NASCAR WCUP: No Bull Five action set for Richmond
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 31, 2001MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - It looked like a classic confrontation on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. Their speeds reached nearly 40 mph as they raced to the checkered flag!
Forty miles an hour? At Myrtle Beach? Don't you mean something like 170 mph at Darlington?
Not this time. Five of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' biggest stars traded paint, competing against one another in a 10-minute go-kart race for the right to represent five lucky fans. It's all a part of the Winston No Bull 5 "They Win, You Win" fan sweepstakes at the fourth Winston No Bull 5 event of the season, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond International Raceway next Saturday night.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, Ward Burton and 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte were each paired tonight, via the go-kart competition, with five fans selected at random through a nationwide drawing. Together, each pairing will pursue a total of $2 million ($1 million driver bonus, $1 million fan bonus) as part of the Winston No Bull 5 event at Richmond, Va., Saturday night, Sept.8, 2001.
The go-kart competition took place at NASCAR Speedpark in Myrtle Beach. The drivers' finishing order determined the fan with which they would be paired.
Prior to the go-kart race, the fans' names had been randomly placed on a scoreboard with their names hidden. After the NASCAR Speedpark competition, the finishing order was placed next to the concealed names. The fan's names were revealed showing how the fans and drivers would be paired.
Burton dominated the 10-minute race and took the checkered flag with relative ease. He'll be paired with Doris DeBerry from Savannah, Tenn. Sadler finished second and is paired with Sharon Bauer from Peoria, Ill. Labonte survived a vicious t-bone from Earnhardt and finished third. Labonte's fan is Eric Wolf from Peotone, Ill. Waltrip came home in fourth place and will be driving for Allen Fitch from Hamptonville, N.C. Earnhardt's car could not be repaired making him the fifth-place finisher. His Winston No Bull 5 fan is Joseph Brennan from Eufaula, Ala.
Through the Winston No Bull 5 program, drivers become eligible to win the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus by finishing in the top-five at the previous Winston No Bull 5 event. The five races comprising the Winston No Bull 5 in 2001 are, in chronological order: the Las Vegas 400 (March 4); the Coca-Cola 600 (May 27) at Charlotte; the Pepsi 400 (July 7) at Daytona Beach, Fla.; the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (Sept. 8) at Richmond, Va., and the EA Sports 500 (Oct. 21) at Talladega, Ala.
Eligible drivers at the 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 were determined by the top-five finishers at the third Winston No Bull 5 event of the season, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July.
If all five qualified drivers fail to capture the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus at a particular Winston No Bull 5 event, the bonus will not roll over to the next event. Each Winston No Bull 5 event is worth $1 million to the qualified drivers.
If a qualified driver wins a Winston No Bull 5 event, one fan will also win million-dollar bonus check as part of Winston's "They Win, You Win" sweepstakes. Five fans are eligible at each Winston No Bull 5 event. They are selected at random through a nationwide sweepstakes program, and then each is paired, at random, with one of the eligible Winston No Bull 5 drivers. If an eligible driver wins the Winston No Bull 5 bonus, then the fan paired with that driver will also win a $1 million check from Winston.
Text provided by Denny Darnell
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