No, you're not crazy, the 2012 Bud Shootout was just Saturday. But not a day after the checkered flag flew, NASCAR announced the eligibility rules for the 2013 Bud Shootout.
And for next year's race, what's old is new again.
From 1979-2008 the Budweiser Shootout — which started as the Busch Clash — was open to those drivers who had won a pole in the previous season or who had won a Budweiser Shootout and attempted a race in the previous season. Those rules will now be back in effect for 2013, meaning that the pole-winning car during Sunday's Daytona 500 qualifying will already be entered into next year's race assuming the pole winner isn't a former Shootout champion.
"Fans have expressed their desire to see this event return to its original eligibility rules," Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR senior VP of racing operations said in a release. "We listened and decided it would be best to return to the eligibility rules of years past adding further meaning to pole qualifying for each NASCAR Sprint Cup race."
The 2012 Bud Shootout was open to drivers in the top 25 in points in 2011 and drivers who had won a race at Daytona.
18 drivers won a pole award last year. Drivers already eligible for the 2013 race will be Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte and Geoffrey Bodine.
