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Winston Million
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The Winston Million was a cash prize award program on the NASCAR Winston Cup series, based on the Grand Slam concept. 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.
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Encyclopedia
The Winston Million was a cash prize award program on the NASCAR Winston Cup series, based on the Grand Slam concept. 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 entire Grand Slam was discontinued, and is longer recognized.
The Grand Slam
The NASCAR Winston Cup (now the Sprint Cup) had long since established the four crown jewels of the schedule. Such races were as follows:
No driver had ever won all four majors in the same season. Twice prior to 1985, a driver claimed a Small Slam (three out of four majors): 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 a Small Slam 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. 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" or Heinz (1989) Mountain Dew (1992, 1996, 1997) Southern 500" From 1994-1996, the program was advertised as the "Winston Select Million," as R.J. Reynolds chose to promote their 'Select' brand in NASCAR.
Initial success
In the program's first year, Bill Elliott captured the million dollar bonus. The victory thrust him into notoriety. 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.
Frustration
Following Elliott's success, over a decade of failure followed. 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, which means he could 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. Incidentally, 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" (but never won the Southern 500). Four years later in 1996, Dale Jarrett had a chance to win the million. He won at Daytona and Charlotte, and finished 0.22 seconds short of winning at Talladega (he finished 2nd to Sterling Marlin). A 14th place finish at Darlington finally foiled his chances. It would not be until 1997 that the million was won again. Jeff Gordon finally prevailed, holding off a hard charging Jeff Burton on the final lap at Darlington. The two cars touched coming around to take the white flag side-by-side, with Gordon holding on to win. A Brinks truck led him around the victory lap, spewing bags of Winston play money.
Career Grand Slam statistics
From 1998-2004, even after the entire program was discontinued, no driver again ever managed to win three of the four majors in the same season. In June 2003, NASCAR announced for the 2004 season, and with the new playoff format, the Southern 500 would move to November in order to make the race, the fourth major, an important part of the NASCAR playoffs also. Because of the Ferko lawsuit, the Southern 500 was discontinued after the 2004 playoffs. (It should be noted the May race at Darlington, for NASCAR records, is the continuation of the Rebel 500 and was never, and has never been, considered for major status.)
Three current drivers on the Sprint Cup circuit can finish a Career Grand Slam:
- Eight drivers won a Career Grand Slam:
| Driver | Daytona 500 | Aaron's 499 | Coca-Cola 600 | MD Southern 500 |
|---|
| Jeff Gordon | 1997, 1999, 2005 | 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007 | 1994, 1997, 1998 | 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002 | | Richard Petty | 1964, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981 | 1983 | 1975, 1977 | 1967 | | Dale Earnhardt | 1998 | 1990, 1994 | 1986, 1992, 1993 | 1987, 1989, 1990 | | Bobby Allison | 1978, 1982, 1988 | 1979, 1986 | 1971 | 1971, 1972, 1975, 1983 | | Darrell Waltrip | 1989 | 1982 | 1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989 | 1992 | | Jimmie Johnson | 2006 | 2006 | 2003, 2004, 2005 | 2004 | | Buddy Baker | 1980 | 1975, 1976, 1980 | 1968, 1972, 1973 | 1970, | | David Pearson | 1976 | 1972, 1973, 1974 | 1974, 1976 | 1977, 1979 | |
Winston Million race winners/results (1985-1997)
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 have more drivers involved.
The four established crown jewels on the circuit were experiencing worthy competition. In 1994, the inaugural 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 three legs of the original Grand Slam (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500) along with the Brickyard 400. The race at Talladega used for the program, however, switched from the spring race to the October race. As a result, that event changed sponsorship names and became referred to as the Winston 500. The rules were as follows:
- The drivers who finished in the top 5 of a No Bull 5 race qualified themselves for the bonus at the next No Bull 5 race.
- If one of those five drivers went on to win that next No Bull 5 race, he won a $1 million dollar bonus.
- 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 paired with him 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.
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
1999
2000
2001
2002
See also
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