Bobby Hillin #42 Mello Yello Pontiac

    During the 1991 running of the Winston 500 @ Talladega, Kyle Petty was involved in a lap 70 crash caused by the #4 car of Ernie Irvan~ As a result of this crash, Kyle broke his leg, and was sidelined for 11 races~ Kenny Wallace filled in for the next 2 races @ Charlotte and Dover, and was then replaced by Tommy Kendall for the road course race @ Sonoma~ Bobby Hillin then filled in for the remaining 8 races while Kyle recovered~

    His first race in the car came in the Champion Spark Plug 500 @ Pocono, where he qualified 22nd, and finished 15th~ He then qualified 17th in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 @ Michigan, where he again came home in the 15th position~ Moving on to the Pepsi 400 @ Daytona, Hillin started the race 25th, and once again finished 15th~ Hillin then had trouble in the Miller Genuine Draft 500 @ Pocono, where he started the race 14th, but finished 28th, several laps off the pace~

                                              Bobby Hillin in the 42 car @ Watkins Glen~

    Hillin came  close to scoring a top 10 in the car in the Diehard 500 @ Talladega, where he qualified 21st and finished 11th~ At the Budweiser at the Glen @ Watkins Glen, Hillin started the race 16th, and finished 18th~ He then qualified 20th for the Champion Spark Plug 400 @ Michigan, but engine issues would render him to a 33rd place finish~

    His final run in the car came in the Bud 500 @ Bristol, where he started 15th, but was plagued with issues throughout the race, resulting in a 30th place finish, 280 laps off the pace~ Hillin ran 2 more races that season for Martin Birrane in the #53 Longhorn Steaks Chevrolet @ Charlotte (Mello Yello 500) and Atlanta (Hardee's 500), and also attempted to qualify for the AC Delco 500 @ Rockingham, but failed to make the field~

                                                Bobby Hillin #42 Mello Yello Pontiac~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    The Mello Yello car was one of the coolest looking cars on the track during its NASCAR tenure~ It's a shame I can't say the same for the Racing Champions version of the car~ My main gripe about the car is the fact that Racing Champions used stickers for the hood, side panels, and deck lid, instead of paint~ I have no idea why this was done, but it really makes the car look dumb, especially at the front of the car, where the stickers tend to peel upwards off of the car~

    Since this picture was taken, I took a dab of super glue and put it under the parts that stuck up to secure them, I just wanted to show what the stickers tended to do before I fixed it~ If you want a Mello Yello car that has paint instead of stickers, you are in luck though, as you can buy the Kyle Petty Premier version of the car~ As it sits, I give this car a C- rating, solely due to the stickers ~

    Once again, Racing Champions surprised me by making a Hillin version of this car, although not as much as with the Greg Trammell car~ Oddly enough, Hillin and Petty would get into a scuffle a couple years later in the 1993 Daytona 500~ I have added a video of the scuffle down below, as well as the clip of the accident that broke Kyle's leg (What is it with Kyle's and breaking legs in NASCAR?~ Look out Larson)~ Grab yourself a Mello Yello and enjoy the day, and as always, thanks for stopping by the blog!~

                                                   1991 Winston 500 (Kyle breaks leg)~

                                               1993 Daytona 500 (Kyle & Hillin scuffle)~

                                         Vintage Mello Yello commercial (for the heck of it)~

                                          Senator Bobby & Senator McKinley Mello Yello~