Bud Shootout Final Practice a Wild One

The final practice for the Budweiser Shootout was an eventful one.  Final practice for this race has the reputation of being pretty exciting, as well as nerve-racking for many of the drivers.

With just a few laps into the final practice session, a plume of smoke suddenly erupted from Jeff Burton's car.  Unfortunately, the smoke signaled a terminal problem for Burton's engine and he will be forced to a back up car for the Shootout race.

This engine failure then sent some waves of fear throughout the garage, especially for the Childress cars.  Several of the other team cars pulled out of the practice line to check their engines and oil pressures, but all returned shortly to the track.

The racing got a little more intense and the cars started bouncing around on the track.  Unfortunately, Kasey Kahne's car bounced just a little too much, resulting in him hitting the wall and suffering some right side damage.

There were some other minor stack ups along the way.  As a result of a few cars checking up, several cars were dinged, including the right rear of Kyle Busch's M & M car.

The biggest problem happened in practice when pole sitter Paul Menard blew a right rear tire.  He lost control and the driver behind him, Scott Speed, had nowhere to go but into the Menard car.

Both teams furiously scrambled to fix these cars in order to maintain their top starting positions for the race.

The driver who got the biggest education in final practice, however, was rookie Joey Logano.  He had his hands full, continually sawing back and forth on the wheel for almost every lap.

Logano also got quite a few taps from behind along the way, showing him the true meaning of bump drafting.  There is no doubt that young Joey will be having lengthy conversations this evening with crew chief Greg Zipadelli to try to get him more comfortable in that car.

Several drivers seemed to be pretty satisfied with their cars.  Not surprising, reigning Champion Jimmie Johnson was fastest, sporting the most consistent speeds during that final practice.

Jeff Gordon said he was comfortable in his car, but he was wishing for just a bit more speed.  Brian Vickers quit practice early as he was most satisfied with his car's performance.

Fan favorite and master of the restrictor plate tracks Dale Earnhardt Jr. took full advantage of practice, milking every minute on the track. 

He was not completely happy with his car but it seemed to perform pretty well in the draft and up high, where Junior loves to drive.

With veterans and rookies in the field, this Bud Shootout promises to be one of the best. 

And with Robby Gordon stating that he was driving a "throw away, disposable" car, with changing manufacturers after this race, it just doesn't get any better than this to start off the 2009 season.