Battle of the Beer Wagons

This weekend the cars of the Nextel Cup series take to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the Bud Shootout. It's about time. Us NASCAR fans don't like sitting around between mid-November and mid-February waiting for the new season to start.

This race is one of two non-points exhibition races the series will run this year (the other is the Nextel All-Star Race in May). In order to get into the field for this event you had to either have a pole position at one of the races last year, be a past winner of this event, or be a past champion of the series. You also have to carry the BUD sticker on your car (none of Richard Petty's cars carry the sticker since they refuse to be sponsored by alcoholic beverage companies and therefore are not eligible to race even though Bobby Labonte, who drives one of Petty's cars, is a past champion).

Altogether 21 cars will be in the lineup for the 175 mile (70 lap) race. Because it's an exhibition, there are no points on the line, only pride and money, and that can make for a pretty exciting race.

The battle of the beer wagons (Miller Brewing and Budweiser) just got a little more interesting with a challenge issued today by the Miller Brewing Company:

Miller challenges Budweiser: Miller Brewing Co. today issued a NASCAR challenge to competitor Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., and the temporary naming rights to Milwaukee's Miller Park would be stake. The long-standing "battle of the beer cars" on NASCAR tracks would take on added significance during the 2007 Nextel Cup season if Anheuser-Busch accepts Miller's challenge to the Budweiser team. Miller is putting the naming rights to Miller Park on the line for a weekend series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2008. If the Miller Lite #2 Dodge, driven by Kurt Busch, finishes ahead of the #8 Budweiser Chevy, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the 2007 season standings, Busch Stadium would be renamed Miller Lite Stadium for a yet-to-be-determined 2008 series in St. Louis. If the Budweiser car finishes the season ahead of the Miller Lite car in 2007, Milwaukee's Miller Park would be renamed Budweiser Park for a 2008 series in Milwaukee. "We're more confident than ever that Kurt Busch and the #2 Miller Lite team are going to be regular contenders for the Nextel Cup championship," said Tom Long, Miller's president and chief executive officer. "It's too bad for Anheuser-Busch that they didn't take us up on our challenge last year, when Kurt and the team were dealing with the first-year 'new team' transition. Kurt already has one title, and now he and the whole Penske Racing garage are focused on adding to that total. We expect to see plenty of Miller Lite flowing in victory lane this year." The new wager was officially proposed via certified letter from Long to Anheuser-Busch president and CEO August Busch IV, and delivered this morning. Busch had not yet responded.

Miller picked a fight it can't win. There's no way the #2 Dodge driven by Kurt Busch will finish ahead of the #8 Chevy driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Miller Brewing, whose driver is named Busch, will lose to Budweiser, which produces Busch beer. Go figure.