NASCAR is back, baby! Hopefully drivers, crews, media members, and, yes, fans got their honey-do lists knocked out in the short two-and-a-half month offseason. And NASCAR teams better have their Daytona lists cleared as well, because Speedweeks is here. Since the mid-January test sessions at the beach, some teams have just come together, meaning the Daytona 500 practice sessions Saturday were probably the first times they worked together or maybe even met. They may be behind the eight ball, but restrictor plates are incredible equalizers, keeping even small teams within a second of the titans.

But before the Daytona 500, we have the Bud Shootout  - and a Shootout it was Saturday night. Here is what we saw then and what we should expect later at Daytona.

Busch’s win overshadowed by Busch’s saves

Most headlines involving “Busch” in the last few months have been negative, but the tide could be turning for Kyle. Saturday night’s Bud Shootout was a microcosm showcase of why most in the sport consider Busch the driver with the rawest talent in NASCAR. On two different occasions, a driver hooked Busch in the left rear, spinning him toward the apron. The first save was unreal: the No. 18 spun toward the apron, looked destined to shoot back into traffic, but stayed out of the groove. Busch even managed to avoid spinning at all, meaning the race stayed green. Busch rejoined the second pack and was back in the draft within seconds.

Toward the end of the race, Busch got spun again, this time again spinning into the apron and then slightly getting back into the low-lane on the track. While the spin was part of the massive crash that sent Gordon airborne and flipping in his No. 24, Busch’s spin didn’t even cause the melee. Instead, after Gordon hooked Busch, the four-time champ tried to avoid the spinning car by taking to the high lane, where he found the side of Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 56 Toyota. That is what piled up a large portion of the field, while Busch simply half-spun out of the way.

Of course, the most miraculous part of the whole ordeal is that Busch still won the race. The No. 18 kept resolve that would have dissolved in the past. Busch hooked up with Tony Stewart in the closing laps and rode to the front, before executing a perfect slingshot pass at the last second of the last lap to nose Stewart by .012 seconds at the finish line. That is drama.

Here is Busch's first save. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgi1M4yG1AQ

Then his next move...much like the first (if you want to skip right to it, fast forward two minutes and 15 seconds). 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO-RrWFX6lU

But where does Busch’s save rank? It reminds me of two legendary saves. The first (this may be blasphemy) is Dale Earnhardt’s “Pass in the Grass” in the 1987 Winston All-Star race, where he sent his No. 3 into the grass and then back onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway track surface to block Bill Elliott from passing for the lead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtZW_ZB4aMA

It also reminds me of another miraculous save. In the 2005 February Nationwide (then Busch Series) race at Daytona, Tony Stewart, piloting Kevin Harvick’s No. 33 Chevy, tried to pull in front of another car and got turned into the grass. Stewart barely lifted, drove straight through the grass, and then careened back onto the track, missing a slew of cars and saving his own. And much like Earnhardt and Busch, Stewart won that race too. It was studly…be sure and check out the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrMxIq2rOAQ

Busch may not be popular like Earnhardt and Stewart, but his maneuvers at the end of the Bud Shooutout might have earned him a few more fans and maybe, just maybe, some respect from his haters. Captain Herb Emory has already given me a heckuva time for lauding Busch’s efforts.

Has tandem-drafting gone “tango uniform”?

Pack racing returned to NASCAR Saturday, after a one-year hiatus. While some on Twitter praised this drafting as “the return of old school drafting”, it actually was the exact same drafting we saw in 2010…just two years ago. And what we saw in the Bud Shootout were racecars that were more temperamental than ever when being bumped – especially in the left rear. Each of the big wrecks involved one driver, whether they could help it or not, pushing the left rear of another. The first of those was caused by David Ragan in his brand new No. 34 Ford. After the crash, Ragan said that the new, small spoilers (which look more like blades on the cars’ rear deck lids), make the cars very likely so spin when they get bumped, particularly in the left rear. Clint Bowyer complained of the same problem, as he spun when teammate Truex Jr. bump drafted him. Other drivers also shared the same sentiments.

NASCAR seems to have quelled the “Noah’s Ark” drafting, but not completely. Drivers may stay in packs and not pair off during most of the race, but time and again in recent years we have seen the best strategy for drivers is to tandem draft the heck out of each other in the closing laps. That is what Stewart and Busch did Saturday, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick did at Talladega in April 2010, Harvick and Bowyer did at Talladega in October 2010, and what Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski did at Talladega in April 2009. Even still, at least drivers’ fates are not solely dependent on one other driver.

The changes NASCAR did make to the cars have caused overheating issues, even during qualifying and especially, it seems, with Chevrolets. The sanctioning body did say Monday it may look into allowing more air flow or for more pressure in the cars’ cooling systems to deal with this. Hopefully this will not resurrect the tandem pods.

Is Budweiser shutting out The Shootout?

NASCAR sent out a press release Sunday morning, indicating that the field for the 2013 Shootout would be determined by 2012 pole winners and past Shootout winners only. Fair enough – there did seem to be too many drivers in the field Saturday night. But two things stuck out in this development. When NASCAR changed the format from the “pole winners qualify” model a few years ago, they did so because Coor’s, instead of Budweiser, started sponsoring the weekly pole award. Also, Budweiser’s name was never mentioned in the press release – anywhere. This certainly raises some suspicion about Bud’s association with a race it has sponsored in some form for over 30 years.

I emailed NASCAR Senior Directions of Competition Communications Kerry Tharp about this Sunday. Tharp responded, “As of today nothing is changed.  Budweiser has been a long standing partner with Daytona and the current partnership is through 2015.”

But, Budweiser seemingly could still be a “partner” at Daytona and not sponsor The Shootout. And Anheuser Busch has lessened its presence in NASCAR the past few years, whittling down from their mega-sponsorship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 2000-2007, to roughly only 2/3 of a season on Harvick’s No. 29 Chevy. Could this all be evidence of another prominent NASCAR sponsor name change? If so, it would be just about the longest running sponsor partnership in NASCAR – and that is saying something. Ironically, if Saturday was Bud’s last hurrah sponsoring the Shootout, it was one of the most memorable of all time.

Doug will be covering Speedweeks events at Daytona Friday through Monday. Turn here for the latest coverage and hear live reports on AM-750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB. Follow Doug on Twitter (@DougTurnbull) and get more NASCAR updates from Captain Herb (@CaptainHerbWSB) and Jason Durden (@JasonDurden). Get the full race weekend run down with Captain Herb’s FastCar Newsdesk every week on CaptainHerb.net.