Background and History
The event was first known as the Busch Clash and was the brain child of Monty Roberts. Roberts was the brand manager of the newly-formed Busch beer (which had formerly been Busch Bavarian Beer) to promote the new brand. Roberts had been successful introducing Mercury into racing while working at Ford, and had also been a part of Ontario Motor Speedway. His experiences led him to believe that racing fans were loyal brand followers. The initial format was set up as a 50-mile sprint race, with no pit stops, with a field consisting of the previous season's pole position winners. Inviting the fastest drivers from the previous season, headlined the event as the "fastest race" of the season. The race established an incentive for drivers to earn pole positions, which up to that time, offered small cash prizes, and at no time have pole winners earned bonus championship points.
The 1987 race, won by Bill Elliott was completed at an average speed of 197.802 mph. It stands as the fastest sanctioned race in the history of NASCAR (though it was not an official points-paying event).
Read more about this topic: Daytona Shootout
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