Former NASCAR Sprint Cup rookies of the year have been made eligible to contest this year's preseason Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Regan Smith and Joey Logano will join the field for the 2011 event under a new selection criteria that makes drivers who won the rookie title between 2001 and 2010 eligible. Until last year only the best rookie from the previous season was allowed to enter the non-points race.
Thirty drivers will therefore be able to make the field for the 12 February event, including the 12 who made the Chase in 2010, led by reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, former winners of points races at Daytona, past Cup champions and previous winners of the Shootout.
The event will again consist of 75 laps split into two segments, the first of 25 laps and the second of 50. It will be the first NASCAR race held on the new Daytona surface, which is expected to create more Talladega-style action given the increased grip of the brand-new asphalt.
2010 title contender Kevin Harvick, the most successful at restrictor plate races last year, has won the event for the past two years.
2011 Budweiser Shootout eligible drivers:
Jimmie Johnson (2010 Chase contender)
Denny Hamlin (2010 Chase contender)
Kevin Harvick (2010 Chase contender)
Carl Edwards (2010 Chase contender)
Matt Kenseth (2010 Chase contender)
Greg Biffle (2010 Chase contender)
Tony Stewart (2010 Chase contender)
Kyle Busch (2010 Chase contender)
Jeff Gordon (2010 Chase contender)
Clint Bowyer (2010 Chase contender)
Kurt Busch (2010 Chase contender)
Jeff Burton (2010 Chase contender)
John Andretti (Coke Zero 400 winner)
Geoff Bodine (Daytona 500, Budweiser Shootout winner)
Kevin Conway (Series rookie of the year)
Derrike Cope (Daytona 500 winner)
Dale Earnhardt Jr (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout winner)
Bill Elliott (Former series champion, Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400, Budweiser Shootout winner)
Kasey Kahne (Former series rookie of the year)
Bobby Labonte (Former series champion)
Terry Labonte (Former series champion, Budweiser Shootout winner)
Joey Logano (Former series rookie of the year)
Sterling Marlin (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 winner)
Mark Martin (Budweiser Shootout winner)
Jamie McMurray (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 winner, series rookie of the year)
Juan Pablo Montoya (Former series rookie of the year)
Ryan Newman (Daytona 500 winner, Series rookie of the year)
Ken Schrader (Budweiser Shootout winner)
Regan Smith (Former series rookie of the year)
Michael Waltrip (Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 winner)