Hill prints chronicle The Winston year-by-year

The impending departure of Winston as title sponsor of NASCAR's premier touring series has triggered countless recollections of R. J. Reynolds' many contributions to the sport. The tobacco giant has been much more than a financial benefactor. Winston's promotional wizardry forever changed the face of motorsports.

Perhaps the most popular innovation of all was the creation of NASCAR's annual All-Star event, The Winston, in 1985.

Granted, the idea of an All-Star race was not totally new. It had been tried at Daytona in the early 1960s with little success. But Winston -- aided by the creative acumen of Lowe's Motor Speedway luminaries Bruton Smith and Humpy Wheeler -- cultivated the concept into one of auto racing's true Crown Jewels.

For the better part of two decades, the defining moment from each running of The Winston has been captured on canvas by motorsports artist Garry Hill. Limited edition signed and numbered prints of those original artworks are now available from Garry Hill Automotive Fine Art as part of the artist's highly-acclaimed All-Star Series.

"It is indeed an honor and a privilege to create the artwork annually to document the effort of our sport's greatest teams," said Hill. "The Winston truly showcases the best of the best in NASCAR racing. Being able to commemorate each event with a painting has been one of the highlights of my career as an artist."

Hill created his first painting documenting The Winston in 1987 -- the year Dale Earnhardt, Geoff Bodine and Bill Elliott waged all out war in their quest for supremacy in racing's most prestigious non-points event. The piece was purchased by R. J. Reynolds and soon released in print form.

"As far as we can tell, that was the first signed and numbered NASCAR print ever released," said Hill.

Two years later RJR commissioned a similar painting dedicated to The Winston of 1989, and the All-Star Series took off from there.

As Hill notes, there is no such thing as a routine race when it comes to The Winston. Each edition has had its own unique twist.

"There is something memorable about each one," he elaborated, "dating all the way back to the first print we did with Earnhardt, Elliott and Bodine battling it out in '87. The whole format of The Winston lends itself to drama and excitement, and I try to capture that one pivotal moment of each race. You can go back to 1989, and you have the race where Rusty Wallace put Darrell Waltrip's Tide machine in the 'spin cycle' coming out of Turn Four to grab the win. Then there was the thrilling last lap crash between Kyle Petty and Davey Allison in 1992 -- the first running of The Winston under the lights.

"All three of Dale Earnhardt's victories-in '87, 90, and '93 -- were significant. Jeff Gordon's three wins were huge in '95, '97 and 2001 -- and all of them came in years that he went on to win the championship. Remember that Gordon's 1997 win came in the T-Rex car that was so revolutionary that NASCAR asked him not to bring it back to the race track. Then he won in 2001 in a back-up car that his crew prepared in just a matter of minutes after there was a big multi-car crash on Lap One. Of course, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win in 2000 was the first victory by a rookie and made the Earnhardts the only father and son to capture The Winston. The dogfight between Dale Jr. and Ryan Newman last year was a classic. This year's win by Jimmie Johnson was also very dramatic. In fact, I'll have a print coming out soon commemorating Jimmie's 2003 Winston victory."

Some early releases in Hill's All-Star Series previously sold out. However, the artist has implemented a resell program through which he occasionally buys prints back from clients and offers them for sale once again. Hence, virtually every print in the All-Star Series is available.

"We guarantee the authenticity and the condition of any print we resell just as we do when they are originally sold," said Hill.

The artist is perhaps best known for his print entitled "The Pass in The Grass," which showcased Dale Earnhardt's daring move to the inside of Bill Elliott in the 1987 running of The Winston. That artwork was the initial release in Hill's Great Moments in Racing Series, and is one of the most recognizable racing prints of all time.

For pricing and availability on all Garry Hill artwork, visit him on the web at www.garryhill.com.