Crown Jewel (NASCAR)

Historic and prestigious races in NASCAR are often called Crown Jewels. Most commonly these races are the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Southern 500. NASCAR also recognizes the Brickyard 400 as a Crown Jewel. In recent years, the Bristol Night Race has been discussed as a potential crown jewel.
From 1985 to 1997, the Winston 500 at Talladega was considered a Crown Jewel because NASCAR Cup Series sponsor Winston offered a $1-million bonus to any driver who won three out of the four races in a season. Most modern sources do not consider it a Crown Jewel race.
Winning all Crown Jewel races is sometimes referred to as a Grand Slam. Three drivers have completed a Grand Slam; Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, and Jimmie Johnson have accomplished the feat three times apiece.

History

In 1984, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company announced at the Waldorf Astoria New York during the annual year end awards banquet two new events that would define NASCAR for years to come. The first was an invitation only, "all-star" exhibition race called The Winston. The other announcement was that they were formally elevating the sport's four majors into a formal Grand Slam with a cash prize bonus, known as the Winston Million. The long established and recognized major events were as follows:

Daytona 500 – held in February at Daytona International Speedway
Winston 500 – held in late April or early May at Talladega Superspeedway
Coca-Cola 600 – held Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Southern 500 – held Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway

Prior to 1985, no driver had ever won all four races in the same season. Only once had a driver won three out of the four races: David Pearson in 1976. LeeRoy Yarbrough won Daytona, Charlotte, and Darlington in 1969, prior to the first race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Winston Million

From 1985 to 1997, R. J. Reynolds and brand sponsor Winston offered a 1 million bonus to any driver who won three out of the four races in a single calendar year season. If there was no million-dollar winner, a $100,000 consolation bonus would be given to the first driver to win two of the four races.
If a driver went into the Coca-Cola 600 or the Southern 500 with a chance to win the million, the race was advertised as the "Winston Million Running of the Coca-Cola 600" or the "Winston Million Running of the Southern 500". From 1994 to 1996, the program was advertised as the "Winston Select Million", as R. J. Reynolds elected to promote Winston's "Select" brand of cigarettes.

Initial success

In the Winston Million program's first year, Bill Elliott captured the million-dollar bonus, and the victory thrust him into superstardom. He dominated the season-opening Daytona 500, then won the Winston 500 at an all-time NASCAR record speed. He remarkably came back from two laps down, having lost the laps due to having to pit due to a broken oil fitting, and he subsequently made the laps up under green. After suffering mechanical problems at Charlotte, Elliott captured the million dollar bonus at Darlington, taking command after Cale Yarborough lost power steering.
Elliott became known as "Million Dollar Bill" and appeared on the September 9, 1985 cover of Sports Illustrated.

Frustration

The relative ease with which Elliott had won the Winston Million led many to believe that the bonus would be awarded fairly often in subsequent seasons. This would ultimately prove untrue, as the award was difficult to win, and at times, it was difficult to even have a driver in contention to win.

In 1989, Darrell Waltrip became the first driver since Elliott to have a chance at the Million, after he won at Daytona and Charlotte. He was never a factor at Darlington, though, hitting the notorious Turn 4 wall during the Southern 500. Waltrip settled for the $100,000 consolation prize.
In 1990, Dale Earnhardt was leading the Daytona 500 on the final lap when he cut a tire and failed to win the race. He went on to win at Talladega and Darlington, meaning that he would have claimed the bonus had he held on to win at Daytona.
In 1992, rain cut the Southern 500 short, robbing Davey Allison of a chance to clinch both the Million and the Career Grand Slam. He had been in contention much of the race, but finished fifth after a late pit stop shuffle. That race ended on fuel strategy as Waltrip stayed out on the track and was leading when rain stopped the race on lap 293. With the win, Waltrip finished off a Career Grand Slam.
In 1996, Dale Jarrett had a chance to win the Million. He won at Daytona and Charlotte, and had finished just 0.22 seconds shy of winning at Talladega, but hit the wall early in the notoriously narrow Turn 3 at Darlington, which led to a 14th-place finish.
Final running

It would not be until 1997, the program's final year of existence, that the Million was won again. Jeff Gordon won the season-opening Daytona 500, but finished fifth in the Winston 500. He had to win the Coca-Cola 600 to keep his Winston Million opportunity alive, which he did. Gordon clinched the Winston Million by winning the Southern 500, holding off a hard-charging Jeff Burton on the final lap. The two cars touched coming around Turn 4 to take the white flag side-by-side, with Gordon holding on to win his third of four consecutive Southern 500 wins, a record in NASCAR majors. A Brinks truck led him around the victory lap, spewing bags of Winston play money.

Winston Million race winners/results (1985–1997)

Winston No Bull 5

In 1998, in preparations for the 50th anniversary of NASCAR, R. J. Reynolds decided to revamp and reintroduce the million dollar award program. Several factors contributed to the change. After thirteen seasons, the Winston Million had been won only twice, and several times, no driver won even two events. R. J. Reynolds, along with NASCAR, the drivers, and fans, wanted a new format for the award, which allowed it to be won more often and have more drivers involved.
The new program for 1998, titled the No Bull 5 consisted of three legs of the original Grand Slam along with the Brickyard 400. The race at Talladega used for the program, however, was switched from the spring race to the October race. As a result, that event changed sponsorship names and became referred to as the Winston 500. The rules were as follows:

The drivers who finished in the top 5 of a No Bull 5 race qualified themselves for the bonus at the next No Bull 5 race.
If one of those five drivers went on to win that next No Bull 5 race, he won a $1 million bonus.
Five fans were chosen for each No Bull 5 race, and were paired with each of the five qualified drivers. If the driver won the bonus, the lucky fan paired with him also won $1 million.

During the No Bull 5 races, the No Bull 5 eligible drivers raced with special paint jobs. The number on the roof and the rear spoiler was painted day-glow orange because many cars were painted red, and a day-glow "$" was affixed to the passenger window along with a red dot on the windshield in races prior to 2001. Other special decals were sometimes present. This allowed fans to quickly identify and follow the progress of the five eligible drivers. The only exception was the 1998 Daytona 500 where eligible drivers had silver numbers instead of the orange.
In subsequent seasons, the races chosen for the No Bull 5 program varied. The Brickyard 400 was dropped after only one year, replaced by the Las Vegas 400. Eventually the Daytona 500 was replaced with the Pepsi 400, and the Southern 500 was replaced by the fall event at Richmond.
In its five-year span, which totalled twenty-five races, 125 eligible driver spots, and 124 eligible fans, the million dollar bonus was won thirteen times. Jeff Gordon won it a record four times. Including his 1997 Winston Million victory, Gordon won a total of $5 million from the bonus program.

Winston No Bull 5 winners/results

The top five finishers in each race listed qualified to race for the bonus in the next No-Bull 5 race. For the first No-Bull 5 race, the 1998 Daytona 500, the top five finishers from the 1997 DieHard 500 were used.
1998

Daytona 500 – no winner
Coca-Cola 600 – no winner
Brickyard 400 – Jeff Gordon
Pepsi Southern 500 – Jeff Gordon
Winston 500 – Dale Jarrett

1999

Daytona 500 – Jeff Gordon
Las Vegas 400 – no winner
Coca-Cola 600 – Jeff Burton
The 50th Pepsi Southern 500 – Jeff Burton
Winston 500 – no winner

2000

Daytona 500 – Dale Jarrett
CarsDirect.com 400 – Jeff Burton
Coca-Cola 600 – no winner
Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 – no winner
Winston 500 – Dale Earnhardt

2001

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 – Jeff Gordon
*Mike Skinner, who finished sixth at the 2000 Winston 500, participated in No Bull 5 promotion following Dale Earnhardt's death in the Daytona 500.
Coca-Cola 600 – no winner
Pepsi 400 – no winner
Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 – no winner
EA Sports 500 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2002

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 – no winner
Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 – Mark Martin
Pepsi 400 – no winner
Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 – no winner
EA Sports 500 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Crown Jewel races

NASCAR Crown Jewel races generally include the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, along with the Brickyard 400, which has been considered by many to be a Crown Jewel event since its inception in 1994. Despite being included in the Winston Million, Talladega is not included as a Crown Jewel race in modern sources. Some drivers and media members consider the Bristol Night Race a fifth Crown Jewel event.

Crown Jewel race results

Formation (1950–1984)

The first running of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in 1950 was the first NASCAR race on a large speedway. It has become known as NASCAR's "oldest superspeedway race". The Talladega event was originally known as the Alabama 500 in 1970, becoming the Winston 500 from 1971 to 1997. It has been scheduled in April or May since its inception. With the addition of this race, it became possible to win all four majors in a season to complete a Grand Slam, although that feat has never been accomplished. The Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 have held relatively constant dates since their inaugural race, with the Daytona 500 always held in February and the Coca-Cola 600 always scheduled for Memorial Day weekend.

Season	Daytona	Talladega	Charlotte	Darlington	Notes
1950	Not held	Not held	Not held	Johnny Mantz	Inaugural Southern 500
1951	Not held	Not held	Not held	Herb Thomas
1952	Not held	Not held	Not held	Fonty Flock
1953	Not held	Not held	Not held	Buck Baker
1954	Not held	Not held	Not held	Herb Thomas
1955	Not held	Not held	Not held	Herb Thomas
1956	Not held	Not held	Not held	Curtis Turner
1957	Not held	Not held	Not held	Speedy Thompson
1958	Not held	Not held	Not held	Fireball Roberts
1959	Lee Petty	Not held	Not held	Jim Reed	Inaugural Daytona 500
1960	Junior Johnson	Not held	Joe Lee Johnson	Buck Baker	Inaugural World 600
1961	Marvin Panch	Not held	David Pearson	Nelson Stacy
1962	Fireball Roberts	Not held	Nelson Stacy	Larry Frank
1963	Tiny Lund	Not held	Fred Lorenzen	Fireball Roberts
1964	Richard Petty	Not held	Jim Paschal	Buck Baker
1965	Fred Lorenzen	Not held	Fred Lorenzen	Ned Jarrett
1966	Richard Petty	Not held	Marvin Panch	Darel Dieringer
1967	Mario Andretti	Not held	Jim Paschal	Richard Petty
1968	Cale Yarborough	Not held	Buddy Baker	Cale Yarborough
1969	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Not held	LeeRoy Yarbrough	LeeRoy Yarbrough	Yarbrough became first driver to win three Crown Jewels in a single season
1970	Pete Hamilton	Pete Hamilton	Donnie Allison	Buddy Baker	Inaugural Alabama 500 Single-year Grand Slam became possible
1971	Richard Petty	Donnie Allison	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison
1972	A. J. Foyt	David Pearson	Buddy Baker	Bobby Allison
1973	Richard Petty	David Pearson	Buddy Baker	Cale Yarborough
1974	Richard Petty	David Pearson	David Pearson	Cale Yarborough
1975	Benny Parsons	Buddy Baker	Richard Petty	Bobby Allison
1976	David Pearson	Buddy Baker	David Pearson	David Pearson	Pearson became the first driver to complete a Grand Slam and second driver to win three Crown Jewel races in a season.
1977	Cale Yarborough	Darrell Waltrip	Richard Petty	David Pearson
1978	Bobby Allison	Cale Yarborough	Darrell Waltrip	Cale Yarborough
1979	Richard Petty	Bobby Allison	Darrell Waltrip	David Pearson	Allison completes Grand Slam
1980	Buddy Baker	Buddy Baker	Benny Parsons	Terry Labonte	Baker completes Grand Slam
1981	Richard Petty	Bobby Allison	Bobby Allison	Neil Bonnett
1982	Bobby Allison	Darrell Waltrip	Neil Bonnett	Cale Yarborough
1983	Cale Yarborough	Richard Petty	Neil Bonnett	Bobby Allison	Petty completes Grand Slam
1984	Cale Yarborough	Cale Yarborough	Bobby Allison	Harry Gant