NASCAR's New Shootout Style Explained

Saturday night, NASCAR will roar back to life with the annual season-opening, non-points race -- the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Here's a guide to help you understand the new rules involving driver eligibility as well as the slightly tweaked race format.

Eligibility: In years past, the Shootout has been the reward of winning the pole at a race in the previous season. By doing so, drivers were guaranteed a spot in the race for pride and money. However, sponsorship conflicts (Coors Light Pole Award, Budweiser Shootout) have brought an end to that process.

As a result, NASCAR announced in August a change of eligibility requirements that are an attempt at a nod of appreciation for the car manufacturers sponsoring the sport.

The format for eligibility now takes the season-ending car owner standings from the previous year and automatically inserts the Top-6 drivers from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota into the race. In January, NASCAR adopted another rule -- the "Tony Stewart Rule" if you will, but more on that in a moment -- to permit four more drivers per manufacturer in the race.

Via NASCAR's press release, here's the format for these "wild card" slots:

Now why, you ask, is Tony Stewart connected to all of this?

Quite simply, when NASCAR first unveiled its Shootout eligibility plan in August, Stewart was left high and dry as an outsider for NASCAR's first prime-time race of the season due to his venture into team ownership. However, when the wild-card rule was introduced, Stewart found himself suddenly eligible again as a "past Sprint Cup champion" for Chevrolet.

The rule also let some other interesting names into the mix -- Scott Speed, Paul Menard and Robby Gordon in a Dodge despite the fact that he's racing full-time in a Toyota for 2009 -- but left out last year's Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman out of the mix while David Stremme used Newman's earned owner points at the No. 12 to gain entry.

Race Format: Much less confusing, however, is the way the race will be run Saturday night. Here's some of the bare necessities:

Distance: 75 laps (Up 5 from a year ago, caution laps count)
Two Segments: The race will be run in two segments of 25 and 50 laps with a 10-minute pit stop in between to allow teams to perform routine adjustments -- no rear end, shock, or spring changes.
Start/TV: Tune to FOX at 8 p.m./EDT for the broadcast with the green flag just after 8:10 p.m./EDT
Car Count: 28 cars will start, the most in the Shootout's history.