[Bob Tanner]

Everyone knows The Winston; the race fore Cup winners of the previous year, previous Winston winners, winners of The Winston Challenge (or whatever it's called). It's a "true race of champions," which incidentally makes a lot of drivers extra money off royalties for the sale of toy cars commemorating special paint jobs.

I degress.

But, how many of you know that several years before The Winston, Bill France Senior came up with a race for the previous year's winners of "major" Grand National races?

Just to make sure no one gets this one within a couple minutes, let's make the answer a three-parter.
Part I. What was the official name of this race?

Part II: What year(s) was it won?

Part III: (Who am I kidding? If you got the first two, you already have this one.) What were the names of the driver(s) who won this race?

[Bob Tanner]

Hmmm... No answers?

No interest?

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Hmmm... No answers?

No interest?

Haven't found it yet.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Quality88

Haven't found it yet.

I tried to google this one using several key words but I was unable to find anything. This on is buried deep within NASCAR's history.

The only specialty race more unknown than these races were is the little known "Air Lift Challenge" of the 1960 Daytona Speed Weeks where ten Grand National drivers drove passenger cars around Daytona, trying to drive as close as they could to a pre-determined speed.

Ref: Forty Years of Stock Car Racing, Vol II, 1959-1964

That one was so obscure that I didn't have the heart to throw it at you.

[Bob Tanner]

I guess this one was really tough, eh?

REF: Forty Years of Stock Car Racing, 1959-1964, Page 291

(b)In 1961, 1962 and 1963 NASCAR staged a 10-lap, 25-mile race during Daytona Speed Weeks. It was open to all drivers who had won "major" NASCAR races the previous year. It paid $1000 to win.

(a) It was called the "American Challenge Race"

(c) Joe Weatherly won the first one, Fireball Roberts won the 1962 race, and Fred Lorenzen won the 1963 (last) race.

It was stopped because of lack of fan interest and because the drivers didn't want to risk damaging their Daytona cars in a $1000 race. (This was before the era of bringing multiple cars to the track)