Winston Cup Preview set for January
By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 3, 2002
10:05 AM EST (1505 GMT)
CONCORD, N.C. -- Just like Hollywood has a grand opening preview for a major movie, so does NASCAR for its upcoming season.
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Jeff Gordon and other NASCAR drivers will sign autographs for the fans at the Winston Cup Preview.
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The 13th annual T. Wayne Robertson NASCAR Winston Cup Preview is regarded as the official start to the season and once again it will be held at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
This year’s event is two weeks later than last year and will be held on Saturday, Jan. 19.
All Winston Cup drivers are scheduled to attend including the newly crowned champion, Jeff Gordon. Joining him will be Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin and all the others that take to the asphalt each weekend.
As an added bonus, 2002 Winston Cup driver Jeff Green will be there along with Busch regular Jason Keller.
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Jason Keller
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The event will be from 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. with the first driver appearance scheduled for 9 a.m. Tickets can be purchased from the Coliseum box office and through Ticketmaster. The cost is $15 per person with children 12-and-under admitted free with a paying adult. There is also a nominal fee for parking.
The main objective of the event is for fans to meet and greet their favorite drivers. In order to do that, a person must have a wristband for a certain driver to get that coveted autograph. Twelve of the more popular driver wristbands will be available on Friday night beginning at 9 p.m. in the Coliseum lobby.
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Ricky Rudd
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Wristbands are limited to one per person and are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Each of those 12 drivers will have only 400 wristbands available. Seating for all other drivers will be on a first-come basis on Saturday. It is important to note that the event organizers, R.J. Reynolds, will determine the schedule for driver appearances throughout the day.
The event is named after its creator, T. Wayne Robertson, who was an executive with RJR and was instrumental in laying the groundwork that made the NASCAR Winston Cup Series what is today. As far as the location of the Preview, Winston-Salem is the hometown of RJR and always seemed like a natural choice for the Winston Cup Preview.
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Bobby Labonte
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"This is a charity event and everyone gives their own time to do this," said Denny Darnell, senior manager of marketing for RJR. "The drivers and everyone else just kind of chips in on this effort. It's the first official NASCAR Winston Cup Series event for the 2002 season. Fans get to see the drivers and it's a really nice way to kick off the season before the opener in Daytona."
In addition to the autographs, there will also be Winston Cup cars on display with new paint schemes. There will also be collectibles for sale, displays from various tracks and the event is capped off with an auction -- everything from race ticket packages, to autographed sheet metal, to team clothing is up for grabs to the highest bidder.
This one-day charitable event was attended by more than 20,000 people last year and has raised more than $2.2 million through the last 12 years. Charities benefiting from the event last year were The Brenner Children's Hospital, The Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary and the T. Wayne Robertson Memorial Fund.
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