T. Wayne Robertson 2002 Winston Cup Preview, LJVM Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC, Saturday, January 19th, 2002:
Over the past few years I have done what has become an annual report on the Winston Cup Preview. I received comments on last year's report regarding two issues: download time and the wristbands. I would like to address these two issues now:
- Download time: For some readers the download time last year turned out to be too excessive as I designed the report for the text and all pictures taken at the 2001 Preview to load simultaneously. It did not work well for all readers. This year I have designed the report to simply load as text. All pictures from this year's 2002 Preview will show up as links. This drastically will decrease the download time and also will give the reader the choice of which pictures to view. To view a picture just place your mouse over the text indicating a link and "left click" once. All pictures will appear in a new browser window this year so the reader does not have to be hampered by using "Go Back" browser or keystroke functions.
- Wristbands: I will make my best effort to clarify the issue of the wristbands. Starting in 2000 certain drivers required wristbands for the fans to obtain an autograph. 1999 and prior there were no wristband requirements and the only way the fans could guarantee themselves an autograph from any driver was to stand on line and wait for the driver's assigned seating section to open. The seating sections filled up on a "first come, first serve" basis and the fans relied on luck to get into their driver's seating section before the rope was placed back up indicating it was filled to capacity. Once it was full it was not going to open again for additional fan admittance. It was disheartening to see parents explain to their disappointed children why they were not getting in, but that is simply the way it was: First come, first serve for all the driver's seating sections.
The wristbands were introduced in 2000 to decrease the length and number of long, long, long, spider web of lines; they seemed endless and navigating the circular walkway in the Coliseum became a challenge. Upon their introduction approximately 20 drivers required wristbands. Last year that number dropped to 14 and for 2002 only 10 drivers required wristbands: the Top 10 drivers in the final 2001 Point Standings. Wristbands are only available beginning at 9PM the night before the Winston Cup Preview and a fan can only obtain one by providing a valid ticket to the Preview. Wristbands are also distributed on a (here comes that phrase again) "first come, first serve" basis and only one color coded wristband is distributed per each fan. NO exceptions. Children who are under 12 are admitted free to the Winston Cup Preview and are unable to provide a paid ticket to the Preview, so they must obtain the same color coded wristband as their parent or guardian for the day. The allotment of wristbands is 400 for each of the 10 drivers. Of course fans start lining up long before 9PM to be lucky enough to get one, but at least a fan will know the night before if they will be guaranteed an autograph by one of the those 10 drivers. If a fan was not able to obtain a wristband then at least there was the opportunity to choose from the other 30+ drivers who did not require one on Saturday, but again the fans have to arrive at those "first come, first serve" seating sections before they filled to capacity. Moral: If you were unable to obtain a wristband plan in advance by deciding on a second, third, fourth or fifth driver choice for Saturday; find out where the assigned seating sections for the drivers you choose are located and be prepared to move onto the next seating section immediately should the one you arrive at is already filled to capacity and closed.
This was the 2002 Winston Cup Preview autograph session schedule with drivers requiring wristbands noted in red:
| 9:00am-11:00am |
11:15am-1:15pm
| 1:30pm-3:30pm |
3:45pm-5:45pm |
|
|
|
|
| Johnny Benson |
Greg Biffle |
Jeff Gordon |
John Andretti |
| Dave Blaney |
Jeff Burton |
Todd Bodine |
Jeremy Mayfield |
| Brett Bodine |
Stacy Compton |
Kurt Busch |
Ward Burton |
| Bobby Hamilton |
Dave Marcis |
Dale Earnhardt Jr |
Ricky Craven |
| Kevin Harvick |
Ken Schrader |
Jeff Green |
Bill Elliott |
| Dale Jarrett |
Anthony Lazzaro |
Jimmie Johnson |
Michael Waltrip |
| Mark Martin |
Rick Mast |
Matt Kenseth |
Buckshot Jones |
| Ryan Newman |
Casey Atwood |
Bobby Labonte |
Terry Labonte |
| Steve Park |
Joe Nemechek |
Shawna Robinson |
Kevin Lepage |
| Ricky Rudd |
Robert Pressley |
Kenny Wallace |
Jerry Nadeau |
| Jimmy Spencer |
Mike Skinner |
Mike Wallace |
Kyle Petty |
| Tony Stewart |
Robby Gordon |
Geoffrey Bodine |
Elliott Sadler |
| Hut Stricklin |
Sterling Marlin |
Carl Long |
| Rusty Wallace |
Bill Weber |
Ned Jarrett |
|
Benny Parsons |
Junior Johnson |
|
Allen Bestwick |
The above information is from the handout each fan received when they walked into the coliseum for the autograph sessions.
Are you ready to attend the Winston Cup Preview for 2002? Get your rain coat and gloves, open the umbrella, and put on the best pair of warm boots because you are going to need them!
SPECIAL NOTICE: For the time being please be selective viewing pictures. The site is experiencing "overload" and you will see a message should that occur. Apologies for the inconvenience.
To say the weather was a bit brisk is an understatement. It was cold, windy, damp, raw and rain fell as hard as it could. Before we tour the grounds for the day you have to see what the fans endured last night waiting on line for the wristband lines to open at 9PM. Although the weather was dry as a bone, it was cold. The fans lined up for hours before 9PM. They had themselves wrapped in blankets, their gas grills running what seemed not only for food, but for a nice source of reliable warmth, too. By 7PM the line had almost looped around the entire parking lot. I bet that vendor on the right there sold a LOT of hot chocolate and coffee. With only a grand total of 4000 driver wristbands to be distributed the power of determination to wait was unstoppable. For passersby who were unaware of the scheduled NASCAR event they would have concluded the line was for concert tickets. The line was just endless. Don't be quick to conclude these fans were from the local area. There were license plates from all over and quite a few from Canada. Some even arrived in their campers and Winnebagos to wait until 9PM.
The main gate into the Coliseum Annex and Education Building was locked this year perhaps due to the weather. The gate entrance used as the main entrance was last year's secondary entrance; much closer to each of the two buildings. To keep dry I took this picture from the gazebo. The locked gate is underneath the American Flag pole. That was last year's main entrance I referred to earlier and the building in the background is the Coliseum where the scheduled autograph sessions are. Let's go into the coliseum first for a quick look because we are not going to be there that long.
The pictures in the colisuem were taken during the 9am-11am autograph session. The floor has been converted into a stage. As this autograph session was in progress, so was the auction of car parts donated by various teams. Most parts were signed and some were not. Tickets to race events were also being auctioned, too. Ricky Rudd was asked what race the particular fender was from just before the bidding began. He had the crowd howling in laughter as he "thought" it was from the Richmond race when he had some help from Kevin Harvick. He pointed out the donut which was on it and commented Kevin possibly might be able to help out with any additional information regarding it. It was all in fun and the audience just loved it. Behind the podium on the stage is a band set. They played during breaks in between auction segments.
Behind the stage on the floor is Jeff Gordon's Monte Carlo sporting the 200th Dupont Automotive anniversary paint scheme. I walked around the coliseum to get a better shot and this is the best I could get. Next to Jeff's car is the Winston Cup Series Monte Carlo significantly and importantly adorned with the #1. Our sport is #1 to all of us isn't it? :-) I walked around further to get front shots of each. They aren't the best pictures. It was the best I could do considering the camera lens kept fogging up due to the vast difference in temperature change from outside vs. inside the coliseum. I was not in line for any of the autograph sessions; just there for the entire event, itself, to take a few pictures to include for all the fans. With these pictures taken I left the coliseum and headed back across the lot to the Education Building.
Using the picture from the gazebo again let me use the locked Annex Gate as a point of reference. If the gate was open as usual this year you would walk straight ahead until you reached the gazebo; however, since the gate was locked you would have missed Jeff Burton's souvenir rig along with the M&M's NASCAR simulator rig immediately to the left of the locked annex gate. The path heading towards the gazebo was lined with the souvenir rigs of Dale Jarrett, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr on the
left and a NASCAR trailer, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, and Rusty Wallace's were on the right as shown in the picture referenced ealier. When you reached the gazebo the only choice of direction was to follow the path to the left. That short walkway leading to the Annex and Education buildings was lined with the souvenir rigs of the late Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon on the left and Bill Elliott and Tony Stewart on the right. The Dale Earnhardt souvenir rig is brand new and I think the paint scheme on it is A-1.
At the end of this path you end up at the Annex straight ahead and the Education building is to the right. Let's go into the Education building first. :-)
The Education building was again set up differently this year. In front of the entrance was a nostalgic car driven by David Pearson back before my time. LOL Pearson's car is actually on the right as you enter the building. It looks like it is on the entrance's left because the picture was taken as I left the building. The entrance had an overhang and it was drier from this angle. LOL This was the emptiest I have seen the Education building. Perhaps the holiday weekend kept a lot of the private entrepeneurs from coming, but there was not much there as in years past. The Performance Racing Network was there along with Lowe's Motor Speedway. Martinsville Speedway, North Carolina Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway were also present. Kansas Speedway was there dispalying a beautiful hand painted mural. Many booths were set up ranging from the Richard Petty Driving Experience , the Victory Junction Gang , Sam Bass was there signing his prints and there was an adorable Jeff Gordon tent all the children just fell in love with. Richard Childress Racing, as promised, debuted the ET paint schemes. There were two different ones: one which was more dominantly dark blue and this is the paint scheme of the hood. The other was brighter with red with the hood looking like this. Each of the paint schemes are strikingly nice. Independent driver Billy Standridge's car he used to race was there. At first I looked at it and quickly concluded something was left off of the car. After careful examination I found a graphic all too familiar to us on the lower left rear quarter panel: Jayski.com. If you weren't looking for it you wouldn't have found it. The NASCAR Calendars salesman was nice enough to let me get behind the booth to get the shot. :-)
All right I have saved the best for last. :-) Let's leave the Education building
and head into the Coliseum Annex. Just to the right of the entrance was another Dale Earnhardt trailer. The hockey rink has been
covered up and transformed into a NASCAR parking lot. I arrived VERY early to take these pictures. There was a high car count this year. I counted 39 and the space was a little snug. This was the highest show car count I could ever recall. Here they are first shown in two overview shots and then
individually. They are individually presented in car# order and heeeeerrrrrre they are:
Over view shots from the hockey seats:
On the way out there was a rig from local country station 104.1 WTQR. It was immediately seen on the right as soon as you walked in, but the view was better on your way out.
As you fans know I pick one paint scheme each year which has changed the most from the previous season. This year I had a tough time choosing whereas in past years the choice was an immediate a standout. After tough debate between Ricky Rudd and Bobby Hamilton my choice for the Radically Changed Paint Scheme "award" goes to Bobby Hamilton's #55 driving for Andy Petree Racing. My reason for not choosing Ricky Rudd was due to the fact the base color of the paint scheme still remained black. So for you Bobby Hamilton fans you are this year's pick. :-)
Some notes regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr's #8 Budweiser Monte Carlo: I was told this is the car which will be seen on television around the time of the Super Bowl. More importantly there were two features inside the car everyone seemed to get a kick out of. First, Wilson's cousin was there, and second, on the dashboard just to the left of the Bud decal was an installed CD stereo system. (Note: You will have to turn your head to the right for the picture of Wilson's cousin).
I have a feeling I have omitted something. The regulars who visit this site throughout the racing season I am sure have come to see three specific cars and their paint schemes. Saving the best for last....here they are:
John's paint scheme has two changes. The right side of the hood logo has been tilted upwards towards the windshield. The swirl of Cheerios Yellow is not just limited to the side panel of the car. It flows up and through the A and B pillars and the "43" is encircled twice. Bucky's paint scheme is essentially the same. The hood logo is no longer tilted like the Cheerios hood logo is for 2002. Kyle's paint scheme remains unchanged. I did notice one difference: No graphics above the driver window. At first I questioned why, but there is no reason to question. We know whose car it is, and simply, that in itself says enough.
I hope you enjoyed your tour of this year's 2002 Winston Cup Preview. Through all the wet and icy weather the fans STILL came. Hopefully the weather will be a lot more cooperative next year. I would like to know how the wristbanded fans and the non-wristbanded fans made out with obtaining their driver's autograph. One comment I repeatedly heard was how surprisingly fast Steve Park's section filled up. A lot of his fans were there to wish him well during his recovery. With testing concluded and the Winston Cup Preview now over there seems to be much anticipation and excitement for the 2002 season to begin. Can official activity at Daytona really be less than three weeks away? Let us not forget a major portion of today's proceeds go to the following charities: Brenner's Children's Hospital of Winston-Salem, Speedway Children's Charities, the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary and the T. Wayne Robertson Memorial Fund. I hope those of you who could not attend the Preview for whatever reason have enjoyed this report and hopefully you will be able to attend next year's event. Good luck to all the teams for the 2002 season and good luck to all the fans pulling for their drivers. Today no points were earned by any of the teams. They were all earned BY THE FANS for making this year's event a success. All of you were winners today!
Would you please sign the GuestBook? :-)
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rich who agreed to support my work on my annual project for the fans this year. I could not have done it without him and I cannot thank him enough.
I would also like to thank Chris and Jennifer. You both should be patting yourselves on the back enormously for your individual efforts on this project also. I also cannot thank you both enough.
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