Winston Million

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Winston Million was a now-defunct cash prize award program on the NASCAR Winston Cup series. From 1985-1997, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the title sponsor of NASCAR's premier circuit at the time, offered an award of $1 million for any driver who won three of the four crown jewels on the schedule. From 1998-2002, the award program was reorganized into the Winston No-Bull 5, which offered up to five $1 million bonuses during selected races to qualified drivers. As a result of R.J. Reynolds ceasing title sponsorship of NASCAR after 2003, and in the wake of the Ferko lawsuit, the program was discontinued.

1 Crown Jewels
2 Initial success
3 Trivia
4 Winston Million race winners/results (1985-1997)
5 Winston No Bull 5
6 Winston No Bull 5 winners/results

[edit] Crown Jewels

The NASCAR Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) had long since established the four crown jewels of the schedule. Such races were as follows:

Daytona 500 (known as the richest race on the circuit, held at Daytona International Speedway)
Winston 500 (known as the fastest race on the circuit, held at Talladega Superspeedway)
Coca-Cola 600 (known as the longest race on the circuit, held at Charlotte Motor Speedway)
Southern 500 (known as the oldest superspeedway race on the circuit, held at Darlington Raceway)

No driver had, or since then has, won all four events in the same season. Twice prior to 1985, a driver won three out of the four: Lee Roy Yarbrough (1969) and David Pearson (1976). Starting in 1985, R.J. Reynolds, and brand sponsor Winston, began offering a $1 million bonus for any driver to win three out of the four race in the same season. If there was no million dollar winner, a $100,000 consolation bonus would be given to the first driver to win two of the races.

[edit] Initial success

In the program's first year, Bill Elliott captured the million dollar bonus. The victory thrust him into noteriety. He became known as "Million Dollar Bill," and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The relative ease that Elliott won the bonus led many to believe that the prize would be awarded fairly often in subsequent seasons. This, however, was ultimately deceiving, as the award proved difficult to win, and at times, difficult to even have a candidate in contention to win.

[edit] Trivia

If a driver went into the Coca-Cola 600 or the Southern 500 with a chance to win the million, the race was advertised as "The Winston Million Running of the Coca-Cola 600/Southern 500"
In 1989, Darrell Waltrip became the first driver since Elliott in 1985 to have a chance at the million. He, however, was never a factor at Darlington, and settled for the $100,000 consolation
In 1990, Dale Earnhardt was leading the Daytona 500 on the final lap when he cut a tire and failed to win the race. He went on to win two other legs of the Winston Million, and would have won the million bonus had he held on to win at Daytona.
In 1992, the Southern 500 was cut short by rain, preventing Davey Allison from a chance to clinch the million. He had been in contention much of the race, and finished 5th.
From mid-1991 to mid-1992, Davey Allison won three of the four races, but it was accomplished over two seasons. He sat as defending champion of three of the crown jewels at once in a similar fashion to the "Tiger Slam".
From 1994-1996, the program was advertised as the "Winston Select Million," as R.J. Reynolds chose to promote their 'Select' brand in NASCAR.
From 1998-2004, even after the entire program was discontinued, no driver again ever managed to win three of the four original crown jewels in the same season. After 2004, the Southern 500 was discontinued, and the four crown jewels are no longer intact.

[edit] Winston Million race winners/results (1985-1997)

Season	Daytona	Talladega	Charlotte	Darlington	Notes
1985	Bill Elliott	Bill Elliott	Darrell Waltrip	Bill Elliott	Elliott won Winston Million
1986	Geoff Bodine	Bobby Allison	Dale Earnhardt	Tim Richmond
1987	Bill Elliott	Davey Allison	Kyle Petty	Dale Earnhardt
1988	Bobby Allison	Phil Parsons	Darrell Waltrip	Bill Elliott
1989	Darrell Waltrip	Davey Allison	Darrell Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt	Waltrip won $100,000 bonus
1990	Derrike Cope	Dale Earnhardt	Rusty Wallace	Dale Earnhardt	Earnhardt won $100,000 bonus
1991	Ernie Irvan	Harry Gant	Davey Allison	Harry Gant	Gant won $100,000 bonus
1992	Davey Allison	Davey Allison	Dale Earnhardt	Darrell Waltrip	Allison won $100,000 bonus
1993	Dale Jarrett	Ernie Irvan	Dale Earnhardt	Mark Martin
1994	Sterling Marlin	Dale Earnhardt	Jeff Gordon	Bill Elliott
1995	Sterling Marlin	Mark Martin	Bobby Labonte	Jeff Gordon
1996	Dale Jarrett	Sterling Marlin	Dale Jarrett	Jeff Gordon	Jarrett won $100,000 bonus
1997	Jeff Gordon	Mark Martin	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Gordon won Winston Million

[edit] Winston No Bull 5

In 1998, in preparations for the 50th anniversary of NASCAR, R.J. Reynolds decided to revamp and reintroduce the million dollar award program. Several factors contributed to the change. After thirteen seasons, the Winston Million had been won only twice, and several times, no driver won even two events. R.J. Reynolds, along with NASCAR, the drivers, and fans, wanted a new format for the award, which allowed it to be won more often, and by more drivers.

The four established crown jewels on the circuit were experiencing worthy competition. In 1994, the inauguaral Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held, and for several years, actually dethroned the Daytona 500 as the richest race of the season. The events at Richmond International Raceway were also fast becoming popular fan and driver favorites. In addition, several new venues were introduced to the schedule, all of which were offering large base purses.

The new program for 1998, titled the No Bull 5 (after a Winston marketing campaign) consisted of the four previous crown jewels (Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, Darlington) along with the Brickyard 400. The race at Talladega used for the program, however, switched to the fall race, which as a result, became known as the Winston 500. The drivers who finished in the top five of each No Bull 5 race qualified for the bonus at the next No Bull 5 race. If a qualified driver went on to win the next No Bull 5 race, he won an additional $1 million dollar bonus. In addition, five fans were chosen for each No Bull 5 race, and were paired with each of the five qualified drivers. If the driver won the bonus, the lucky fan also won $1 million.

During the No Bull 5 races, the No Bull 5 eligible drivers raced with special paint jobs. The number on the roof was painted day-glow orange, and a day-glow "$" was affixed to the passenger window. Other special decals were sometimes present. This allowed fans to quickly identify and follow the progress of the five eligible drivers.

In subsequent seasons, the races chosen for the No Bull 5 program varied. The Brickyard 400 was dropped after only one year, replaced by the Las Vegas 400. Eventually the Daytona 500 was replaced with the Pepsi 400, and the Southern 500 was replaced by the fall event at Richmond.

In its five year span, which totalled twenty-five races, 125 eligible driver spots, and 124 eligible fans (one fan qualified twice, winning neither), the million dollar bonus was won thirteen times. Jeff Gordon won it a record four times. Including his 1997 Winston Million victory, Gordon won a total of $5 million from the bonus program.

[edit] Winston No Bull 5 winners/results

The top five finishers in each race listed qualified to race for the bonus in the next No-Bull 5 race. For the first No-Bull 5 race, the 1998 Daytona 500, the top five finishers from the 1997 DieHard 500 were used.

1998