Apex Racing School Rookie Shootout

The Apex Racing School Rookie Shootout is an annual ARLA Elite Series pre-season exhibition race open only to the members of that season's rookie class.

It is the successor race to the pre-season Smash Beer Shootout, an event for pole winners from the previous season.

The race format was duplicated by the Dash Cup series, which holds its annual Rookies Only Race.

2009-2010: Daytona International Speedway
The first iteration of the Rookie Shootout was held in 2009. Future TM Master Cup driver and former RROL champion Woody Watts drew the pole (this race's polesitter, and all future ones, were determined by random draw), with Lucas Sweeney on his outside.

Several future (and former) TM Master Cup drivers were also in the field, including Matt Taylor, Marcos Leonard, and Packer Carroll.

Seiju Dejao would win the race, and earned himself a free spot in the the season-opening race as a result.

The 2010 running was marred by a massive wreck caused by the slower car of Ricky Gonzalez. Rachel Gonzalez won the race, earning herself a spot in the 2010 Daytona 200.

2011: Texas Motor Speedway
With the season-opening race shifted away from Daytona to the shorter Texas Motor Speedway, the Rookie Shootout did likewise. The Elite Series also switched to a dual-race format for the 2011 season, meaning the carrot of a guaranteed starting spot in the season-opener to the race winner no longer applied. ARLA instead offered a bonus of 25 championship points to the winner, an incentive that remains to this day.

Jacob Eichholtz won the only running of the Shootout at this racetrack.

2012: Dallas Speedpark
The 2012 running of the Shootout marked the first (and so far, only) time the event did not correspond with the season-opening race, as a tornado that hit the Dallas Speedpark in between the Shootout and the 2012 Smash Beer 400 forced the relocation of the season opener to Daytona. The Smash Beer 400 was rescheduled and eventually moved to the Lone Star Supercell in Houston.

Ashley Tucker won the race.

2013: USA International Speedway
The Shootout shifted to the USA International Speedway for 2013. This race held the distinction of fielding the largest number of cars to date (thirty), and also saw the first time a polesitter won the race, as former TM Lights driver Jim Hayes pulled off the feat.

The race was also the first time a race team, Tom Delgado Racing, had won the event twice.

Firsts

 * First event: 2009
 * First polesitter: Woody Watts (2009)
 * First winner: Seiju Dejao (2009)
 * First female finisher: Nami Mura (2009)
 * First female winner: Rachel Gonzalez (2010)
 * First race at a short track: 2012
 * First winner from pole: Jim Hayes (2013)
 * First repeat winning team: Tom Delgado Racing (2009 and 2013)
 * First driver to win Shootout and season opener in same season: Jim Hayes (2013)