The Winston's big purse attracts NASCAR's elite

The Winston's big purse attracts NASCAR's elite

Friday, May 19, 2000

By Chris Dolack, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

CONCORD, N.C. -- It pays to win in NASCAR. Twenty Winston Cup drivers with victories or championships are invited to the series' annual all-star race, The Winston.

The payout for winning tomorrow night at Lowe's Motor Speedway is $500,000 from a $2 million purse put up by series sponsor R.J. Reynolds. It is the third-richest payday in NASCAR behind the season-opening Daytona 500 in Daytona Beach, Fla., and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But considering the format, three segments totaling 70 laps, The Winston is the richest race the elite stock car drivers will run this year.

Last year, the purse was $1.2 million with the winner, Terry Labonte, collecting $200,000.

"I can't imagine $500,000 to win -- I know what happens with $80,000 to win," said Labonte, referring to an August race at Bristol Motor Speedway when Dale Earnhardt spun Labonte out late and drove to victory. "I can remember running a whole season and if you won $500,000 it was a good year."

The format is what makes this race, which doesn't award any points, the most unique of all Winston Cup events.

Pole qualifying for The Winston begins at 7 tonight. The qualifying effort starts with a pit stop followed by three laps around the 11/2-mile trioval. The combined time of the pit stop and laps will determine who starts from the pole position, a prize worth $50,000 split between the driver and crew.

After the first 18 positions are determined, the battle for the remaining two spots begins at 8:45 p.m. with two 25-lap qualifying races for drivers who haven't won a Winston Cup event or championship over the past year.

The finishing order of the first race will set the inside row of the Winston Open; the finishing order of the second race will determine the outside row.

The Winston Open will begin at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Kyle Petty, father of Adam Petty, who was killed during a NASCAR Busch Series practice at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H., last week, said he will not participate in the races this weekend. Petty would have had to win a qualifying race to gain entry into The Winston.

The first of those qualifying races is the Winston Open. The winner automatically transfers to the field for The Winston. The Winston Open was shortened from 50 laps to 30 laps this year in honor of RJR's 30 years of sponsorship in NASCAR.

A new race, the No Bull sprint, was added this year. All drivers on the lead lap when the Winston Open concludes, other than the winner, are eligible for the No Bull Sprint, a 16-lap dash immediately after the Winston Open with the winner also advancing to The Winston.

The No Bull Sprint was set at 16 laps because this is the 16th running of The Winston. All but one of these all-star races has run at Lowe's, formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 1986 race was run at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After the two qualifying races tomorrow night, The Winston is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. The race is broken into three parts, two 30-lap races and a 10-lap dash to the checkered flag. All laps will be run under green flag conditions -- no yellow, or caution, laps will count. Race officials have the option to invert 12 cars or no cars between the first two segments. In the past two races, a minimum of three and maximum of 12 cars were inverted.

The Winston field includes 14 race winners -- John Andretti, Jeff Burton, Ward Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Joe Nemechek, Tony Stewart and Rusty Wallace.

Also in the field are Kenny Irwin, on an owners' exemption for Felix Sabates; former Winston Cup champions Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip; the 1996 winner of The Winston, Michael Waltrip; plus the winners of the Winston Open and the No Bull sprint.

"The Winston historically is the most competitive and rambunctious event in motor racing," said Lowe's Motor Speedway President H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler. "When you wind up with [20] guys running in their own back yard for 10 laps with a half-million bucks on the line, it's not only survival of the fittest, but a 10-rounder with 3,400-pound gloves."