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NASCAR WCUP: Contest winner,Kenny Bernstein to watch Earnhradt Jr. 'racing for gold' in Bristol

26 August 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

$5 Million at Stake as Earnhardt Jr. Salutes U.S. Olympic Team With Special Paint Scheme for goracing.com 500

BRISTOL, Tenn.- If you ask Karrie Millheim to name her two favorite race car drivers, chances are she'll say Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenny Bernstein of the Budweiser Racing team. That's because if Earnhardt Jr. wins the NASCAR Winston Cup goracing.com 500 here Saturday night, and Bernstein wins the NHRA U.S. Nationals Top Fuel event in Indianapolis Sept. 4, Millheim, from Cape Coral, Florida, will win $2.25 million from Budweiser.

As grand prize winner of the Budweiser "Race for the Gold" online sweepstakes, Millheim already has won two all-expense-paid trips - here for Saturday night's race and to Sydney, Australia, to root on the U.S. Olympic Team next month - in addition to the chance at $2.25 million. She and Bernstein, a former Winston Cup team owner, will watch the goracing.com 500 from Earnhardt Jr.'s pit Saturday night. If Earnhardt Jr. wins, he will travel to Indianapolis with Millheim to root on Bernstein.

As part of the $5 million promotion, Budweiser also will award $2.25 million to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and $250,000 each to Earnhardt Jr. and Bernstein, if they win their races in Bristol and Indianapolis, respectively.

"I was shocked when I heard the message from Budweiser - I thought my husband was playing a joke on me," said Millheim, who registered for the program at www.budweiser.com. "I can't wait to meet Dale Jr. and Kenny, and even if I don't win the $2.25 million, I'm sure I'll always remember the trips to Sydney and Bristol."

To promote the "Race for the Gold" program, Earnhardt Jr. will be racing a car with a special paint scheme for the first time in his Winston Cup career. The Budweiser red paint scheme, featuring blue stripes, blue and white stars and the logo of the U.S. Olympic team, salutes the American men and women who will be going for the gold next month in Sydney. Bernstein's Bud King Top Fuel dragster will have a similar paint scheme at next weekend's U.S. Nationals.

"I couldn't imagine the Bristol night race being any more exciting, but this Budweiser promotion certainly adds something special," Earnhardt Jr. said. "Five million dollars?! Man, that's awesome! We always try our best, but knowing that this deal is on the line for Karrie and the U.S. Olympic Team will make me and the Budweiser team try that much harder."

Text Provided By Jade Gurss

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.