RJR played vital role in NASCAR's future

Most racing fans don't remember a time when Winston Cup wasn't ... Winston Cup. The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company has been around so long that Winston has become ingrained in the minds of folks who follow NASCAR.

But there was a time when it wasn't called Winston Cup.

It was more than 30 years ago, and NASCAR's top series was then called the Grand National Series. Drivers competed in 48 Grand National races in 1971, the first year of Winston's sponsorship, but NASCAR was changing.

Bill France Sr. stepped down in early 1972 as NASCAR's president, handing over the leadership to his son, Bill France Jr. And the Winston Cup Grand National Series, as it was known then, was shortened to 31 races for that year.

But there was a lot more going on in NASCAR and the United States as RJR joined NASCAR. Most of the top teams in the sport in the late 1960s were backed by the Detroit automakers, but the manufacturers had all but pulled out of NASCAR by 1970.

Some of the big teams at the time would struggle to survive without factory backing, and the financial outlook of the sport as a whole didn't look bright.

That's when R.J. Reynolds came along. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., RJR was a major player in the tobacco market, and it needed some exposure. The federal government was cracking down on cigarette advertising on television and radio (and it was eventually outlawed in early 1972), so RJR needed another outlet.

In 1969, former car owner Junior Johnson hit up RJR for sponsorship for his race team, but the cigarette maker wanted something bigger. Johnson helped steer RJR to NASCAR, and in 1972, the Winston Cup was born.

RJR immediately starting pumping lots of cash into NASCAR, helping tracks with improvement, helping increase purses and helping establish a season-ending points fund that has increased nearly every year.

"I was one of the few people who was around when they came in," car owner Richard Childress said. "They did such a great job in carrying the sport to the next level. I'm sure whoever else comes in will do a great job with it."

The champion got a $100,000 bonus in 1971, but last year, Tony Stewart won $3.75 million as the Winston Cup champion.

	Richard Childress: "They did such a great job in carrying the sport to the next level."

Winston has contributed more than $101 million in point fund money since 1971, but that alone doesn't tell the full story.

In 1985, RJR started two popular programs, one of which remains. The first NASCAR "all-star" race, The Winston, was held in 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and has become one of the most popular events on the schedule.

Also that year, Bill Elliott won the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 and the Southern 500 to win the Winston Million, a bonus for winning three of the sport's top four races. That program developed into the Winston No Bull 5, which ended last year.

In 1986, the phrase "Grand National" was dropped from the series title, which from then on was known as the Winston Cup Series.

In 1989, the champion received $1 million from the points fund from the first time. Rusty Wallace won the series championship that season. The champion's share reached $2 million in 1999 and $3 million in 2000.

Whoever wins this year's Winston Cup championship will pocket $4.25 million from RJR.