500 BILL ELLIOTT’S MILLION-DOLLAR PAYDAY AT THE 1985 SOUTHERN 500

AT THE END OF THE 1984 SEASON, R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. and its Winston brand — the title sponsor of NASCAR’s premier series — announced a new program called “The Winston Million.”

The idea was simple: Any driver who the following year could win three of NASCAR’s four “crown-jewel” races – the Daytona 500, the Winston 500 at Talladega, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Southern 500 at Darlington – would pocket a $1 million bonus from R.J. Reynolds.

In those days, winner’s purses were substantially smaller than they are now, so the thought of earning $1 million for a single race win was pretty hard to fathom. Yet it happened – thanks to Bill Elliott’s amazing drive to victory in the Southern 500 that followed his wins in the Daytona 500 and the Talladega spring race.

One of the sport’s most popular drivers, Elliott was the focus of a media avalanche that Labor Day weekend at Darlington and saw his popularity soar to unprecedented heights after he won the pole, led 100 laps and captured the win in front of a roaring crowd.

Appropriately, Elliott earned also left Darlington with a new nickname: “Million-Dollar Bill.”

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