Next year's Budweiser Shootout will return to the traditional format of featuring pole winners from the previous season.
NASCAR's non-championship curtain-raiser, held at Daytona the weekend prior to the track's 500-mile Sprint Cup season-opener, has used a variety of different eligibility formats in recent years. The 2012 system saw last year's top 25 in the championship plus past Daytona race winners invited.
Starting next year, the race will return to being open to pole winners from the previous Cup season, plus past Shootout winners who attempted to qualify for at least one race in 2012, as was the basis of the event's eligibility format from 1979-2008.
NASCAR's senior vp of racing operations Steve O'Donnell said the change was in response to fan requests.
"Fans have expressed their desire to see this event return to its original eligibility rules," said O'Donnell. "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."
Kyle Busch won the 2012 Shootout last night in a close finish with reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart.