• Race: Saturday, May 20, 2000 in Charlotte, NC
  
  
• TV: TNN 7:30pm/et, The Winston Open (30 laps & 16 laps) and 9:00pm/et The Winston (30 laps/30 laps/10 laps)
  
  
• Posted Awards/Purse: minimum $2,000,000, $500,000 to the winner; Winner’s share – Minimum $500,000; First Segment Bonuses – 1st - $50,000; 2nd - $15,000; 3rd - $7,500; Second Segment Bonuses – 1st - $50,000; 2nd - $15,000; 3rd - $7,500.
  
  
• The Winston Qualifying purse: $65,000; 1st - $50,000 ($25,000 to driver, $25,000 to crew); 2nd - $10,000; 3rd - $5,000
  
  
• No Bull 25s: $71,000 purse each race; 1st - $25,000; 2nd - $3,500; 3rd - $3,200
  
  
• NOL Entry List: The Winston/Winston Open Entry List
  
  
• Entry List/Drivers Eligible: The Winston 2000 Rules and Regs, Eligible Drivers, Winston Open News
  
  
• 1999 Race Winner: Terry Labonte
  
  
• 1999 Winston Open Winner: Tony Stewart
  
  
• 1999 Twin No Bull 25s Winners: Race #1 – Mike Skinner; Race #2 – Tony Stewart
  
  
• Track/Race Length: 1.5 mile quad-oval, 70 laps, 105 miles for the Winston
  
  
• The Race Format: 70 laps, 105 miles (run in three segments of 30 laps, 30 laps and 10 laps). Only green-flag laps will count in all three segments. Drivers who are on pit road and are lapped by the pace car will be scored a lap down. It will be determined between the first and second segments whether or not 12 cars will be inverted
  
  
• Winston Practice: Friday, May 19 10:30-11:25pm/et and 2:00-3:55pm/et and after the Winston Open No Bull 25's; Saturday, May 20th, 1:00-1:40pm/et and 2:30-3:10pm/et
  
  
• Winston Open Practice: 11:30am - 12:30pm/et and 1:00 - 1:55pm/et(practice times will determine starting positions for the No Bull 25s); Saturday, May 20th, 1:45 - 2:25 pm/et and 3:15 - 4:00 pm/et
  
  
• Qualfying Order - The Winston: NASCAR Online and That's Racin'
  
  
• Qualifying for the Winston: Total elapsed time of three laps, including a mandatory four-tire pit stop prior to the first lap, Friday, May 19th at 7:00pm/et, TV-TNN tape delayed - 9:00–11:30am/et on Saturday, May 20th and live via MRN radio/internet(link below)
  
  
• Qualifying Race's for the Winston Open: Friday, May 19th at 8:45pm/et - The Winston Open No Bull 25s -twin 25-lap races, TV-TNN tape delayed from 9:00–11:30am/et on Saturday, May 20th and live via MRN radio/internet(link below)
  
  
• Last Year's Pole Sitter: Bobby Labonte, 110.332 seconds for three laps and a mandatory two-tire pit stop. Labonte’s speed of 146.830 mph and his crew’s pit stop time of 9.844 seconds set a new record for The Winston qualifying
  
  
• Pit Road Speed: 45mph
  
  
• NASCAR Online will have live lap-by-lap coverage of Winston Cup qualifying via the web
  
  

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• History of the Winston at: the Lowes Motor Speedway Site
  
  

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  Track Specs:
  Superspeedway: 1.5-mile quad oval
  Banking: turns: 24 degrees; straights: 5 degrees
  
  
• Track Homepage: Lowes Motor Speedway
  
  
• Scanner Frequencies: are linked on my Racing Links Page/ Scanners Section
  
  
• Goodyear Tire Notes - The Winston/Coca Cola 600(5-19-2000)
  
  

IN-CAR AUDIO SITES

PREVIEW, FACT SHEETS and MISC News

• Walkway Collapse at Lowes UPDATEs: from SpeedVision - Following the conclusion of The Winston at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a pedestrian walkway that stretches across U.S. Highway 29 outside the speedway partially collapsed, falling across the southbound lanes on Hwy. 29. The walkway crosses the highway off the outside of Turn 4 of the track. There are injuries involved, but we have no official word yet on numbers involved; current estimates by Concord Police are 30-50. The highway has been closed, causing a huge traffic hack-up(SpeedVision) and from NASCAR Online: Pedestrian walkway at LMS collapses
  UPDATE: from the AP via That's Racin': Ten people were taken to hospitals late Saturday after a concrete walkway over a highway in front of Lowe's Motor Speedway collapsed as fans left The Winston. About 30 feet of the 15-foot-high walkway that spans the four-lane highway and connects the track to a parking lot collapsed at about 11:15 p.m. after The Winston. The bridge snapped at the center and was folded in half, laying in the road. Authorities were not sure exactly how many people were injured. But 10 people were transported to hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries AND an UPDATE from SpeedVision: Lowe’s Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler held a brief press conference at 12:30am/et in which he stated that 75 people had been injured, and that approximately 75 people were on the affected span when it collapsed. He said that there were no known fatalities, and a variety of injuries. He said that there were no cars or people under the bridge when it collapsed. Wheeler said that an investigation will begin immediately to determine the cause of the collapse. He said there was no indication of trouble with the bridge, which he described as having been built to Department of Transportation specifications in 1995. At 12:38, the Concord Fire Department says that all injured victims have been transported to area hospitals. Thanks to John Gardner of SpeedVision and Jenna Fryer of the AP for the news.
  UPDATE 2: more news..There were no reported fatalities, and by 2:30am, a total of 78 injured victims had been admitted to area hospitals. The majority of the injuries were minor, ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones. A small number were reported to be in serious condition or in intensive care. See full stories and pictures at: SpeedVision and the Charlotte Observer which lists phone numbers of the Carolinas Medical Center, NorthEast Medical Center and Cabarrus County Hospitals where the fans were taken. And an MS/NBC/AP report has the count at 90: Walkway buckles at NASCAR race Pedestrian overcrossing collapses; at least 90 injured. And from the Ap.org site(10:37am): Experts this morning are examining the concrete walkway that collapsed late last night at Lowe's Motor Speedway racetrack, critically injuring 13 people. My thoughts and prayers out to those injured(5-21-2000)
  UPDATE 3: statements by Humpy Wheeler were made during a press briefing at 3pm/et in front of the temporary N.C. Highway Patrol office on U.S. Hwy. 29 – still closed to traffic – across the Lowe's Motor Speedway. See those statements at SpeedVision: Lowe's Bridge Press Conference. Also of note: have heard from some folks at the scene who have said the emergency crews outside LMS were fantastic following the collapse, were on the scene almost immediately and in total control. Emergency personnel were quick to arrive and give assistance to those that needed it most. Thanks(5-22-2000)
  
  
• TNN Motorsports: The Winston Photo Scrapbook
  
  
• Humpy's Picks: for the last twelve years, H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler of Lowes Motor Speedway, predicts the winner of the Winston. His record? eight winners in the last dozen Winstons. This year he picks #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr, with #31-Mike Skinner winning the Open and either #28-Ricky Rudd or #26-Jimmy Spencer winning the No Bull Sprint. Rudd has a streak going, running all 15 of the previous Winstons. See full story at SpeedVision: The Winston Humpy Picks Junior (5-16-2000)
  
  
• Some The Winston Stats: 55 drivers have raced in The Winston. Three drivers have been in all fifteen races (Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip). Michael Waltrip is the only driver to win from the Winston Open (1996). Best average finish: Sterling Marlin best all-time at 6.9, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon best eligible drivers - 7.1. Wins By Manufacturer: Chevy - 8, Ford - 6, Pontiac - 1 (TNN Motorsports)(5-18-2000)
  
  
• From the TNN Site: The Winston Race Stats by their stat guru Bill Sloboda(5-18-2000)
  
  
• WRAL: NASCAR - The Winston Preview(5-17-2000)
  
  
• The Winston Fast Facts(TNN)(5-17-2000)
  
  

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  QUALIFYING, PRACTICE and RESULTS news and links

• The Winston - Final: #8-Dale Earnhardt wins the Winston and the $500,000, the first rookie ever to win the Winston. Humpy Wheeler picks another winner his 9th in the last 13 Winston All-Star races. #88-Dale Jarrett drove his smoking Ford to a 2nd place finish with #3-Dale Earnhardt was 3rd. Result can be seen at NOL and Racin' Net(5-20-2000)
  
  
• The Winston Open: #1-Steve Park won the Winston Open and advances to The Winston and will start 19th. #25-Jerry Nadeau wins the No Bull Sprint and advances to the Winston and will start 20th. #28-Ricky Rudd misses his first Winston. #60-Geoffrey Bodine crashed out early in the Winston Open in what may be his last race in the #60 Chevy(see story above). Also, #5-Terry Labonte does not have the Cherry Berry Swirl/Froot Loops scheme but the regular Kelloggs scheme with Tony the Tiger on the side. See results at NOL: Winston Open and No Bull Sprint, see the full lineup at NOL(5-20-2000)
  
  
• The Winston - Segment #2: was won by #94-Bill Elliott, 2nd went to #88-Dale Jarrett and 3rd to #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. See the second segment results at NASCAR Online. No inversion for the 3rd and final 10 lap shootout which should be wild(5-20-2000)
  
  
• The Winston - Segment #1: was won by #94-Bill Elliott, 2nd went to #6-Mark Martin and 3rd to #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. See the first segment results at NASCAR Online. The decision to invert the first tweleve was done by a lottery type machine with yellow and red balls. If a yellow came up, they would invert, if a red came up, it would stay as segment one finished. A Yellow ball came up and #33-Joe Nemechek started segment two on the pole(5-20-2000)
  
  
• Winston Open 2nd Practice: #31-Mike Skinner was the fastest at 175.809mph. Four drivers did not practice: #25-Jerry Nadeau, #26-Jimmy Spencer, #60-Geoffrey Bodine; and #97-Chad Little. See the speeds at NOL and Racin' Network(5-20-2000)
  
  
• The Winston - Saturday PM Practice: #94-Bill Elliott was the fastest at 176.695mph. Skipping the practice were three drivers: #6-Mark Martin, #33-Joe Nemechek and #99-Jeff Burton. See the speeds at NOL and Racin' Network(5-20-2000)
  
  
• The Winston - Saturday AM Practice: #6-Mark Martin was the fastest at 177.020mph. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr didn't practice in the session, no idea why. See the speeds at NOL and Racin' Network(5-20-2000)
  
  
• Winston Open 1st Practice: #93-Dave Blaney was the fastest at 174.904mph. Four drivers did not practice: #25-Jerry Nadeau, #26-Jimmy Spencer, #40-Sterling Marlin; and #90-Ed Berrier. See the speeds at NOL and Racin' Network(5-20-2000)
  
  
• No Bull 25's: The first No Bull 25 was won by #25-Jerry Nadeau in the Michael Holigan.com Chevy. The 2nd No Bull 25 was won by #26 Jimmy Spencer in the Kmart/Blue Light Ford. The No Bull 25's determine the starting grid for the Winston Open. Nadeau will start from the pole in the Winston Open, Spencer will start on the outside of the first row as Nadeau posted the faster winning average speed. For results, see NOL for No Bull 25 #1 Results and No Bull 25 #2 Results(5-19-2000)
  
  
• The Winston Pole: #94-Bill Elliott won the pole for The Winston with a speed of 152.928mph, #33-Joe Nemechek was 2nd with a speed of 151.714mph BUT his crew failed to get a lug nut on one of his tires and that cost him a three-second penalty which will move him back to 14th. #43-John Petty was also penalized three seconds and fell to last place. See the starting lineup at: NASCAR Online, That's Racin' and Racin' Network(5-19-2000)
  
  
• Friday Night Practice for the Winston. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr was the fastest at 178.678mph. See NOL, That's Racin' and Racin' Network for the speeds(5-19-2000)
  
  
• Winston Open Practice and Lineup: #50-Ricky Craven was fastest at 180.583mph in the first practice and the second practice as well with a speed of 182.204mph. #71-Dave Marcis practiced and is on the Entry List now. One car on the entry list that did not practice was the #41-Gary Bradberry car. The 2nd practice determines the starting lineup for the No Bull 25's (the Winston Open qualifying races).
  
  See the speeds at:
  NOL - practice 1 and
  Racin' Network - practice 1
  The afternoon practice speeds at:
  NOL - practice 2 and
  Racin' Network - practice 2.
  See the No Bull 25 lineup's at NASCAR Online(5-19-2000)
  
  
• Friday Afternoon Practice for the Winston. #6-Mark Martin was the fastest at 181.317mph. #8-Dale Earnhardt, Jr only ran a lap and never got up to speed, no idea why. See NOL and Racin' Network for the speeds(5-19-2000)
  
  
• Friday AM Practice for the Winston. #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr was fastest at 182.871mph. See the speeds at NOL, That's Racin' and Racin' Network(5-19-2000)
  
  
• How to break a tie? When drivers are tied for a starting spot during qualifying, it is broken by owners points standings(not drivers). For provisionals standings see the Jayski Provisional Status page(2-20-2000)
  
  
• Links: Practice speeds, qualifying and results can be found at these sites: NASCAR Online, Racin Network, and That's Racin'
  
  

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  TRACK/RACE NEWS

• Lowes Tix: Tickets remain for The Winston on May 20 and the Coca-Cola 600 on May 28 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-455-3267 or online at www.gospeedway.com(5-10-2000)
  
  
• Lowes Hotel: Ambassadors Services Group has teamed with Lowes Motor Speedway to offer race fans discounted hotel reservations for the Cup races and Auto Fairs. For more info, see the Lowes Motor Speedway site or the Ambassadors Services Group site(Lowes PR)(3-2-2000)
  
  
• How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph
  
  
• Past track news: posted in the past at Past Track News - Lowes/Charlotte
  
  

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  DRIVER/TEAM NEWS

• Gordon Skips the Winston: Robby Gordon, who will attempt to run the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day(May 28th), has decided to skip the Winston this weekend and concentrate on getting a good starting for the Indy 500. Gordon will receive the added benefit of having an extra week's worth of work done to his fleet of Winston Cup cars(Speedway Scene)(5-16-2000)
  
  
• Pardus to skip Talladega: The #65 team and driver Dan Pardus who attempted the Daytona 500 has decided not to attempt qualifying for next Sunday's DieHard 500 at Talladega becasue if of the costs of running a restrictor plate car. Pardus says the team might attempt to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte(Speed Magazine)(4-9-2000)
  
  
• Benning News: #84-Norm Benning will run the full ARCA season and possibly 3-4 Cup races with SoBe as the sponsor. The next planned CUP race is the Winston Open(Winston Cup Scene)(3-8-2000)
  
  
• #85 News: driver Carl Long is back with #85 car owner Thee Dixon and the team plans to attempt races in the Cup, ARCA and CTS series. In the Cup series Long will attempt th get the #85 Mansion Decorating Ford in the Daytona, Charlotte and Bristol races. In ARCA it's the #41 Ford/Chevy at Daytona, Charlotte, Atlanta and maybe some others. In the CTS the plan is to run the #91 Ford F150 at Daytona and possibly Homestead, Martinsville and Dover. Crew chief is Keith Montgomery(12-16-1999)
  
  
• See the 2000 Team Chart which has links to past news for each team
  
  

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  PAINT SCHEME NEWS

• The Winston Paint Images added: #22-Ward Burton is running the same scheme as in the Bud Shootout, #7-Michael Waltrip has a Philips Light Bulbs scheme with a light bulb with the #7 painted over it, #24-Jeff Gordon has the 'End of the Rainbow' scheme, the #26-Jimmy Spencer has bluelight.com on the hood, the #36-Kenny Schrader is green, the #40 has the Brooks and Dunn scheme, #3-Earnhardt of course has the Peter Max colorful scheme, the #77-Robert Pressley car is a Teal color with a panther on it, the #16-Lepage Ford has the Clemson colors. Some of these images can be seen in the Paint Schemes Gallery including images just added: #'s 7,16,22,24,26,36,40,42,43,66,75,77 and 90. Made a new page with just the special images on it(5-19-2000)
  
  
• Irwin Special Scheme UPDATE Image: To commemorate BellSouth’s initial trip to The Winston with Kenny Irwin as driver, Team SABCO will unveil a special paint scheme on the #42 BellSouth Chevrolet at a press conference on Thursday, May 18, in Charlotte, N.C. Irwin and BellSouth are announcing an extended Lifeline partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) initiative Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities, educating NASCAR fans that fast action can and should be taken to protect their homes and businesses from disasters and disruptions. Irwin will Unveil Bold New Car Paint Scheme Promoting Disaster Prevention(BellSouth PR)(5-17-2000)
  UPDATE: NASCAR Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin and BellSouth announced today their extended partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) initiative Project Impact: Building Disaster Resistant Communities. To focus attention on disaster prevention, Irwin is introducing a new paint scheme highlighting the Lifeline initiatives and FEMA Project Impact on the car he will drive in NASCAR's all-star race, The Winston. The race takes place at Lowe's Motor Speedway. See an image of the car and the PR at BellSouth - Project Imapct PR or the Paint Schemes Gallery(5-18-2000)
  
  
• DW in Chrome: Darrell Waltrip will run a special CHROME #66 Kmart/Rt 66 Ford in the Winston, check it out on the Paint Schemes Gallery page(5-15-2000)
  
  
• Martin's Colors: Mark Martin will carry Valvoline's MaxLife colors on his #6 Ford in the Winston this Saturday(Valvoline PR)(5-16-2000)
  
  
• #5 Paint Scheme UPDATE 3: not sure where but hear Terry Labonte will run the #5 Cherry Berry Swirl/Froot Loops paint scheme in the near future. He tends to run them at the Winston or at Michigan, home of his sponsor Kelloggs(4-12-2000)
  UPDATE: was sent a image of a diecast for the car from a diecast site by quite a few readers, see it at the Paint Scheme Gallery(4-18-2000)
  UPDATE 2: Labonte will defend his title in the annual all-star race, The Winston, behind the wheel of a specially designed red and blue Chevrolet Monte Carlo featuring Toucan Sam and Kellogg's Froot Loops cereal with CherryBerry Swirls(Summit Marketing Group)(5-13-2000)
  UPDATE 3: the team decided not to run the CherryBerry Swirl scheme at The Winston but is supposed to run the scheme at the Coca-Cola 600(5-23-2000)
  
  
• Added #36 Image UPDATE: added a #36 Diecast Green M&M's Image, not sure where it will be run, supposedly at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona on July 1st, see the image at the Paint Schemes Gallery
  UPDATE: the latest Action catalog says the scheme will be run at Lowes for the Winston Open and the Coca-Cola 600, supposedly another scheme will be run at Daytona(5-11-2000)
  
  
• #8 Scheme? UPDATE 2: see a few diecast sites are listing a #8 Michelob diecast for sale, this may be the rumored Winston scheme. Michelob is of course owned by Anheuser-Busch, who make Budweiser
  UPDATE: have been told by a Budweiser rep, that the will be no special paint scheme for the #8 Bud Chevy and they don't know what the Michelob deal is all about and are looking into it(4-22-2000)
  UPDATE 2: keep getting question's on what paint scheme Dale Earnhardt Jr will run at the Winston/Coke 600. Budweiser Rep's have told me there will be no scheme change and he will run the same Bud car, but I keep hearing rumors of late that it'll have some sort of Olympics theme. I have seen no images, just rumor(5-11-2000)
  
  
• Gordon Paint: #24-Jeff Gordon as we all know will be something at the Winston, not Pokemon, I hear it will be announced three days before the Winston and they are doing their best to keep it quiet, but I hear it will a sort of reverse DuPont scheme with different stripes of some sort and be called "The End of the Rainbow"(4-22-2000)
  
  
• #16 Paint Scheme UPDATE and CORRECTION: hearing the #16 Familyclick.com car will have a Clemson University paint scheme at Charlotte/Lowes for the Coca-Cola 600.
  UPDATE: On May 20, Roush Racing will run its #16 Kevin Lepage car decked out in one-day-only Clemson colors and insignia in the Winston Open in Charlotte. Part of the proceeds from the sale of related merchandise will be used to create the Jack Roush Motorsports Scholarship Fund. The car will not run in the Coca-Cola 600 as reported(4-20-2000)
  
  
• Wheaties returns...UPDATE 2: hearing John Andretti will run a Wheaties paint scheme at The Winston with the #43 Pontiac. Wheaties is of course made by General Mills, a primary sponsor for the team(3-4-2000)
  UPDATE On Tuesday, March 14th, Wheaties will unveil a series of limited-edition packages commemorating the careers of four NASCAR legends: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons. Wheaties also will unveil the #43 Wheaties Pontiac that John Andretti will race in The Winston. The unveiling will be held at the Charlotte Coliseum at 10am/et on Tuesday, March 14(NOL)(3-10-2000)
  UPDATE 2: General Mills announced a series of limited-edition packages commemorating the careers of Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons, four champions of NASCAR. Each package features a photograph of the driver at a significant event in his career. Richard Petty and his driver, John Andretti, unveiled the special Wheaties paint job to be carried by the #43 Petty Enterprises Pontiac at this year's The Winston on May 20(SpeedVision and Williams Company) See an image of the car at the Petty Racing Page(3-14-2000)
  
  
• Earnhardt Paint UPDATE 3 the real car: General Motors, Richard Childress Racing, Action Performance Companies Inc., and renowned pop artist Peter Max will hold a special press conference and race car unveiling event to be held during the Grand Opening festivities of the new NASCAR Cafe in Las Vegas on March 2nd at 7:15pm/pt. A live Webcast on excite.com also will be held to cover the unveiling. Max has designed a special paint scheme for the #3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by legendary seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt(Yahoo Biz)Thanks Tony for the heads up -- UPDATE: the car will be run at The Winston and be called the Millenium Car(2-28-2000) -- UPDATE 2: the official announcement is not until tonight but a reader sent a diecast image of the car, supposedly the one, it's pretty colorful, see my Paint Schemes Gallery for the image(3-2-2000) -- UPDATE 3: Earnhardt will run the scheme in The Winston and the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Also got a 'real' image of the car in my Paint Schemes Gallery(3-3-2000)
  
  
• More Paint Scheme news can be found on Jayski's Paint Scheme Gallery, choose current news