For a second consecutive year, Kevin Harvick has won the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Harvick, who had been suffering from flu like symptoms earlier in the week, seemed unaffected during the race, maintaining his place near the front of the field for the majority of the race.

After a late-race caution led the field to a green-white-checkered restart, Harvick, who restarted fourth, charged to the front, pulling up alongside Greg Biffle. Shortly after, Jeff Gordon drove into the back of Biffle’s car, who spun into several of the oncoming vehicles, once again bringing out the caution flag and freezing the field in place. As per NASCAR rules, the race was not restarted.

Harvick is the fourth driver to celebrate back-to-back Shootout victories. Other drivers that have accomplished this feat include Tony Stewart (2001, 2002), Ken Schrader (1989, 1990), and Neil Bonnett (1983, 1984).

Results of the 2010 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Raceway:

Pos  #  Driver              Make     Laps  Status
 1  29  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  76  Running
 2   9  Kasey Kahne         Ford       76  Running
 3   1  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet  76  Running
 4  18  Kyle Busch          Toyota     76  Running
 5  11  Denny Hamlin        Toyota     76  Running
 6  83  Brian Vickers       Toyota     76  Running
 7  20  Joey Logano         Toyota     76  Running
 8  24  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  76  Running
 9  14  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  76  Running
10  42  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet  76  Running
11  88  Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet  76  Running
12  31  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  76  Running
13  48  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  76  Running
14  82  Ken Schrader        Toyota     76  Running
15  16  Greg Biffle         Ford       74  In Pit
16  17  Matt Kenseth        Ford       74  In Pit
17  99  Carl Edwards        Ford       74  In Pit
18  71  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet  74  In Pit
19  39  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet  74  In Pit
20   5  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  74  In Pit
21  51  Michael Waltrip     Toyota     69  In Pit
22  34  John Andretti       Ford       69  In Pit
23   2  Kurt Busch          Dodge      32  Running
24  75  Derrike Cope        Dodge      15  Out of Race

The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is the Daytona 500, also to be raced at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 14, 2010. Preceding this race are the two qualifying races (The Gatorade Duels) held the Thursday before.

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

The first race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the Budweiser Shootout, held at Daytona International Speedway. Though it wasn’t a points event, it was the first opportunity to see many of this year’s Sprint Cup competitors. The race itself saw several cautions, leaving many of the teams with a DNF. In the end, only 13 of the 28 entered cars had finished the race without incident.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in his Chevrolet Impala SS, with Jamie McMurray (Ford) and Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) finishing in second and third respectively. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) finished fourth and A.J. Allmendinger (Dodge) ended up with the final Top-5 finishing position. The highest placing driver in a Toyota was Kyle Busch who finished 10th.

For the full results from this race, please see the following page:

2009 Budweiser Shootout Results

Since this was a non-points event, there are no standings yet for this series.