The 2012 Budweiser Shootout was the first exhibition stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on February 18, 2012, before a crowd of 82,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida, at the Daytona International Speedway, one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races. The 82-lap race was won by Kyle Busch (pictured) of the Joe Gibbs Racing team. It was Busch's first victory in the event; Tony Stewart finished second and Marcos Ambrose came in third. The race saw twenty-six lead changes, shared among thirteen drivers. Before the first turn, pole position driver Martin Truex, Jr. was passed by Jeff Gordon, and at the end of the first lap, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. led. On the ninth lap, a multiple-car accident prompted the first caution flag. Sixteen laps later the second caution was issued, with Jamie McMurray leading. During the caution period, all teams made pit stops. On lap 62 Gordon reclaimed the lead and held it until his car hit the wall and rolled over, prompting the fifth and final caution. Stewart took the lead, but in the final lap, Busch passed him to win. The race attracted 7.46 million television viewers.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Budweiser_Shootout

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1766:

A mutiny by captive Malagasy began at sea on the slave ship Meermin, leading to the ship's destruction on Cape Agulhas in present- day South Africa and the recapture of the instigators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meermin_slave_mutiny

1878:

Competition between two merchants in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, US, turned into a range war when a member of one faction was murdered by the other. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_County_War

1943:

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, delivered the "total war speech" to motivate the German people when the tide of World War II was turning against Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech

1977:

NASA's first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, made its first "flight" atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise

2010:

Rebels attacked the presidential palace in Niamey, Niger, and replaced President Mamadou Tandja with a ruling junta, the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Nigerien_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

quoit: 1. A flat disc of metal or stone thrown at a target in the game of quoits. 2. A ring of rubber or rope similarly used in the game of deck-quoits. 3. The flat stone covering a cromlech. 4. The discus used in ancient sports. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quoit

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.   --Yoko Ono https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yoko_Ono