is held during the qualifying weekend for the Daytona 500. Hailed as the first race ticket of the new season, the excitement that surrounds this NASCAR event is contagious. Despite the fact that no points are accumulated for the Shootout, not all of the drivers need qualify for the race. Only the top drivers from the previous season qualify and are invited to race. A driver must have raced in the previous two seasons and is either: 1. a champion with a Cup 2. A point holder in a Daytona race 3. Taken home the previous seasons' rookie of the year award 4. Qualified for the Chase for the Cup during the previous season.

With a total tack distance of 187.5 miles, the race has been divided into two separate components. The first part of the race calls for the drivers to run a segment of 25-laps and then a pit stop and rest allows for a 10 minute reprieve from the action. A ticket in hand is the key to the most brazen second half of the race that involves a dash to the finish after 50-laps of tire-treading fire.

Many drivers view the NASCAR Shootout as a chance to take in a hard fought tune up race before the big Daytona 500, which starts in the off season. The prize purse is not any where near as lucrative as the other races that will follow in the upcoming NASCAR season. Despite the less frenetic energy of the race compared to others, this is still a gas fueled track laced with the biggest and best of NASCAR racing.

That first Shootout race was won by none other than Buddy Baker. Little did ticket holders for that first event know that it would evolve as it has with every passing racing season.

The race has changed formats and names a few times over the years. In 1998 the event became known as the Bud Shootout. The race changed names again in 2001 when it changed to the current Budweiser Shootout name and the two segment format.

Anyone who has ever bought a ticket to a NASCAR event has hoped to have the high honor of looking on as Dale Earnhardt Sr. established himself as arguably the greatest driver in history. It is no surprise that he won the Shootout 6 times, proving season after season that no race was ever to be taken as any less than a last race when Earnhardt Sr. was on the track.

A 2.5 mile tri-oval track is the layout at the Daytona International Speedway where the NASCAR Shootout is annually held. With no less than 31 turns with no less degrees of banking in the turns, the drivers also deal with 18 degrees of banking when facing the front tri-oval. Only the mandatory horsepower limiters on the engines keep the drivers at bay from over doing it on the speedway. While the specifics of the event are generally not what is on the mind of a new or veteran ticket holder, the chance to see the first-look choice picks of the new NASCAR season are reason enough to get a ticket to see the NASCAR Shootout now.