No Bull Five goes to the dogs

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Winston No Bull 5 has officially gone to the dogs.

Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Ricky Rudd, Ricky Craven and Jeff Gordon -- the five drivers eligible for the million-dollar Winston No Bull 5 bonus -- took part in a Winston No Bull 5 "They Win, You Win" fan sweepstakes event Friday involving a special race at the Daytona Beach Kennel Club.

A racing greyhound represented each Winston No Bull 5 driver during the fifth race at the Daytona Beach Kennel Club's matinee session. The greyhounds, each of which carried the car number of the Winston No Bull 5 driver they were representing, raced on the Kennel Club's 5/16-mile course.

The greyhound race was a part of the Winston No Bull 5 "They Win, You Win" fan sweepstakes for the third Winston No Bull 5 event of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway (July 6).

Leave Me Alone, representing Martin, crossed the wire first, winning the race in 30.72 seconds. ML Sable (Gordon) finished second, followed by Evita's Exchange (Rudd), Kiss A Native (Craven) and AMF Archer (Kenseth).

Prior to the competition, the fans' names had been randomly placed on a scoreboard with their names hidden. After the competition, the finishing order of the greyhound race (driver's names) was placed next to the concealed names. The fan's names were revealed showing how the fans and drivers would be paired.

Martin is paired with Nancy Miriani of Whitehouse, Texas, Gordon with Michael Schiermeyer of Grants Pass, Ore., Rudd with Darlene Milks of Sevierville, Tenn., Craven with Bryan Dickerson of Couence, Tenn., and Kenseth with Loretta Abercrombie of Dahlonega, Ga.

The drivers are eligible as top-five finishers from the second Winston No Bull 5 event of the 2002, the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Martin, Kenseth, Rudd, Craven and Gordon were each paired today, via the greyhound race, with five fans selected at random through a nationwide sweepstakes.

Through the Winston No Bull 5 program, drivers become eligible to win the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus by finishing in the top-five at the previous Winston No Bull 5 event. The five races comprising the Winston No Bull 5 in 2002 are, in chronological order: the Las Vegas 400; the Coca-Cola 600; the Pepsi 400 (July 6) at Daytona Beach, Fla.; the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (Sept. 7) at Richmond, Va., and the EA Sports Thunder 500 (Oct. 6) at Talladega, Ala.

If a qualified driver wins a Winston No Bull 5 event, one fan will also win million-dollar bonus check as part of Winston's "They Win, You Win" sweepstakes. Five fans are eligible at each Winston No Bull 5 event. They are selected at random through a nationwide sweepstakes program, and then each is paired, at random, with one of the eligible Winston No Bull 5 drivers. If an eligible driver wins the Winston No Bull 5 bonus, then the fan paired with that driver will also win a $1 million check from Winston.

If all five qualified drivers fail to capture the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus at a particular Winston No Bull 5 event, the bonus will not roll over to the next event. Each Winston No Bull 5 event is worth $1 million to the qualified drivers.