Diggity Dave #27 Crystal Pepsi Chevrolet

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog!~ Since I've been doing a lot of "fantasy" cars lately, I decided to go full on "fantasy" with this one~ The driver, as well as the car never existed in NASCAR, with the "driver" being yours truly, Diggity Dave... and the car being the #27 Crystal Pepsi Chevrolet~

    I was a big fan of Crystal Pepsi during its brief existence (1992-1993), until the formula was changed to give it a "citrus" flavor~ I was so excited when they brought it back this year as the original "cola" flavored version~ For the first time in 23 years, I finally got to taste my all-time favorite soda again~ And yes, it was totally worth the wait!~

    This post is gonna be a mix of my history with Racing Champions diecasts, my love for Crystal Pepsi, and a bit of "Diggity Dave" history~ It's kind of odd writing about myself, but I wanted a Crystal Pepsi car, and I didn't want anyone else but me to be its driver~ haha~ Well, here we go.. let's shake this thing like a Polaroid picture~ :P

                                                         The history of "Diggity Dave"~

                                 Jesco White and myself at one of my Boone County shows~

    The name "Diggity Dave" was given to me back in 2001, by the drummer of a former band I was in~ That band was called Oblivian (spelled that way because there was already a band called "Oblivion"), and you can listen to our version of the Nirvana song "Something In The Way" here~ Starting in 2007, I started performing solo as "Diggity Dave and his Cheap Guitar Band", as it was difficult to book shoes when you have several people on different schedules~

    I had a lot of fun playing music, and doing live shows~ During a three year time span, I played over 200 shows, in eight different states along the East Coast~ I shared the stage with the likes of Jesco White, Hank Williams III, and Joe Buck, and many lesser known bands~ Jesco White had asked me to be in his upcoming movie "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia", but I turned him down, and shortly thereafter quit the music business~

   Towards the end of 2009, I started getting offers from places on the West Coast, and even overseas~ This kind of creeped me out a little but, well a lot... and I basically got scared and quit doing music~ I like being noticed for doing things, but I also like to have my personal life, where I can go somewhere and be just a face in the crowd~ I left the music business at the end of 2010, but played my final show in 2011, at a benefit show put on to help pay the funeral cost of my good friend/local musician Austin "Vomit" Goins~

                                                           My love of Crystal Pepsi~

                                              The red flag was out for 23 long, sad years~

    Do you ever feel like everything you like, no matter what it is.. gets taken away from you?~ That's how I felt about Crystal Pepsi, as well as the MilkShake candy bar~ As I look back on it, there weren't many people that liked Crystal Pepsi~ The only people in my 5th grade class that liked it was myself, and a girl named Rachel~ We were "Team Crystal Pepsi", but that was the problem I guess... "Team Crystal Pepsi" didn't have that many fans~

    Back in 2004 I made a Myspace account, and not long after that  I found an online petition to "Bring back Crystal Pepsi"~ I pleaded with everyone I knew to sign that petition, and even went around messaging strangers to sign it as well~ I sure wasn't the only person doing it, but there still wasn't a whole lot of people begging for a comeback~

    Flash forward 23 years later, and Crystal Pepsi is finally back on the market, although only for 6 weeks!~ The first sip I took instantly took me back to the 5th grade, chugging Crystal Pepsi with Rachel~ haha~ A well known YouTube personality has laid claim that he brought back Crystal Pepsi on his own, with his own followers.. but I can attest to that, and say that there were a lot of people signing petitions for its return back in 2004, and probably even before that~ It was the voice of all of us who wanted to taste this tasty nectar once more~

                                                     My Racing Champions background~

                                          Custom Diggity Dave Racing Champions card~

    My history with Racing Champions cars goes all the way back to the first year the cars were issued~ I got my first Racing Champions car back in 1989 at the local Food Country USA grocery store~ I chose Dale Earnhardt, and from then on.. I was snatching up every 1/64 Racing Champions car I could get my hands on~

    I probably only had about 150-200, but I did have several rare ones, including the #33 Bobby Labonte Dentyne car~ I opened every single one of them too, and played with them on the floor, having pretend races~ I could kick myself for opening up that Labonte car.. but heck.. I was a kid~ I didn't see it as rare.. to me, it was just another car in the field~ The drivers I let win my pretend races the most were Jay Fogleman, Butch Miller, and Dave Marcis~

    As I got older, I moved to Virginia with my father, and left the cars at my mothers house~ She gave them to my younger cousins to play with, and at least 1/2 of them are still down there at her house.. my daughter now plays with them~ I looked for the Labonte car one time when I was down there, but never found it~ I got back into collecting last June, and now have over 1,000 Racing Champions pieces, of all different scales~

                                                                      Family life~

                                          My daughter and I when she was just a little squirt~

    These days I'm a family man, and don't have time for much else~ Having a family of your own fills up your free time pretty quick, but I couldn't be happier~ I've done a lot of fun stuff in my life, I've met a lot of awesome people along the way, I have a wonderful wife and 2 healthy children, and I'm still alive to watch them grow~ I couldn't ask for any more than that~

    As a kid, I never thought getting older would change me in any way~ I was content on being who I was at the time, and thought that's how it would always be~ And for some people, it is always the same.. they never grow up, and never learn from their mistakes~ I'm glad that I was able to get out of my bad habits, and survive through it all~ Getting through my rough years has brought me to my wonder years, and hopefully growing old with my family~

                                                   Diggity Dave #27 Crystal Pepsi Chevrolet~

                                                                   Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, here she is.. the Diggity Dave #27 Crystal Pepsi Chevrolet~ I used Ken Schrader's #25 car as the "donor" car for this one~  I picked number 27 because it wasn't used much with Racing Champions cars, and it's one of my favorite numbers~ It sure would have been cool if I really was the driver of this car, it's pretty cool looking, and it fits my style~

    Rick Wilson also drove a white and blue #27 car @ the Brickyard one year, so that also played into the number selection~ I like the card, as I'd hope I would, since it's of me~ All in all I give this car an B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ I had to deduct points because it isn't real, I messed up on the first photo, and I wish the rims were silver, instead of gold~ Other than that, it's a fine car, and I'm proud to have my name on it~

   As always, I'd like to thank each of you who stopped by to check out the blog~ Please subscribe up top to get email notifications on new posts~ Below are some videos of my music, along with a video on Gordon's Dupont car he ran at Bristol last year~ :)

                               **Bonus Car** Diggity Dave #77 Milkshake Candy Bar Ford~

                                             Jeff Gordon's final Dupont car, filmed by me~

                                         My first ever recording~ Elvis Presley cover - 2000~

                                           Diggity Dave "Up on Mars"  Hasil Adkins cover~

                                                          Diggity's Playhouse skit~

 

Tommy Ellis #99 Goo Goo Clusters Buick

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog, the only blog dedicated solely to 1/64 scale NASCAR Racing Champions diecasts~ I about feel too embarrassed to do this post, because I wasn't pleased with the outcome of the car.. but I don't have anything else to do, and the pics of the car won't effect the story none~ In today's post, I'm gonna be discussing Tommy Ellis' time in the #99 Goo Goo Clusters Buick.. one of my all time favorite BGN paint schemes~ So let's roll that beautiful bean footage!~

    Known in the racing world as "Terrible" Tommy Ellis for his extremely aggressive driving style, Ellis would dang near beat his car to death in his quest for the top spot~ Before I start talking about his time in the Goo Goo car, I just wanna say that if you were lucky enough to get to see Tommy race in person, you truly got to see racing in its purest form~ Maybe even more so than Dale Earnhardt, you either loved Ellis, or you deeply despised him.. there was NO in between~ And now, on with the Goochy Goo Goo~

                                        Ellis battles Jimmy Hensley (25) and Chuck Bown (63)~

    Tommy's #99 team was owned by John Jackson~ The team picked up sponsorship from Goo Goo Clusters to start the 1989 BGN season, after winning 3 races during the 1988 season in a basically un-sponsored car, and winning the series championship~ Tommy started 11th in the season opening Goody's 300, but was involved in a lap 6 crash, that also involved Patty Moise, and Donnie Allison, who was making his final NASCAR start~ All three drivers were unable to continue the race, resulting in a 39th place finish for Ellis~

    In the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham the following week, the team bounced back, picking up their first top 5 with the Goo Goo car, with a 3rd place finish~ The following week in the Miller Classic @ Martinsville, Ellis led the last 40 laps of the 200 lap event, on his way to his first victory of the season~ This race was dominated by Rick Wilson in the #75 Food Country car, who led the first 160 laps before his engine expired~ He had almost lapped the entire field before it happened~

    The next race was down in good ol' Hickory for the Mountain Dew 400, where Ellis qualified in 9th, and finished runner up to Jimmy Spencer, who was driving the #34 Wayne Paging Buick~ This was the first win of Specer's BGN career~ After this event, Ellis was in 3rd place in the points standings, behind Jack Ingram, and eventual 1989 BGN series champion, Rob Moroso~

                                                     Sometimes, bad stuff happens~

 
    Ellis also finished runner up finish at Nazareth, in the GM Parts 300.. this time to Bobby Hillin Jr., who was driving the #81 Roses Buick~ He followed that up by winning the Busch 200 @ South Boston, leading 116 laps in a dominating performance~ In the Firecracker 200 @ Volusia County, Tommy finished runner up to Rob Moroso, who destroyed the field, leading 186 of the 200 laps~

    He finished runner up to Tommy Houston a few races later, in the Coors 200 @ South Boston~ The following week, the series was back in Hickory, this time for the Pepsi 200~ "Terrible" Tommy led 156 laps in the 200 lap event, once again ripping the field to shreds~ The 24th race of the season was the Commonwealth 200 @ Richmond, and Tommy again finished runner up, this time to Bobby Hamilton, in the #8 Lighting & Fans Oldsmobile~

    After that race, Ellis was leading the points standing by 9 points over Tommy Houston, and eventual season champions Rob Moroso was in 4th place, 94 points behind Ellis~ Tommy ended up finishing in 3rd place in the final points standings, behind Tommy Houston, and Moroso~ He finished the season with  1 pole, 3 wins, 11 top 5's, and 18 top 10's~

                                             Custom Tommy Ellis Racing Champions card~

    Tommy ran his final season with the Goo Goo sponsorship in the 1990 season~ He won the pole in the Miller Classic @ Martinsville for the second year in a row, and while he led 174 of the 200 laps, he finished in 9th place~ He finished 2nd to Tommy Houston in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory in the following event~

    He was crushing the field again in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 200 @ Myrtle beach, leading every single lap of the race.. except the last one~ Tommy ran out of gas on the last lap of the race, and was beat out by Mark Martin, who was driving the #1 Carolina Ford Dealers car that Jeff Gordon would drive the following season~ I'd say that's gotta haunt you a little bit, if you're Ellis.. perhaps not, but it would me~

   Ellis picked up his final BGN series victory in the Budweiser 300 @ Loudon, in the inaugural BGN series race at the track~ In victory lane, he called the win "the biggest win of my career"~ He won his final career pole in the Ames/Splitfire 200 @ Dover, but was involved in a crash on lap 138 with the #75 U-Can-Rent car of Jimmy Spencer, and the #79 K.R. Rezendes Inc. Oldsmobile of Dave Rezendes, resulting in a 27th place finish~ He finished the season with 3 poles, 1 win, 5 top 5's, and 13 top 10's, and finished 6th in the final points standings~

                                           Tommy Ellis #99 Goo Goo Clusters Buick~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, here's this monstrosity~ Yeah, I did the lazy thing on the top picture again, but only because I didn't like the way the 2nd picture (which I always do first on Photoshop) looked~ The main thing I don't like about it is that dumb white/gray stripe on the side~ I should have just left it off, because he didn't always have that stripe on there.. but I had already saved it before I noticed, and didn't want to start over~

    The stripe ruins the entire car, and so I'm gonna have to give it a D+ on the Racing Champions quality scale.. but only because of my mistake~ If I had done it right, it would have easily been an A+~ I loved watching this car race back then, and I always loved to watch Tommy Ellis race~ After the 1990 BGN season, Ellis started appearing in less BGN races~ He ran in 22 races during his last 4 seasons, with 0 poles, 0 wins, 2 top 5's, and 5 top 10's~

    The reason for his absence was that the sport had grew into something that he didn't enjoy anymore~ He was angry that he couldn't race hard anymore, or risk a penalty by NASCAR~ He complained that NASCAR officials were ruining the races, and he walked away from the sport during his peak, never to return~ 

    Tommy's name is on the back of older Racing Champions cardbacks, so I like to think this is the car they were gonna make~ It would have been so cool to see what they would have done with it~ I haven't seen any prototypes of it, but there may be some~ I'm not sure what happened to cause it not to be issued, yet they leave his name on the packaging~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog, it was fun to look back on Tommy Ellis' time in this car~ Below are some videos of Ellis and other random NASCAR stuff, since there isn't much on him~ NASCAR tries to block him out of history~

                                                         1987 Gatorade 125 Ellis flip~

                                             Cool AAA race @ Milwaukee Mile - 1953~

                                             Even cooler 1960 Southern 500~ *30 mins.*~

                                    Darlington Throwback 1988 Gatorade 200~ *Full race*~

                                                                                                                     
   

Dale Jarrett #29 Hardee's/Ghostbusters II Pontiac

    The year was 1989.. and one of the biggest movies of the year was about to hit the theaters~ That movie was the epic sequel to the 1984 smash hit "Ghostbusters", aptly titled "Ghostbusters II"~ Fast food restaurant Hardee's was running a promotional tie-in with the upcoming movie, and since they were sponsoring Dale Jarrett's Cup ride, decided to stick the Ghostbusters logos on the car for the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte~

    This particular car only ran in that lone race, so I'm gonna have to fill in some spots with some random bits on the race, etc~ But I did like Hardee's back then.. and Ghostbusters II was one of my favorites as a kid, so I'm sure I can fill the void somehow~ With that out of the way, let's look back on Dale Jarret's running in the 1989 Coca-Cola 600, as well as  the movie that was co-sponsoring his car~

                                              Dale poses with the car before the event~

    Dale Jarrett's 1989 season began with his second year driving the famed #29 Hardee's Pontiac, owned by NASCAR legend, Cale Yarborough~ Hardee's was always involved in promotionals back then it seems.. I can recall getting the Days of Thunder cars there as a kid~ But to my knowledge, this is the first time ever that a car was re-themed with a special paint scheme for a movie~

    The familiar blue and orange paint scheme of the car was replaced with black and white, and the Ghostbusters logo was placed on the hood, as well as on the side panel~ I was always a sucker for any of the Hardee's cars, but this one took the cake~ It made what I considered "one of the most boring drivers in the history of NASCAR" seem pretty dang awesome~

                                                 Jarrett on track in the Ghostbusters car~

    By the time Jarrett started driving for Cale Yarborough, the #29 team seen better days.. and it sure showed on the track, with the car never being much of a threat during Jarrett's tenure with the team, minus a lone race @ Martinsville, where he led 96 laps in the 1989 Goody's 500, before falling off later in the race, finishing in 5th place~

   During qualifying for the race, Jarrett was very slow, and only managed to qualify 28th, in the 42 car field~ Among the drivers who failed to make the field were Jim Bown in the #41 Rose Auto Wrecking Chevrolet, Rodney Combs in the #89 Evinrude Pontiac, Delma Cowart in the #0 Chevrolet, and H.B. Bailey in the #36 Almeda Auto Parts Pontiac~ Alan Kulwicki won the pole in his #7 Zerex Ford, and was dominant all day, leading 138 laps before his engine gave out, knocking him back to a 23rd place finish~

                                           Going for a spin in the Ghostbusters machine~

    Oddly enough, there were two Australian drivers in the race~ Allan Grice qualified 32nd in his own #47 Foster's Lager/Bob Jane T-Marts Pontiac, and he finished 34th (career high), after a blown engine blew him out of the event~ Fellow Aussie Terry Byers also drove his own #06 Byers Racing Chevrolet, and qualified in 35th.. but was able to go the distance, with a 21st place finish~

    Another little piece of "Food Country" trivia.. former Food County drivers Rick Wilson, and Butch Miller were in the event~ Wilson finished 35th after his engine gave out.. he did lead for 15 laps, though.. and Miller went out after only 24 laps, with wheel bearing issues~ He was driving the #51 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet (lol), owned by Leroy Throop~

                                               Custom Dale Jarrett Racing Champions card~

   This race is also the reason there is a white/blue version of the Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antifreeze series 1 Racing Champions car~ Kyle drove a white/blue #42 Chevrolet in this one event, for Rick Hendrick~  As for Jarrett, his car ran horrible all day long... and with 69 laps remaining in the event, his engine finally let go, causing him to spin out~ He failed to finish the event, and finished in 28th place, in what was his only race in the #29 Ghostbusters II Pontiac~

   The race was eventually won by Darrell Waltrip, who led for 87 laps, and held off Sterling Marlin in the #94 Sunoco car (Sterling's highest finish driving for the Billy Hagan team), and Ken Schrader in the #25 Folgers Chevrolet~ Geoff Bodine, and Bill Elliott rounded out the top 5~ This was, and still is the longest event on the NASCAR circuit, and 12 cars failed to finish the race, due to engine failure~

                                                                      The Movie~

   The Ghostbusters II movie hit the theaters 19 days after the 1989 Coca-Cola 600, and was considered a major success~ The film grossed $215.4 worldwide, and at the time of its release, had the biggest three day opening weekend in history~ That record was broken the following week, by Batman~

   I can remember being a kid, and going to see this movie with my parents~ I was in 1st grade, and I loved the animated series "The Real Ghostbusters" at the time~ So obviously I couldn't wait for the new movie to come out~ I haven't watched it in a while to see how it holds up over time, but I do remember loving it at the time~ As great as it was, it was only the 8th highest grossing film of 1989~ Behind the likes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and Back to the Future Part II~

  After I finish up this blog post, I might try and check out Ghostbusters II again, just for ol' times sake~ I do like Slimer, and that dang ol' Rick Moranis~ haha~ I'm sad that Harold Ramis is dead now.. and I didn't like the new Ghostbusters movie~ The ghosts in it looked so poorly designed~ I could have worn a sheet and said "WooOOoooOOooo", and that would have been more realistic than their dumb, green, junky, flying ghosts~ Well.. that's my first (and hopefully last) movie review ever here on the blog.. and now, back to the cars~ :)

                                         Dale Jarrett #29 Hardee's/Ghostbusters II Pontiac~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    Obviously, and sadly, this is a "fantasy" car.. that I created on Photoshop, using the #92 Sears set exclusive Pontiac~ The first picture looks a little dumb, because I just cut out the car in the second picture, and shaped it onto another picture.. (in other words, I was being lazy.. and didn't want to remake the car all over a second time)~

   You can buy a really nice custom version of the Ghostbuster car from the guy that's gonna make my Teague custom~ His Ebay link is here~ It's 60 bucks.. but it's freakin' awesome~ I want one, but I've got others that I have to get made first~ He also has other cool customs in his store~ The packaging design he did on it is amazing~

    I really love this Racing Champions car~ I tried to make a Patty Moise #37 Butter Flavored Crisco car, but it didn't look good, so I'm not gonna do a blog post on it~ Anyway, I made this one today.. and I feel like I redeemed myself from the horrible Moise attempt~ I feel like my version of the car gets a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It would have been higher, but I can't give myself an A, when I can't even spend enough time to get the first picture done right~ lol~

   I hope y'all enjoy these "fantasy" car posts that I've been doing~ I enjoy creating them on Photoshop, and although I'm not the best.. I can do a good job sometimes~ :P I hate to keep bringing up that these aren't real Racing Champions cars to those of you who already know, but I don't want someone new to the hobby coming here, and thinking these were actually produced~ You can always buy customs, but I like to make it known that these are just pictures~

  Sadly, this race has no footage on the internet, because it's been copyrighted away~ I can't even find footage of the pre-race show~ So I'm gonna leave you with some ol' random NASCAR stuff that I think you may enjoy~ Thanks to everyone who stops by from time to time, and don't forget to spay and neuter stuff.. if you want to~ :)

                                         Buddy Baker breaking the 200 mph barrier~ 1970~

                                                                   1968 Daytona~

                                       Dale Earnhardt (the original) singing "Hard Charger"~

                                                            1994 Pepsi 400 - Finish~