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The 1987 edition of The Winston, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's All-Star race for the 20 most recent NASCAR Winston Cup winners, will long be remembered as the hottest contest for $600,000 ever staged. Bill Elliott dominated the first two segments of the three-segment, 135 lap race, but it was defending Winston Cup champ Dale Earnhardt who came away with the victory in the controversial third segment.
The turning point of the event occured on the first lap of that final 10-lap shootout. As the cars entered the first turn, leader Elliott and Geoff Bodine made contact causing Bodine to spin. Smoke surrounded the rest of the field, but Earnhardt managed to dive to the bottom of the track, avoid the incident, and come away with the lead - a lead that he would never relinquish!
Artist Garry Hill, has capturd that key moment in racing history in "The Winston - 1987", a 24-by-14 inch original watercolor painting. The work is exquisitely detailed, from the tire marks on each of the competitors cars, to Bodine's right front tire, locked and smoking.
"The Winston - 1987" was presented to Gerald H. "Jerry" Long, President and CEO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco USA, by H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, former President of Charlotte Motor Speedway , during pre-race activities for the October 11, 1987 Oakwood Homes 500. Limited edition prints of the original watercolor were commissioned by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco USA to commemorate this memorable event in motorsports history. |
