Drivers' shuffle, mergers affect '09 Shootout lineup

The clock continues to tick toward Feb. 7, 2009 -- the "unofficial" green flag for the season, under the lights at Daytona: The Budweiser Shootout.

In August it was announced the Shootout's entry list would change for 2009: Only the top six teams in owner points from each manufacturer will earn berths in the exhibition. Anheuser-Busch noted that sponsorship of the pole award by a rival brewer (Coors) partially contributed to the decision to radically change the format.

How do drivers feel about the decision to change criteria for earning a berth in the Budweiser Shootout? It depends on whether you're in or out.

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The Shootout traditionally kicks off Speedweeks; the non-points event has jump-started the Cup Series season since 1979 -- first as the "Busch Clash" (1979-97), then in 1998 it became the "Bud Shootout" before the current name, "Budweiser Shootout at Daytona," was adopted in 2001.

Previously, the Shootout consisted of drivers who earned a Bud Pole Award in the previous season and past champions of the event who did not earn a pole during the previous year but finished among the top 50 in the season's final championship standings.

So who makes the cut for 2009? The usual suspects: Hendrick and RCR's top three cars. Roush's five-member gang. JGR's three-car cabal. Waltrip's two-horse stable. The entire new-look GEM four-car conglomerate.

More interesting is who will not be on the track: Stewart-Haas' new two-car team of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman; Earnhardt Ganassi's Martin Truex Jr. or Juan Montoya; or 2008 Chase contender Clint Bowyer, who will slide into the No. 33 to make room for Casey Mears in the 07.

With the rule change for 2009, four drivers lose out on making the race based on their 2008 pole-winning qualifying run: Newman (Phoenix), Joe Nemechek (Talladega), Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire), Paul Menard (Daytona).

Criteria for a driver earning a berth in the Shootout?
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