Season gets underway at Winston Cup Preview
By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
January 22, 2002
10:49 AM EST (1549 GMT)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The 4,000 fans lined up the night before the Winston Cup Preview are proof-positive that the popularity of NASCAR is continuing to grow.
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Tony Stewart signs an autograph at the Winston Cup Preview.
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And these autograph seekers weren't disappointed when the 13th annual T. Wayne Robertson Winston Cup Series Preview began at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. Every driver in the elite division of NASCAR was in attendance, signing autographs, posing for pictures and meeting with the fans.
Early-bird fans got to meet Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Steve Park, Dale Jarrett and Jimmy Spencer, among others.
Thousands of fans showed up on Friday night to circulate through the lobby of the arena in order to get armbands. For each of the top-10 drivers, there were 400 armbands given out to ensure that those fans would get an autograph from that particular driver.
"At noon on Friday, we already had about 1,500 fans lined up," said Denny Darnell, senior manager of marketing for R.J. Reynolds. "Then, we had a total of 4,000 of them at 9 p.m. when we were ready to give out armbands. "Never in the history of this event have we had that many people lined up the night before. It really blew us away.
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Fans could see Kevin Harvick's new 2002 paint scheme.
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"The fans of this sport are great. They brought their tents, grills, tables and decks of cards. It was quite the social event for some of them. You know what the best part was -- not one of them complained or made a fuss about the weather or having to wait in line."
Throughout the day, more than 20,000 fans were believed to have circulated through the event that concluded around 6 p.m. Drivers spent two hours at their respective tables before the next wave of drivers replaced them.
Fans showed up with die-cast cars, hats, shirts, jackets and pictures to get signed. In addition to the meet-and-greet, auctions were held selling sheet metal, driver and crew uniforms and other memorabilia to the highest bidder.
All proceeds from the event will be donated to various charities. Since its inception 13 years ago, the Winston Cup Preview has generated more than $2.2 million in donations.
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Mark Martin talks to the fans.
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"It was fun to get here this morning and see the level of energy from the fans," said Mike Helton, president of NASCAR on the official kickoff to the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season. "It's important because it's the first opportunity for us to see the reaction of the fans. It really makes you feel good and excited about how great things have been.
"It certainly reminds us why we are all here. This preview is for a good cause and it's a great opportunity for the fans of NASCAR to come together. It's a win-win deal and makes it an exciting day when you see the energy level of the fans. It really does overwhelm me when I see things like this."
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Ricky Rudd's new paint scheme for the No. 28 Ford.
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One driver who has noticed an increase in his own fan base level is Sterling Marlin. The driver of the No. 40 Dodge is coming off two wins and a third-place finish in points in 2001.
"I've noticed my fan base has picked up a whole lot," Marlin said. "I did a lot more autograph sessions over the winter and it's been pretty solid. There's been a lot more fan mail coming in, so it's been pretty good."
"This preview is a great chance for fans to come out and see their favorite drivers. For many of them, it's the only opportunity they might have to meet them. People come from all over the country to take part in this event."
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Steve Park signs an autograph.
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Adding support to Marlin's statement about people traveling far and near for the Winston Cup Preview was a bit of information from Darnell.
"There are two women here from Syracuse, N.Y.," Darnell said. "They were the first people in line at 5 p.m. -- on Thursday night."
Speedweeks begins at Daytona Beach, Fla. on Feb. 7th with Media Day and wraps up with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17th.
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