Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Just 12 hours after the 2012 edition of the Budweiser Shootout took the checkered flag, NASCAR announced new eligibility standards for the 2013 race.
And in this case, what's new is old.
The Bud Shootout will return to the long-held practice of inviting pole winners from the previous season into the season-opening exhibition race, as well as any past Shootout winners who have attempted at least one start in the past year.
Similar eligibility rules were used from 1978-2008, when Coors Light became the official beer of NASCAR.
But from 2009-2012, the rules were a muddled mess that seemed to allow just about everyone into the field. The loose eligibility requirements became a long-running joke among fans and came under widespread criticism.
"Fans have expressed their desire to see this event return to its original eligibility rules," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president of racing operations. "We listened and decided it would be best to return to the eligibility rules of years past adding further meaning to pole qualifying for each NASCAR Sprint Cup race."
The new standards will create an odd marriage, though – NASCAR's pole award is sponsored by Coors Light, and Budweiser's contract with Daytona International Speedway runs through 2015.
In other words, rivals Bud and Coors will be pitted against one another while promoting the same race (NASCAR and Coors will refer to it as just the "Shootout," however).
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