Grand Slam (NASCAR)

In 1984, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company announced at the Waldorf Astoria New York during the annual year end awards banquet two new events that would define NASCAR for years to come. The first was an invitation only, "all-star" exhibition race called The Winston (now known as the NASCAR All-Star Race). The other announcement was that they were formally elevating the sport's four majors (sometimes referred to as the "crown jewels") into a formal Grand Slam with a cash prize bonus, known as the Winston Million. The long established and recognized major events were as follows:

• Daytona 500 (known as the richest race on the circuit) – held in February at Daytona International Speedway
• GEICO 500 (known as the fastest race) – held in late April or early May at Talladega Superspeedway
• Coca-Cola 600 (known as the longest race) – held Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Southern 500 (known as the oldest superspeedway race) – held at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day weekend.
  • The Southern 500 was moved to November in 2004, then eliminated by the Ferko settlement in 2005. Winners of the 500-mile spring races at Darlington were retroactively named winners of the Southern 500, and the Southern 500 returned to Labor Day weekend in 2015. With the return of that race in May 2020 caused by pandemic-related changes (the lineage of both Darlington race weekends are now traditionally the opposite of traditional; in 2004, the last year Darlington had two, and 2020, when there were two weekend races, one driver won both). In 2021, NASCAR swapped the dates again, moving the Southern 500 lineage, with its retro round theme, back to May and the spring race lineage, which is technically the one dating to 1950, back to September.

Prior to 1985, no driver had ever won all four races in the same season. Only once had a driver claimed a "Small Slam", winning three out of the four races: David Pearson in 1976. LeeRoy Yarbrough won Daytona, Charlotte, and Darlington in 1969, although it was considered a "Triple Crown" at the time as the Talladega event was not established until 1970.

In 1998, in preparations for the 50th anniversary of NASCAR, R. J. Reynolds decided to revamp and reintroduce the million dollar award program. Several factors contributed to the change. After thirteen seasons, the Winston Million had been won only twice, and several times, no driver won even two events. R. J. Reynolds, along with NASCAR, the drivers, and fans, wanted a new format for the award, which allowed it to be won more often and have more drivers involved.

The four established crown jewels on the circuit were experiencing worthy competition. In 1994, the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held, and for several years, actually dethroned the Daytona 500 as the richest race of the season. The events at Richmond International Raceway were also fast becoming fan and driver favorites. In addition, several new venues were introduced to the schedule, all of which were offering large base purses.

The new program for 1998, titled the No Bull 5 (after a Winston marketing campaign) consisted of three legs of the original Grand Slam (Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, Southern 500) along with the Brickyard 400. The race at Talladega used for the program, however, was switched from the spring race to the October race. As a result, that event changed sponsorship names and became referred to as the Winston 500.[1] The rules were as follows:

• The drivers who finished in the top 5 of a No Bull 5 race qualified themselves for the bonus at the next No Bull 5 race.
• If one of those five drivers went on to win that next No Bull 5 race, he won a $1 million bonus.
• Five fans were chosen for each No Bull 5 race, and were paired with each of the five qualified drivers. If the driver won the bonus, the lucky fan paired with him also won $1 million.

During the No Bull 5 races, the No Bull 5 eligible drivers raced with special paint jobs. The number on the roof and the rear spoiler was painted day-glow orange because many cars were painted red, and a day-glow "$" was affixed to the passenger window along with a red dot on the windshield in races prior to 2001. Other special decals were sometimes present. This allowed fans to quickly identify and follow the progress of the five eligible drivers. The only exception was the 1998 Daytona 500 where eligible drivers had silver numbers instead of the orange.

In subsequent seasons, the races chosen for the No Bull 5 program varied. The Brickyard 400 was dropped after only one year, replaced by the Las Vegas 400. Eventually the Daytona 500 was replaced with the Pepsi 400, and the Southern 500 was replaced by the fall event at Richmond.

In its five-year span, which totalled twenty-five races, 125 eligible driver spots, and 124 eligible fans (one fan qualified twice, winning neither), the million dollar bonus was won thirteen times. Jeff Gordon won it a record four times. Including his 1997 Winston Million victory, Gordon won a total of $5 million from the bonus program.

From 1998–2004, even after the entire program was discontinued, no driver again ever managed to win three of the four majors in the same season. For 2004, NASCAR announced the new Chase format, moving Darlington's major to November, but because of the Ferko lawsuit, was discontinued outright after 2004, much to the dismay of fans and competitors. A result of COVID-19 pandemic led to Darlington regaining its second meeting in 2020, and made permanent in 2021, allowing the traditional race.

From 2015 to 2020, the Cook Out 500 at Darlington was officially the continuation of the spring 500-mile Darlington races run from 2005 to 2014; the race moved to Labor Day weekend in 2015 with a throwback theme. In 2021, the throwback theme returned to May race, while the spring meeting, which was the continuation of the Southern 500 as originally crafted in 1950, without the throwback theme, will move to September with a playoff theme.

Currently, there is discussion among fans regarding the Brickyard 400 (known as the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which began in 1994, or the current Southern 500 (known as the Bojangles Southern 500), which moved to September in 2015, as a new fourth major. Despite the discussion, neither has been officially designated by NASCAR as a major.

• Daytona 500: CBS (1985–2000).
• Winston 500: NBC (1985), ESPN (1986–1997).
• Coca-Cola 600: Jefferson-Pilot (1985–1987), TBS (1988–2000).
• Southern 500: ESPN (1985–1999).
• Brickyard 400: ABC (1998).
• Las Vegas 400: ABC (1999–2000), Fox (2001–2002).
• Pepsi 400: NBC (2001), Fox (2002).
• Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400: ESPN (2000), TNT (2001–2002).

In 2011 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Sprint announced a Summer program running from Indianapolis to Bristol, and the winner would be run at Atlanta for any driver who wins those races. The finalists would have a fan choose a driver (Like the No Bull 5 Program) and together the driver, fan, and Drivers choice of Charity would each receive a Million (In Brad Keselowski's case as he won at Pocono and Bristol, the fan would have to split the difference). None of the drivers running for the Showdown won. The highest running driver was Keselowski who finished 6th. Other recipients included Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, and Paul Menard the later of the two, both won their first career wins in the Program.

A similar program to the No Bull 5 occurs in the Xfinity Series, which began in 2008 when Nationwide Insurance sponsored the series. At a race prior to the first race in the program will be designated the top four finishers for the first race in the bonus. Those drivers in the first race in the program are eligible for a $100,000 bonus. Fans will select one of those four drivers, and a lucky fan will also win $100,000. The highest championship driver (as of 2011) finisher in the race, eligible for points in the Xfinity race, wins the bonus and automatically qualify's for the next event. The next three highest finishers eligible for points in the series also get a chance to race for the bonus at the next Dash4Cash race.

Starting in 2015, the 30th anniversary of the million dollar cash bonus, Comcast (the new sponsor of the second-tier series), announced modifications to the five-race program, including a million dollar bonus.[3] Unlike past years where the races were typically assigned to conflicting weekends to prevent Sprint Cup drivers from participating under pre-2011 rules, the four races are Dover, the Lilly Diabetes 250 (Indianapolis), Food City 250 (Bristol), and Darlington. As usual, the top four finishers at Charlotte participate in the program starting at Dover.

The rules are the same, but Xfinity drivers will have a chance to qualify for the Dash4Cash at Charlotte. After that, that next four races are Dover, Indianapolis, Bristol, and Darlington. If a driver wins the first three cash prizes, and then wins outright Darlington, the driver's winnings in the bonus program will be augmented to one million dollars. The driver must claim the Dover, Indianapolis, and Bristol bonuses, finish first overall in the Darlington race, and earn the 47 (or 48 if the driver leads the most laps) points for the win at Darlington to claim the $600,000 bonus.

• Marlboro Million

• NASCAR's majors help define careers - David Newton, 31 July 2011