Introduction and Ralph Seagraves' Role in Winston Cup

It's a miracle that he just that he survived the accident. He hear all the stories about what it was like to work for Junior. What was it like to live with Junior? Well, you know, um we're here at the Winston Cup Museum with Culver Seagraves, who is the man to lead us through this place. Why don't you give a little bit of background as to who your dad was and why people may remember him? My dad was Ralph Craves. He's the gentleman that got NASCAR and Winston married back in 1971. The sponsorship with R.J. Reynolds basically came about. Federal government in 1969 had um banned television advertising for the and radio advertising for the cigarette companies. And so they had $70 million to spend. They brought in their five top division managers from around the country. And one of those was my father. He was approached by Junior Johnson to sponsor his race team. Junior, you know, came in and told him that he needed $150,000 a year to sponsor his team. And my dad said, "Well, I got 70 million. What else have you got?" Junior told him, he said, "Well, you need to talk to Bill France, senior." Dad and Bill France, Senior, they uh they cut a deal and um basically R.J. Reynolds sponsored the point fund which became the Winston Cup. That's a fascinating backstory that a lot of people probably don't know about. Now