First of all NASCAR should do everything in its power to get sponsor Sprint to change the name of the race. What started as the Busch Clash and then became known as the Shootout for decades now carries one of the worst names of any event in professional sports. While we should applaud everything Sprint does for NASCAR in terms of sponsorship, the company needs to bring back the Shootout name as soon as possible.
But I digress. In terms of the event's format, returning to its roots when the field was set by the previous year's pole winners is the absolute right thing to do. There's an exclusivity to this invitation only event that was lost when officials opened up the rules to include nearly every driver who had strapped on a helmet in NASCAR's 60-plus year history. The uniqueness was |
