The practice was over and the fireworks aside, the twenty-eight drivers entered into Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout strapped in and put on one of the greatest shows in recent memory. What a way to kick off the 2009 season. Slicing and dicing throughout the event, the stars of the Sprint Cup Series put on a show any Hardcore Race Fan would enjoy.

It didn't take long for the action to heat up on the track and the carnage to begin. Going into the third turn on Lap 4, David Ragan was tapped by Robby Gordon. Ragan's No. 6 UPS Ford slid down into the side of teammate Jamie McMurray which then shot him back across the track, into the outside wall and across traffic. The track closed up quickly as cars began to pile into each other.

"I'm very disappointed," David Ragan explained. "Our UPS Ford was fine the first few laps and someone on the outside just got checked up and it was a chain reaction. I don't know who was behind me, I think it was the 7, but wasn't really paying attention and just drove into the back of us and kind of made a mess."

Rookie Joey Logano, fresh off a 80 laps in the ARCA car, was hit in the left rear quarter panel and shot hard into the outside wall.

"It's tough - you start in the back and that's kind of what happens," Logano said following his hard hit. "Just saw one get loose, checked up and then saw he was coming down so I floored ahead to the apron and just clipped me enough to send me back head-on into the wall."

Fellow Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender Scott Speed was also caught up in the Lap 4 incident. His second wreck in as many days, Speed has gotten a rough welcome to the Daytona International Speedway.

"The guys in front of me wrecked and the rest is just history," the flamboyant rookie described. "Kind of thing that happens around here - it's racing. The cars are so heavy and they're going so fast it's not actually a lot of reacting that you can do. You're pretty much committed. If you're on the top you're pretty much committed there. Sometimes it works out and you go through there looking like a hero and sometimes it doesn't."

Showing why he's one of NASCAR's best, and proving the rookie Speed has a thing or two to learn, Jeff Gordon narrowly missed not one, not two but three separate cars spinning in front of him. The two-time Budweiser Shootout winner radioed his crew saying that was one time he wish he had an in-car camera so he could watch how he got through the wreck.

Second caution of the day came on Lap 23 when Denny Hamlin who was fighting a loose race car was running in the middle off Turn 2. The No. 11 FedEx Toyota drifted into David Reutimann on his outside. Reutimann slid down the track into David Stremme who's No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge was running on the inside of Hamlin. The two cars made hard contact and shot down the backstretch through the grass.

A number of cars struggled with their handling throughout the first 25-lap segment. Before making contact with Ruetimann, Hamlin had a four-wheel slide off Turn 4 running in the middle groove. Doing an amazing job of saving the car and avoiding a 'Big One,' Hamlin was able to gather it together without incident.

"You cant even drive these things through the tri-oval," Jeff Gordon added as he radioed his crew. "They wrecked about ten times through the tri-oval."

Carl Edwards took the first segment, with teammate Jamie McMurray behind him in second, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.

The Roush Fenway Racing teammates of Edwards and McMurray led the field to the green to start the final fifty-lap segment. McMurray got a great run down the backstretch, shuffling Edwards back through the field. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushed their way to the front of the field, with Gordon taking the lead for the first time of the race on Lap 30.

Seeing an opening and never one to hesitate to fill it, Kyle Busch made it three wide for the lead with McMurray on the outside and Gordon in the middle. McMurray was able to take the advantage while Gordon was left to recover his car.

Denny Hamlin and Michael Waltrip took advantage of Busch's move and dove under Gordon making it four wide going into Turn 1 on Lap 33. Gordon was squeezed with nowhere to go and made contact with the left rear of Greg Biffle. The No. 16 slid down the track across Gordon's nose right into the No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson. Jeff Burton had nowhere to go and drove into the side of Biffle's sliding Ford, damaging the right front of the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet. Tucked right behind Burton, AJ Allmendinger made contact with the No. 31 as he made contact with Biffle. As those on the outside line squeezed to avoid the wreck, Matt Kenseth and Reed Sorenson scrapped the outside wall with minimal damage. Casey Mears went low on the track to avoid the wreck, but could do little to miss the spinning car of Biffle.

Under the caution, the field hit pit road for the first round of green flag pit stops of 2009. Using a bit of strategy, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch opted for just fuel only, while Jamie McMurray took just two tires.

It didn't take long for the field to get back to three-wide racing, but the race was slowed once again on Lap 37 when the engine gave out on Reed Sorenson's No. 43 McDonald's Dodge.

Restarting the race on Lap 48 it was a battle between Joe Gibbs Racing on the inside and Hendrick Motorsports on outside. Two-by-two racing all the way through the field broke when Brian Vickers gave the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon a great push going into Turn 3, shooting the No. 88 of Earnhardt Jr. out front.

Racing mid-pack, Michael Waltrip was tapped in the right rear sending his No. 55 NAPA Toyota hard into the backstretch wall. Waltrip and the rest of the field did an amazing job avoiding trouble, however Waltrip's day was over.

The caution flew once again on Lap 56 when Elliott Sadler was turned in the tri-oval by David Stremme. Sadler spun around back into Stremme, who's contact lifted Sadler's wheels off the ground. Again in the wrong spot at the wrong time, David Reutimann had nowhere to go and was collected in the incident.

Hitting pit road under the caution, Carl Edwards was able to win the race off as the rest of the field stacked up behind him. Both Edwards and Kyle Busch were forced to take evasive action out into the grass, but never lifted as they raced off pit road.

Busch was able to grab the lead on the restart, while he rest of the field fought tooth and nail for position behind him. Jeff Gordon got a great run on the outside and took the lead on Lap 61, but a close call with teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. sent both cars to the back of the pack on the same lap.

The fifth caution of the evening came when the No. 98 of Paul Menard broke loose coming out of Turn 4. Tucked up under Menard, Bobby Labonte got into the back of the No. 98, sending him down into the No. 88 of Earnhardt Jr. who had dropped to the back of the pack. Ahead of the wreck, but at the same time, Greg Biffle broke loose and spun across the nose of Kevin Harvick, who narrowly escaped damage.

Under caution, Brian Vickers gave up the lead to bring his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota to pit road for tires. Vickers was joined on pit road by Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.

Restarting the race with seven laps to go, McMurray attempted to hold off Jimmie Johnson and a fast approaching Matt Kenseth. Charging from the rear of the field with fresh tires, Jeff Gordon pushed the No. 29 of Kevin Harvick to the front of the field in just three laps.

Harvick and Gordon put the pressure on McMurray for the lead, but when David Stemme got into the back of Greg Biffle, bringing out the seventh caution of the day, their run momentarily stalled.

"I think that Harvick was saving his stuff till the end," Gordon told crew chief Steve Letarte. Trying to pump each other up, Letarte and Gordon sounded as confident as ever as they prepared for the final two circuits. Rick Hendrick came over the radio, telling his driver, "Man, put it on them."

Under the final caution of the evening, Tony Stewart brought his No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet in for service, along with Matt Kenseth - who had a flat tire - and Carl Edwards.

Taking the green for a green/white/checkered Jamie McMurray led the field with Jeff Gordon on his outside. The No. 26 did not get a great start, bringing Jimmie Johnson right up under the rear bumber of the McMurray. Johnson pushed up the track and into his teammate Jeff Gordon, ruining his run to the front. As Gordon reacted to the contact with his teammate, Denny Hamlin made his move under the No. 24 - who was then shuffled back through the field. Seeing an opportunity, Harvick made his move into second and got a great push from Denny Hamlin. McMurray was able to maintain the lead while they fought three and four wide behind him, but Harvick knew his it was time to go. Using the great push on he got from Hamlin, Harvick used the lesson he learned to win the 2007 Daytona 500 to move to the outside of the No. 26.

Going into Turn three for the final time McMurray bobbled as Harvick drove past. Johnson reacted to the slowing McMurray and was caught in the right rear by former teammate Casey Mears. Johnson's No. 48 broke sideways up the track into Denny Hamlin, crashing hard and collecting Brian Vickers. As they were crashing behind him Harvick drove off to his first taste of victory since his dramatic win in the Daytona 500 two years ago.

Taking the checkered flag, Harvick earned his first win in the Budweiser Shootout, his second victory at the Daytona International Speedway and his first win since that dramatic finish to the 2007 Daytona 500.

"I told them on the way over here they ought to cancel testing every year if you want to see a race like that," Harvick joked as he smiled in the media center. "That was a lot of built up race car drivers that were looking for something to hang out on the edge and I think everyone got a great show tonight."

Harvick's night was nothing spectacular until the closing laps. The No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet lost the draft on two separate occasions, made contact with the wall, received damage to his car and avoided a number of close calls with spinning cars.

"I knew we had one shot to win the race," Harvick said of his late-race charge. "I told them on the radio I think we're going to have one shot to win the race and that's probably going to be up the middle. It's not really where I wanted to be, but we got a good run going into the first corner and Denny carried up high and we just kept that momentum and luckily the car turned. As soon as I got past Denny he turned right down and he gave me a shot in the rear there and we were able to carry that momentum all the way down the straightaway. The whole wasn't very wide - just for the record."

"This has got to be one of the most exciting ones for the Budweiser Shootout," explained team owner Richard Childress. "For the fans, the price of admission tonight was well worth it. They saw a great race."

In a race in which there were a record number of leaders and a record number of lead-changes, Harvick was able to only lead the last corner in order to win. Despite Gordon's suspicion that Harvick was hanging back

"I think it was just a matter of circumstances," Harvick said of running towards the rear of the field for much of the event. "We were going right off the bat. I think we made up to 8th or 9th there in the beginning and then had the damage to fender and then I got into the wall all at the same time. I think it was just circumstances more than anything, I know it might have seemed like we were lagging back there, but we were going as hard as we could go and our goal was to get by some of the cars we felt we didn't need to be behind, that might cause an accident here or there, and in the end I think we got to show our car being fast."

In the end McMurray was able to survive the ruckus to come home second. While the driver of the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Fusion was happy to start the year off with a great run, he admitted he would second-guess his decisions on that final lap.

"It will be a long night, I will think about maybe what I should have done different as I go to sleep tonight," McMurray admitted. "I moved up to block Kevin and when I did I didn't go all the way up against the wall. I thought I was far enough up against the wall that he couldn't fit. And my reasoning for not going up against the wall is I assumed he would kind of slingshot back to the inside and I didn't want to have another four feet to move back to the inside to block him, and his car just fit through there."

Finishing the 2008 season running well, McMurray proved tonight that he will be a contender by coming out of the box strong. Reunited with former crew chief Donnie Wingo, McMurray explained it almost felt like old times again.

"I was actually a little bit nervous before the race started tonight just anticipating and wanting to get back in the car after not being in it for the last couple of months," McMurray explained. "And after practice last night I knew how well my car was driving and I thought, 'I know if we can just stay out of trouble we'll have a chance to win tonight.'

"I'm excited for my whole team because we ran so well last year at the end that you want to make it all  happen this year," McMurray added. "It's hard when you come to the white flag to let off [the gas] or drag the break a little bit. I just let those guys get too big of a gap on me."

Tony Stewart was able to make his way back up through the field and avoid the last lap crash to come home third in his first start for his own team.

"I'll take that for a debut night," Stewart explained. "It wasn't the prettiest third place spot, but we were in the right spot at the right time, finally. We know what we need to work on for the 500 and we have a good start on it."

What a race to kick off the 2009 season. The racing was intense and full of competition throughout the entire event. If the Budweiser Shootout is any indication of what the final stages of the Daytona 500 will be like, you will definitely want to tune in.