Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Cash will flow at The Winston

Friday, April 18, 2003 | 10:02 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

The Winston, NASCAR's annual all-star race, is unique from other sports' all-star events in that each competitor who qualifies for the limited-field race drives as hard -- if not harder -- as he would if it were one of the 36 points races.

"It's our all-star event," Winston Cup veteran Jeff Burton said of The Winston. "It's the event we all come out and give everything we have. You don't worry about penalties, you don't worry about driving hard, you just go do what you've got to get done and that's a lot of fun.

"It's a lot different than what you see at other all-star events. When you watch the NBA all-star event, nobody plays defense. In hockey, it's a totally different deal. With our deal, the intensity gets ratcheted up rather than down and it's really a big difference."

R.J. Reynolds has given the 23 drivers already qualified for the event even more incentive this year by upping the winner's prize from $750,000 to $1 million. The 19th edition of The Winston will be Saturday, May 17, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

The Winston will again be split into three segments, with the top 20 drivers from the first 40-lap segment advancing to the 30-lap second segment. The top 14 drivers from that segment will compete for the $1 million first prize in the final 20-lap segment.

That fact that the winner of The Winston will earn $1 million is baffling to Mark Martin, winner of the 1998 event and a veteran of 21 Winston Cup seasons.

"I was here in 1981 and 1982 and it's just unbelievable where this sport has come and to have the opportunity to race for $50,000 a lap, man, I remember when $5,000 to win just spun me out," Martin said. "It's an exciting race; it's something that means an awful lot to all of the competitors."

With that much money on the line and only 20 laps in which to win it, Martin said the 14 drivers competing in the final 20-lap segment would be driving on the edge.

"I think this race pays a million dollars to win -- $50,000 a lap for the last segment -- because there's a good chance we will wreck," he said. "I wouldn't bring my very best, No. 1 car to The Winston. I did that two years in a row and tore them up, but we do the same thing at Daytona for the Bud Shootout.

"I'm real excited about it and I think there's a good chance you'll see some action."

Gordon will drive Montoya's BMW Williams F1 BMW FW25 car and Montoya will turn laps in Gordon's DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo on the track's 2.606-mile road course.

"There are a lot of things to coordinate to make this happen," Gordon said. "I'm just excited about this opportunity. It's something I've dreamed of, just getting behind the wheel of an F1 car and seeing what it was like. I don't plan on going F1 racing but I would love to just get that experience."

"The experience will be very interesting and driving a big, heavy NASCAR car will certainly be different," Montoya said. "I don't think Jeff should be concerned that I will take away his job but I will enjoy the opportunity of driving his Chevrolet and letting him take my BMW Williams F1 Team car for a drive on Indy's road course."

Originally set to debut this year, TRAC is expected to consist of six, four-car teams located in major American cities. Each team will represent its city or region in "regular-season" races and each race winner will be determined by the team with the best average finish among its four cars. The season will culminate with a championship race.

Las Vegas is one of the cities expected to field a TRAC team and Las Vegas Motor Speedway could host as many as three races in the inaugural season. The series has not yet released a schedule or a roster of teams.

Barrett, who gave up a 15-year career as a Hollywood stunt man to become a full-time racer, will return to stunt work this weekend on the set of the "Spider-Man" movie sequel being filmed in New York City.

Barrett will serve as a stunt double for actor James Franco, who is playing the role of the son of the villainous Green Goblin from the first Spider-Man movie.

By most accounts, last year's inaugural race was an overwhelming success, prompting all three entities to bring the race back to the Henderson/Boulder City area.

"Henderson and Boulder City received incredible economic and media exposure through this SCORE race last year, making it even easier to say yes this year," said Bud Pico, manager of tourism and sales for the Henderson Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.

"SCORE more than delivered last year and several of our resorts are already sold out for this year's race."

The course for this year's race has been extended from 51 to 86 miles. SCORE's motorcycle and ATV classes, which took part in the race last year, will not be competing in this year's event. 1 car to The Winston. I did that two years in a row and tore them up, but we do the same thing at Daytona for the Bud Shootout."