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2008 NASCAR Daytona 500 Bud Shootout
By Greg Engle, Fox 35 News Daytona Saturday Notebook. Stewart, Busch Ready to Move on from Incident Did he or didn’t he? That was the question of the day at Daytona International Speedway Saturday. The question was the rumored punch thrown by Tony Stewart towards Kurt Busch Friday night after the pair was called to the NASCAR trailer to cool their heels. The confrontation began during practice Friday night for Saturday nights Bud Shootout. The cars of Stewart and Busch got together on the backstretch and both headed to the garage. As they pulled into the pits, Busch used his Dodge to strike the Toyota of Stewart. Both drivers were visibly upset after the got out of their cars. NASCAR officials summoned the pair to the NASCAR trailer and according to some reports Stewart threw a punch that connected with Busch. The drivers were again called to the trailer early Saturday morning and given a stern warning by NASCAR. They were also told that any fines or penalties would not be handed out until Monday or Tuesday. Reporters spent the day Saturday trying to get comments from the drivers and see if there were any signs of contact on Busch. Whether there were any signs of a punch depended on whom you asked. As for the drivers, they refused to comment instead issuing statements and seemingly wanting to put the incident behind them. “What Kurt did coming onto pit road,” Stewart said in his statement. “I’ve done a lot worse than he did so I’m not going to throw stones about it.” “Tony and I are competitors,” Busch said. “We always have been and we’re going to be just fine. We’re going to move forward.” Busch and Stewart have a history of confrontation. At last years race at Dover, Busch showed his anger with Stewart after another on track confrontation. Busch sped down pit road and aimed his Dodge at Stewart’s Chevy. Jackman Jason Lee a crewmember for Stewart’s crew was forced to leap out of the way to avoid Busch’s Dodge. Busch was fined docked points and placed on probation for the rest of 2007. Saturday both drivers were ready to move on from the incident. “What happened, happened, “Stewart said. “We can’t fix it. We can’t change it. The best thing to do is to go on and move forward. Hopefully the media will respect that and not keep it going longer than today.” Teams Ship in Back Up Cars for Shootout The Busch Stewart incident wasn’t the only one in practice Friday night. Prior to their accident, a multi car crash forced several teams to bring new cars from their respective shops in North Carolina overnight. The only back up cars that teams had were the cars they planned to run in next Sunday’s Daytona 500. The Bud Shootout is an exhibition non-points race and no team wanted to take a chance on the cars they would use in NASCAR’s biggest race of the year. “Yeah, we don't want to use our 500 car,” said Jeff Gordon who was involved. “We could do that but we want to save that for the 500 for qualifying. It's the best car we feel like we have.” The Penske Racing team for Ryan Newman spent most of the day in the garage painting and decaling the car they brought in from North Carolina overnight. Speeds Day ends early Scott Speed the former Formula 1 driver trying to ease his way into the stock car ranks, had an unpleasant introduction to Daytona International Speedway Saturday. Speed who started the day in 9th was swept up in a multi car incident on lap 29 of the ARCA 200 at Daytona Saturday and forced to retire. He was scored in 39th. Dario Franchitti was also caught up in the accident which forced officials to throw the red flag. After several stops in the pits for repairs Franchitti was able to continue and would battle back to finish 10th. Speed made his ARCA debut at Talladega last October and plans to campaign the entire ARCA schedule in 2008. Michael Annett won the caution filled event.
Whoo boy! Here we go…. the first competitive race of 2008. The Bud Shootout, 23 cars no points, letting it all hang out! Already there are so many story lines here! How will Dale Earnhardt Junior do in his first competitive debut with his Hendrick Motorsports team? What about them Toyotas? They were fast in the testing sessions here, will that trend continue? Already the fireworks were lit…two separate crashes during practice Friday night have left teams scrambling and egos bruised. Both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will be in back up cars tonight. Those back up cars were brought her from Charlotte overnight…the only back up cars they had were their Daytona 500 cars so Hendrick Motorsports elected to bring two brand new machines here for the Shootout… And then there is the matter of Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. During Friday evening's practice session Busch and Stewart renewed a rivalry that began at last year's Daytona 500 and continued in the June race at Dover. As the cars rounded Turn 2 onto the backstretch, Stewart banged the bumper of Busch's No. 2 Dodge, knocking off the bumper cover. Stewart then slid down the track into the No. 11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Busch apparently cut a tire and slowed, as did Stewart in his No. 20 Camry. The cars then banged each other as they ran side-by-side in what resembled a slow-motion reenactment -- or parody--of the backstretch wreck between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough on the final lap of the 1979 Daytona 500. "We were out there drafting, and both our car and Tony's car were pretty good," said Pat Tryson, Busch's crew chief. "Those guys are out there running hard. They were on the backstretch, and Tony had a little run on us. He went to the inside, but there was a slower car there, so he came back to the outside, and there was just barely enough room. "He got into our right rear and turned left and pretty much just wrecked us. Anybody can play it any way they want, but it was Tony's fault." The two drivers have a history. With the two best cars in last year's Daytona 500, Busch and Stewart wrecked together with 50 laps remaining. Busch carried an on-track incident at Dover into the pits, where he "buzzed" Stewart's car and sent jackman Jason Lee leaping to safety. Both Stewart and Busch were summoned to a meeting in the NASCAR trailer with Sprint Cup Series director John Darby and NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton. They will be back in the NASCAR trailer today for a continuation of the discussion…hmm makes you wonder how that’s going to turn out…and since tonight’s race is for money and bragging rights only and no points are on the line, will Stewart decide on a payback? Can’t wait to find out how that will turn out! Later we’ll try and fire up the live chat.
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