Unocal 76 Challenge

Last updated
A Unocal 76 ball is visible (left) at Daytona in the late 1990s. Daytona International Speedway skidmarks on racetrack view of grandstand.jpg
A Unocal 76 ball is visible (left) at Daytona in the late 1990s.

The Unocal 76 Challenge was an award program for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1989-1999 sponsored by the Unocal Corporation. Unocal posted a $7,600 cash prize if the pole position winner for each NASCAR Winston Cup event went on to win the race. [1] If the prize was not claimed, it was rolled over to the next race [1] until the pot was claimed.

Contents

The award program proved to be popular among competitors and fans, and was considered NASCAR's version of a Skins Game. The award provided over $2 million in cash prizes to NASCAR drivers.

Award details

In December 1988, Unocal, the official provider of gasoline fuel for NASCAR at the time, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] created a cash prize incentive for drivers who win a race from the pole position. [1] [6] It would begin with the 1989 NASCAR season. [1] The $7,600 amount was a gesture to Unocal's famous 76 logo. At the time, drivers had few incentives to win pole positions. As such, it was not unusual for smaller teams to put in extra effort for qualifying in order to win poles and gain exposure (but performing as an also-ran in the race itself), while top teams sometimes would forgo some effort in qualifying and concentrate on race set-ups. The Busch Pole Award was only $500, [7] championship points are not awarded for pole positions, and the pole winner was not given the honor of the first pit stall selection until the mid-1990s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many NASCAR races, particularly at smaller tracks, still had relatively small purses. The Unocal 76 Challenge gave drivers the potential of significantly increasing their possible winning payouts.

The award was eligible only to the driver who officially won the pole position during Busch Pole Qualifying for each points-paying NASCAR Winston Cup Series race. [1] If the pole position winner went on to win the race, he was awarded a cash prize of $7,600. [1] If the award was not achieved, the $7,600 was rolled over to the next race. [1] The award would continue to roll over until it was claimed. If the award was not won during the final race of the season, it rolled over to the first race of the next season, and continued.

If qualifying was rained out, and the starting field set by points, the award was not available for that race, and would roll over to the next event automatically.

The Unocal 76 Challenge bonus money was awarded alongside a separate Unocal 76 Contingency Award, which was handed out at the end of the season. [1]

Award history

Initially, the award did not receive much attention. [6] The first driver eligible for the award was Ken Schrader, who won the pole position for the 1989 Daytona 500. Schrader finished second in the race, so the award rolled over to the next race. [8] At the second race of the season, the Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rusty Wallace won from the pole position. He became the first driver to claim the Unocal Challenge, [1] and collected an initial award of $15,200 [6] which included one rollover. (At the season-ending banquet, Wallace was presented with a total check for $22,800 [1] )

As the 1989 season wore on, the award was not being won, and the cash prize rolled over every subsequent week. [6] Mid-way through the season, it was nearing $100,000. [6] In the final race of the season at Atlanta, the award had grown to $205,200, [9] considerably more than the $50,000 first prize. [9] Polesitter Alan Kulwicki failed to win the race, and the award rolled over to the 1990 season.

At the 1990 season opener, the Daytona 500, Ken Schrader won the pole position. [10] The Unocal Challenge award was up to $212,800. [11] Controversy erupted when Schrader wrecked his car during the Gatorade 125s. [11] NASCAR deemed that Schrader, who would start the race from the rear of the field in a back-up car, was still eligible for the huge award. [10] [11] The controversy fizzled when Schrader dropped out early. (The car that actually started from the pole spot, Geoff Bodine, did not win either). The bonus rolled over yet again.

One week later, at Goodwrench 500 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, the Unocal Challenge bonus stood at $228,000. [11] Kyle Petty finally broke the streak, leading 433 laps (of 492) and won the race from the pole position. His bonus money (officially $228,000 [12] ), along with the posted race purse, gave him total earnings of $284,450 [13] a single-race NASCAR record at the time. [1]

Winners

Rusty Wallace became the first driver to win the Unocal Challenge bonus. Rusty Wallace.jpg
Rusty Wallace became the first driver to win the Unocal Challenge bonus.
Kyle Petty won a record $228,400 Unocal Challenge bonus in 1990. Kyle Petty 1996 - Nascar Photography By Darryl Moran.jpg
Kyle Petty won a record $228,400 Unocal Challenge bonus in 1990.
Jeff Gordon won the Unocal Challenge bonus a record eleven times. National Guard Bureau.jpg
Jeff Gordon won the Unocal Challenge bonus a record eleven times.

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Final statistics

In 1997, Unocal sold its western United States refining and marketing operations to Tosco Corporation, including the rights to the Union 76 brand for refining and marketing. In a related move, longtime NASCAR fixture Bill Brodrick, the head of public relations for Unocal's racing division and known as "The Hat Man" in victory lane, was released from his position. [5] [24] [25]

At the end of the 1999 season, the Unocal 76 Challenge bonus was retired, [23] with $136,800 [23] in bonus money going unclaimed over the final 17 races of the season. After the 2003 season, Unocal left the sport of NASCAR. [2]

During its eleven-year history, the Unocal 76 Challenge bonus was claimed 48 times by 15 different drivers. The total bonus money awarded was $2,447,600. Jeff Gordon won the Unocal 76 Challenge bonus the most times (11) for a total of $349,600 in prize money. The driver winning the most bonus money, however, was Kyle Petty who pocketed $395,600 [12] for his three rather large Unocal 76 Challenge bonuses.

Two times during the award's tenure, Dale Earnhardt won races from the pole position (1990 TranSouth 500 & 1993 TranSouth 500) but qualifying was rained out in both cases. Those field were set by championship owners points standings, and the award was automatically rolled over to the next race without being given out in both situations.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series</span> 56th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 56th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 33rd modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Saturday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch, who drove a Ford for Roush Racing, was the Nextel Cup champion. It would be the last time until 2012 that the championship would be won by someone other than Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 55th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 55th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 32nd modern-era Cup Series season. The season began on February 8 at the Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. Despite only winning one race throughout the whole season, Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Racing, was strongly consistent following the lone win, and was crowned the Winston Cup champion. His only win came in the third race of the 36 race season. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second-place finisher Dodge, who had nine wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year third with seven wins and 200 points, and Pontiac finished fourth with one win and 125 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 54th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 54th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 31st modern-era Cup Series season. It began on February 10, 2002, at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 17, 2002, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was declared as the Winston Cup champion. Bill Elliott won the 2002 NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award. He would win it for the 16th and final time in his career. He withdrew from the ballot after receiving the award. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was captured by Ford after winning 14 events and gaining 245 points over second-place finisher Chevrolet, who had 10 wins and 211 points.

The 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 42nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 19th modern-era Cup Series. It began on Sunday, February 11, and ended on Sunday, November 18. Because of a highly controversial penalty to Mark Martin early in the season, Dale Earnhardt with Richard Childress Racing was crowned the Winston Cup champion for the fourth time, edging out Martin by 26 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 50th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 50th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 27th modern-era cup series. The season included 33 races and three exhibition races, beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the Driver's Championship, the third of his career, and his third in the last four seasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 51st season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 51st season of professional Stock car racing in the United States, the 28th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 1990s and the 20th century. The season began on Sunday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Dale Jarrett, representing Robert Yates Racing, was crowned the champion, while the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by the Ford drivers with 13 wins and 231 points over second-place Chevrolet who had 12 wins and 210 points and third place Pontiac who had 9 wins and 205 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 52nd season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 52nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and was the 29th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 13 and ended on November 20. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte was crowned champion at season's end. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Ford as they captured 14 wins and 234 points to better Pontiac's 11 wins and 213 points. Chevrolet finished third with nine wins and 199 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 49th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 49th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 26th modern-era NASCAR Cup series. It began on February 9 and ended on November 16. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his second Cup championship at the end of the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 46th season of NASCAR stock car racing

The 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 46th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 23rd modern-era Cup series. The season began on Sunday, February 20, and ended on Sunday, November 13. Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing was crowned champion at season's end, winning consecutive Winston Cups for the third time in his career and tying Richard Petty for the record of most top-level NASCAR championships with seven. It was also the 7th and final NASCAR Winston Cup Series Championship for Dale Earnhardt before his death 7 years later in 2001, this was also the final season for 18-time Winston Cup winner Harry Gant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 18th season of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 48th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 25th modern-era NASCAR Cup series. The season had been started on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 10 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The season would be remembered for Terry Labonte pulling off a massive upset and winning his second Winston Cup Championship over teammate Jeff Gordon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 53rd season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span>

The 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 47th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 24th modern-era Cup series season. The season began on February 12 in Daytona Beach and concluded on November 12 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his first career championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span>

The 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 45th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 22nd modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 7 and ended on November 14. Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing won the title, the sixth of his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span>

The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 44th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 21st modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 9, 1992, and ended on November 15, 1992. Independent owner/driver Alan Kulwicki of AK Racing won the Winston Cup championship.

The 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 41st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 18th modern-era Cup season. It began February 12 and ended November 19. Rusty Wallace of Blue Max Racing won the championship. This was the first year that every Winston Cup race had flag to flag coverage, with almost all of them being televised live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series</span> 40th season of NASCAR stock-car racing

The 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 40th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 17th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 20 at the Atlanta International Speedway. Bill Elliott of Melling Racing won the championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darlington Record Club</span>

The Unocal-Darlington Record Club was a club in the NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series from 1959 to about 2001, based at Darlington Raceway. Membership was achieved by setting qualifying records during time trials for the annual Southern 500 held on Labor Day weekend. During its heyday, it was considered one of the most prestigious and exclusive clubs in motorsports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Food City 500</span> Motor car race

The 2003 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on March 23, 2003, before a crowd of approximately 160,000, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a short tracks that holds NASCAR races. The 500-lap race was won by Kurt Busch of the Roush Racing team after starting from ninth position. Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing finished in second and Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte placed third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 EA Sports 500</span> 30th race of 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 2002 EA Sports 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held on October 6, 2002, at the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama.

The 1995 edition of The Winston Select was a stock car racing competition that took place on May 20, 1995. Held at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, the 70-lap race was an exhibition race in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Bobby Labonte of Joe Gibbs Racing won the pole, while Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports led the most laps and won the race.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1995. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1995.
  2. 1 2 "Farewell to a friend". SceneDaily.com. 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  3. ↑ "Sunoco to become official fuel of NASCAR". NASCAR.com. 2003-08-15. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  4. ↑ "Fuelish leasure". NASCAR. 2006-01-31. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  5. 1 2 "'The Hat Man' remembered by fans". SceneDaily.com. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Nascar Drivers Awaken To Growing Unocal Bonus". Daily Press. 1989-06-23. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  7. ↑ "With Earnhardt, It's Only a Matter of Time". Los Angeles Times . 1993-03-21. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  8. ↑ "1989 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  9. 1 2 "Kulwicki on Path to $460,000". Los Angeles Times . 1989-11-18. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  10. 1 2 "The 1990 Daytona 500". NASCAR.com. 2003-07-28. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Countdown to Daytona: Part Nine". RacingOne.com. 2004-01-06. Retrieved 2010-08-02.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1996. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1996.
  13. ↑ "1990 GM Goodwrench 500". Racing-Reference.info. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1994. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1994.
  15. ↑ "Notes 95-08-01". Motorsport.com. 1995-08-01. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1997. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1997.
  17. ↑ "Atlanta results". MotorSport.com. 1996-11-10. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[ permanent dead link ]
  18. 1 2 3 4 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1998. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1998.
  19. ↑ "Sears Point results". MotorSport.com. 1997-05-04. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[ permanent dead link ]
  20. ↑ "NASCAR: Miscellaneous Awards, Coca-Cola 600". The Auto Channel. 1997-05-26. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  21. ↑ "Dover results 97-09-21". MotorSport.com. 1997-09-21. Retrieved 2010-08-03.[ permanent dead link ]
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The Official NASCAR Preview and Press Guide 1999. Charlotte: UMI Publications, Inc. 1999.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "THE NEXT Winston Cup RACE - NEWS, STATS and INFO". Jayski.com. 2000. Retrieved 2010-08-05.[ permanent dead link ]
  24. ↑ "Where is ... Bill Brodrick?". NASCAR.com. 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  25. ↑ "News - Thanksgiving Day 97-11-27". Motorsport.com. 1997-11-27. Retrieved 2010-08-05.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.