Bonus Program likely to add excitement to NASCAR

Thursday, Feb. 12, 1998 | 12:20 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As if winning the prestigious Daytona 500 isn't enough incentive, five drivers will have the opportunity to pocket an extra $1 million with a victory in Sunday's "Great American Race."

To help NASCAR celebrate its 50th anniversary, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has instituted the "No Bull 5" bonus program in 1998. By virtue of their top-five finishes in last year's DieHard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, John Andretti, Ken Schrader and Ernie Irvan are eligible to win the $1 million bonus by winning this weekend's Daytona 500.

In addition to the Daytona 500, the other races in the "No Bull 5" program are the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May; the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August; the Mountain Dew Southern 500 in September at Darlington Raceway; and the Winston 500 at Talladega in October.

It is conceivable that one driver could walk away with $5 million in bonus money if he sweeps all five races in the program.

"Any time that you race, you actually don't think about the money," Daytona 500 pole-sitter Terry Labonte said. "Everybody here wants to win the Daytona 500; that's the biggest race of the year, it's like our Super Bowl.

"But if one of us five guys is lucky enough to win it, we get the million-dollar bonus, so it's a great incentive. I think the No Bull 5 is going to add a lot of excitement to our series for the entire year and I think it's going to attract some new fans that probably haven't been fans in the past just because of all the attention it's going to draw."

Irvan agreed with Labonte that the bonus program will open the sport to fans who haven't paid much attention to the sport.

"They advertise all the time where basketball players are getting $7.6 million (a year) or something like that," Irvan said. "I think RJR said, 'We just need to get the purses up and the prize money up so we can have a lot of hype and get a lot of new race fans looking at our sport.

"There are a lot of fans that are maybe basketball fans and baseball fans who never really paid attention to racing. But now when you start getting the purses to $7 million and the No Bull 5, people are going to start looking at this."

Four of the five drivers eligible for the bonus this weekend -- Terry Labonte, Bobby Labonte, Schrader and Andretti -- are among the top-five qualifiers for the Daytona 500; Irvan was 14th fastest.

Schrader said that any of the five drivers have a legitimate shot at capturing the $1 million bonus.

"These five cars are obviously running real good and I sure hope one of these five wins -- but I know which one I hope wins," Schrader said. "It wouldn't be surprising (if one of us won the $1 million bonus) because these five cars are running real good. But there are 10 more out there that are running real good, too, that aren't eligible for this program."

* NO BUSCH LEAGUERS: Washington Erving Motorsports, the first minority-owned NASCAR race team in 25 years, will compete in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series this season instead of the premier Winston Cup Series. Owned by former NBA great Julius Erving and former NFL star Joe Washington, the team will make its debut this Saturday in the NAPA Auto Parts 300 at Daytona International Speedway with Jimmy Foster driving the Ford Taurus. Washington Erving Motorsports intended to field a Winston Cup team this season, but failed to get a major sponsor lined up in time for the Daytona 500. Dr Pepper will sponsor the team in the Busch Series.

* DOUBLE DUTY: Busch Series rookie Tony Stewart, the 1997 Indy Racing League champion, qualified ninth for Saturday's NAPA Auto Parts 300 in Joe Gibbs' Shell Pontiac Grand Prix. Stewart will run both the Busch and IRL series this season before moving up to Winston Cup in 1999.

* AROUND THE TRACK: Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt begins the 1998 season with a 59-race winless streak. ... Winston Cup veteran Dick Trickle is winless in each of his 252 starts in NASCAR's premier division. ... Ernie Irvan became a father for the second time Monday when his wife, Kim, gave birth to a 7-pound, 6-ounce boy, whom they named Jared Lawrence Irvan. ... Jeff Gordon will attempt to become only the fourth driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s. Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95) are the others. ... Dave Marcis, the 56-year-old stock-car veteran, is attempting to qualify for his 31st consecutive Daytona 500, extending the record he already holds. ... Today's Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying races will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis Saturday from 12:30-2:30 p.m. (PST) on CBS, following the live telecast of the Busch Series NAPA Auto Parts 300.