Chevrolet Wins Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

 

Chevrolet Wins the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

Jimmie Johnson takes victory on Saturday night

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. February 12, 2005 - Chevrolet captured victory on Saturday evening at NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout event at Daytona International Speedway. The 70-lap, non-points race has annually jump-started the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series as the season-opening event. Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo, won after starting from 17th position. Chevrolet drivers secured three of the top four finishing positions.

 

"It's nice to see the #48 Chevrolet team in victory circle, especially given all that team went through last season," said Alba Colon, program manager for Chevrolet's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup program. "On the other hand, you can see that many of the teams have made a lot of progress since the test in January. They've worked very hard over the winter. We are glad to have the first win of the year but we still have a lot of work to do knowing how the other teams have progressed. We look forward to qualifying tomorrow."

 

The Budweiser Shootout (formerly named the Busch Clash from 1979-97 and the Bud Shootout from 1998-2000) pits Bud Pole winners from the previous year and former Shootout champions against each other in a 70-lap all-star race. The late Dale Earnhardt won the race more than any other driver, taking the checkered flag six times (1980, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995). Tonight's win for Jimmie Johnson is his first victory in the race and his first at Daytona. Johnson captured the lead with just 16 laps to go and held off Ryan Newman for the victory.

 

"We've been building on a restrictor plate win with the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet team," said Johnson. "Jeff (Gordon) obviously has had a lot of success on this track and at Talladega. It's not a points race, but victory lane is victory lane and Gatorade puts a lot of money up for this. I was very proud and honored to be the winner of the race. We had a great race car tonight."

 

Sunday afternoon's qualifying session begins at 1:10 p.m.

 

Provisional Results (Top 10)

Pos.     Started                        No.       Car                                          Driver

1          17                    48        Lowe's Chevrolet                 Johnson

2          7                      12        ALLTEL Dodge                       Newman

3          11                    24        DuPont Chevrolet                Gordon

4          8                      20        Home Depot Chevrolet       Stewart

5          2                      16        National Guard Ford                Biffle

6          6                      97        Sharpie Ford                           Busch

7          12                    8          Budweiser Chevrolet          Earnhardt, Jr.

8          14                    6          Viagra Ford                             Martin

9          13                    9          Dodge Dealers Dodge            Kahne

10        19                    18        Interstate Batteries Chev.  Labonte