There will be some slight modifications to the format to Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway the “unofficial” start to the 2003 Winston Cup season. NASCAR officials confirmed Tuesday the 70-lap all-star event which features pole winners from the 2002 season and past winners of the event will be split into two segments. The first segment will consist of 20 laps after which a 10-minute intermission will be held. Teams may make pit stops and do other work that transpires during a normal pit stop during this time. The second segment will be 50 laps and must end in a green-white-checkered finish. Caution laps will count toward the total in both segments so the second segment may extend beyond the scheduled 70-lap total. In the event of a red flag, crews will be permitted to work on the cars; however, all work must be performed on pit road or in the garage. When the race is resumed, all cars must immediately be ready to return to competition. All re-starts will be double-file re-starts. All lapped cars will re-start at the rear of the field. The Shootout format was changed from a 20-lap race to two 10-lap segments in 1991. The move to a 25-lap event in 1998 marked the third format change of this prestigious event. The format was again changed in 2001, this time to a 70-lap event.( ThatsRacin.com )(2-4-2003)
