1992 Bud 500 Bristol Ford

    Welcome back NASCAR diecast fans~ In today's post, I'm going to be looking at the 1992 Bud 500 Bristol event car, that was included in the 1992 event car series~ I was at this event in person, and I must say, I was a bit shocked to see the lack of photos from this race~ I couldn't even find a shot from victory lane~ Not one single picture~

    At any rate, this was an amazing race, and it took out some championship contenders to top it all off~ I was always super excited whenever the race would come to town, since it was so close to my house... and this race didn't disappoint in the end~ So let's look back on that wild August night, and see what the race had to offer, and as always with Bristol, it had plenty to offer~

                                                        The race program for the event~

    Before I start talking about the race, I just want to point out that Bill Elliott (posted above) won the previous night race at Bristol, and that's why I think this event car is a Ford~ Not 100% on that, but it makes sense~ With that out of the way.. Ernie Irvan won the pole for the event, driving the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet~ The team was based out of nearby Abingdon, Virginia, and was always a crowd favorite~

   Alongside Ernie on the front row was fellow short track ace, Ricky Rudd, piloting the #5 Tide ride for car owner Rick Hendrick~ The remainder of the top 5 were Brett Bodine, in the #26 Quaker State Ford, Mark Martin, in the #6 Valvoline Ford, and Alan Kulwicki, driving his self-owned #7 Hooters Ford~ Mike Potter was the only driver who failed to make the field, in Steve Balogh's #77 Kenova Construction Buick~

   This was to be the first Cup race ran at Bristol with the newly converted concrete racing surface~ Up until this, the racing surface was asphalt, and people were had mixed emotions about the conversion to concrete~ I for one didn't care, as long as the racing was still good... and for many years to come, it was~ That would change in the mid 2000's, but that's another story~

                                                            The battle at Bristol begins~

    As you can see in the picture above, Dave Marcis was moonlighting this race for former Cup team owner, Larry Hedrick, in the #41 Corn Flakes Chevrolet~ Marcis would drive this car (instead of his more familiar, self-owned #71) in seven races during the 1992 season~ Dave wound up hitting the wall 103 laps into the race, knocking himself out of competition, and finishing in last place~

   Ernie Irvan had a lightning fast car, and was probably going to win the race, but on the 8th lap of the race, he spun himself into a frenzy, and smacked the wall~ He was able to continue after repairs, but ended the race 215 laps down, in 28th place~ I remember being kind of heartbroken when he crashed, because I was really hoping he would be there all race long, at least having a shot to get a win~

   On lap 21, Sterling Marlin got into Dale Jarrett, which caused them crash~ Morgan Shepherd was trying to avoid the crash, and clipped Kyle Petty's car, causing Petty to crash~ All three cars were able to continue, but a caution was thrown~ Following the restart, the race would remain green until the Marcis crash, which happened on lap 103~ Terry Labonte's #94 Sunoco Oldsmobile was the next to fall victim to Bristol, as his car suffered a blown engine on lap 125, resulting in a 31st place finish~

                                               Alan Kulwicki battles with Michael Waltrip~

   1992 Championship contender Davey Allison was involved in a crash on lap 225, involving Sterling Marlin~ He eventually got back on the track and ran a few more laps, but finished in 30th place, putting a huge dent in his championship hopes~

   Rick Mast was involved in a crash on lap 286, which took him out of competition, and he finished in the 29th position~ Harry Gant, who had led earlier for 35 laps, was also involved in a crash, ending his day on lap 349, resulting in a 26th place finish~ I was sad when Gant crashed, because he really had a shot at the win, and always ran well at Bristol~ I loved watching him run up against the wall the way he did~

   Mark Martin, who had led 23 laps in the race, was caught up in a crash involving Alan Kulwicki, immediately following the Gant crash~ Martin finished the day 115 laps down, in 25th place~ By this point, Ricky Rudd had regained the lead in the #5 Tide Chevrolet~ Rudd ended up leading 139 laps during the event, but he had a hard chargin' Darrell Waltrip right behind him, in a super fast #17 Western Auto Chevrolet~

                                                          He did it for us one more time!~

    If you can't notice, I Photoshopped the heck out of this picture, to make it appear that Darrell just won at Bristol, when in fact, this is from his Mountain Dew Southern 500 win the week after the Bristol win~ As I said earlier, it's impossible to find a picture of Darrell in victory lane from this race~ I think it has something to do with the fact that this was from when the track was "Bristol International Raceway", and was owned by the Carriers~ It may be some kind of copyright thing preventing anyone from uploading the photos to the internet~ So I just invented this picture for the post~

   Waltrip ended up leading 247 of the 500 laps during the event, on the way to his 12th and final win at the historic short track~ He would also win the following week, in the Mountain Dew Southern 500, which sadly turned out to be the final win of his career~ He didn't quit winning because he was old, in my opinion.. he was just in junky self-owned equipment~ If he would have stayed with Hendrick, I think he would have had 100 wins during his decorated career, if not more~

   Dale Earnhardt finished runner-up in the race, followed by Ken Schrader's #25 Kodiak Chevrolet, Kyle Petty's #42 Mello Yello Pontiac, and Alan Kulwicki finished out the top 5, in his #7 Hooters Ford~ Jimmy Hensley had a great run in the #66 TropArtic Ford, with a 12th place showing, and Brett Bodine led for 35 laps in the Quaker State Ford, and finished in 9th place~ Derrike Cope finished 12th in the #10 Purolator Chevrolet~

                                                     1992 Bud 500 Bristol Ford event car~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

                                                  Back of the Racing Champions card~

   Some of these 1992 track/event series cars can be rather plain, but this one is pretty nice looking~ I'm always a fan of red/black paint schemes, and the added blue and white stripes around the car are also a nice touch~ I loved these older Ford body styles that Racing Champions did~ They looked so funny compared to the other models, especially beside of a Pontiac.. they dwarfed the Pontiacs~

   I enjoyed watching Darrell win this race... if Ernie couldn't win it, the sentimental thought of Darrell winning his 12th Bristol race definitely tickled my fancy~ I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but Darrell Waltrip came into a Pizza Hut here in Bristol one day when the races were in town, and he sat down and ate pizza with me~ He was a real cool guy in person, and he'll pretty much talk to anyone.. hence the "Jaws" moniker~

   Back to this car.. I'm gonna have to give this one an A-, due to a few points being taken off for the card.. it's just sort of boring~ I do enjoy the back of the card, but the front is dull compared to others from this series of cars~ It is a nice car, and I've always wondered why I've never seen a spring race version of this car~ I've seen them before, but never Racing Champions~ I wish there was a way to find out if one was made.. but the best you can do is just keep lookin' around... I've found several cars that I never knew existed, and it's a pretty cool feeling when it happens~

                **Bonus Car** Kyle Petty #44 Hot Wheels Oldsmobile retro/fantasy custom~

   The bonus car for this post is this Kyle Petty #44 Hot Wheels Oldsmobile~ Kyle never drove this theme, and never drove an Oldsmobile... I just thought it looked cool~ I used Sterling Marlin's #44 Piedmont Airlines Oldsmobile to make this fantasy car, and I give it an A- as well on the Racing Champions quality scale... it's a pretty cool lookin' car, with just a minor flaw or two~

   Thanks for checking this post out, and stopping by the blog again!~ If you're a fan of this blog, please share this post on any social media sites you may associate with, and click the "follow" button on the top right of this page to stay updated on new postings~

   Below are some clips from the 1992 Bud 500, along with some from other Bud 500's, and the full version of the 1992 race, commercial free, for those whom are highly dedicated to 1992 NASCAR~ The next blog post I do will be on New Years Day, and I'm gonna take a small break after that, for a couple of weeks maybe~ I lied last time, so who knows~ :P

                                                          1992 Bud 500 Review~  22 mins~

                                                       1991 Bud 500 Finish~ 10 mins~

                                         
                                                          Pole sitter problems~ 8 mins~

                                                       1992 Bud 500 full race~ 3 hours~

  

   
      

Johnny Rumley #25 Big Johnson Chevrolet

    Well, I know I said I was done for the rest of the year, but I guess I lied about that... I hope you'll forgive me~ :) Welcome back to the blog, folks~ I hope you all had a great Christmas time with your families, and have a safe, healthy start to 2017~ The car I'm going to be looking at today is Johnny Rumley's #25 Big Johnson Chevrolet, owned by Don Beverley~

    This car had been driven by Hermie Sadler, with sponsorship from the Virginia is for Lovers campaign up until the 1995 BGN season~ At the end of the 1994 season, Sadler left the team to join Bell Sadler's (his mother) race team~ Beverly then split the driving time up between Kirk Shelmerdine, and Rumley - with Shelmerdine driving the first 7 races of the season, and Rumley driving the remaining races~ Let's look back at his time in the car, shall we?~

                                                       Johnny Rumley hero card~ 1995~

    Shelmerdine's seven races in the car didn't go so well, with a best finish of 19th in the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta~ Rumley's first race in the car came in the Sundrop 400 @ Hickory, where he qualified 6th, led for 26 laps, and finished in 12th~ Johnny Benson Jr. won the race, driving the #74 Lipton Tea Chevrolet, and it was the final win of his BGN career~

    After qualifying 38th for the NE Chevy Dealers 250 @ Loudon, Rumley manhandled his way to a 7th place finish, his first top 10 with the #25 team~ The good times would come to a halt in the Meridian Advantage 200 @ Nazareth, and while Rumley qualified 18th, he was involved in a lap 105 crash, which resulted in a 34th place finishing position~

    In the Red Dog 300 @ Charlotte, Rumley struggled to make the field, qualifying 40th in the 43 car field~ He didn't fare much better when the green flag dropped, finishing the event 68 laps down, in 24th place~ He really only finished that well because Rick Wilson (who was driving the #75 Food Country Ford) caused a massive crash, which took out a ton of cars~ Chad Little went on to win the race, driving the #23 Bayer Ford, owned by Greg Pollex~

                                                  Rumley being interviewed on television~

     Rumley qualified 28th in the GM Goodwrench / AC Delco 200 @ Dover, but worked his way to the lead as the race went on, leading one lap, before fading back to finish in 6th place, for his second top 10 of the season~ He had a solid qualifying effort in the Carolina Pride / Red Dog 250 @ Myrtle Beach, with an 8th place starting spot, but wasn't able to keep the car alive for most of the race, finishing the event 35 laps down, in 30th place~ Larry Pearson won the race in the #92 Stanley Tools Chevrolet, in what would be the final BGN victory of his career~

    Johnny then failed to qualify for the Lysol 200 @ Watkins Glen~ He then qualified 31st for the Sears Auto Center 250 @ Milwaukee, but had a lackluster showing in the race, only managing a 24th place finish~ The team then traveled to Talladega, for the Hummingbird Fishfinder 500K, where Rumley qualified in 37th place~ He was able to catch the draft in the race however, taking the lead for 4 laps, before settling in for an 11th place finish~

    The series next traveled to South Boston, Virginia, for the Ford Credit 300~ Rumley qualified 19th for the event, but his car suffered a blown engine on lap 118, resulting in a 28th place finish~ To continue the tradition of me only writing about races that Chad Little won, he also won this one, driving the #23 Harris-Teeter Ford~

                                                             Big Johnson Racing poster~

    Johnny then had a good qualifying run in the Kroger 200 @ IRP, with a 9th place run~ The race didn't go his way however, as he was involved in a massive crash on lap 164, which also involved 7 other cars~ His car was toast, and he finished in 27th place~

    He then had an all around poor showing in the Detroit Gasket 200 @ Michigan, where he qualified 36th, and finished the race six laps down, in the 29th position~ He then qualified 13th in the Food City 250 @ Bristol, but his engine gave up only 33 laps into the event, and he finished in 35th place~


    Next up was the Gatorade 200 @ Darlington, where after qualifying dead last in the 41 car event, he was able to limp along to finish 23rd, 5 laps off the pace of race winner, Mark Martin, who was driving the famed #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~ Rumley then went on to DNQ for the Autolite 250 @ Richmond~ But his luck was about to change, in fact, it would change in the following race~



                                                    Johnny Rumley prepares for the race~

    Rumley qualified 24th for the MBNA 200 @ Dover, but managed to plow his way through the field, taking the lead with 11 laps to go, and never looking back, on his way to the final BGN victory of his career~ Johnny's win was also the final victory in the BGN series for the Chevy Lumina~

    He then qualified 44th for the All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300 @ Charlotte, and somehow hung around till the end, and came out of it with a 12th place finish~ He would then finish 21st in the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, before heading to the season finale race @ Homestead, where he would crash out on lap 31, finishing in 40th place~

    Johnny finished the season with 17 starts (career high), 1 win (ties career high), 1 top 5 (ties career high), and 3 top 10's (career high), while finishing 28th in the final points standings (career high)~ The team lost the Big Johnson sponsorship at the end of the season, and Rumley drove 6 more races for the team, along with 2 DNQ's, before the team shut down~ He attempted two races (Charlotte, Rockingham) in the #75 Food Country Ford, but failed to make the field in either event~

                                             Johnny Rumley #25 Big Johnson Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    This is one of my favorite sponsors that Racing Champions made a car of, along with Sherry Blakley's #83 Ramses Condoms car, and Gary Bradberry's #19 Child Support Recovery car~ Big Johnson shirts were hilarious for a good while, but eventually, the gimmick got stale, and everyone quit wearing them~ Basically, the shirts consisted of a nerdy man, named Big Johnson, who was surrounded by half naked women, along with some quirky saying, pretty much stating that Big Johnson had a big johnson~





   As for this car, it basically looks identical to the real car~ I'm not a fan of the 1995 body style, and they made the tires look phony as well starting with this series~ I collect Racing Champions stuff that was made after 1994, I'm just not a big fan of what the cars became, with the plastic bottoms, and fake wheels.. they should have kept the fake looking wheels on the Premier version cars, and not put them on these standard issues cars~



  I'm going to give the car a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale, because of the newer body style, and horribly plain picture of Rumley on the card.. they could have given him a better card than the one he got~ I'd say most newer fans of the sport have never heard of Rumley, but Racing Champions made two versions of cars he drove, and he won 2 races in only 51 career starts, that's pretty amazing~



  What hurt Rumley the most is that he just wasn't marketable, in an era that was starting to focus solely on marketability at the time~ With Jeff Gordon's arrival just two years prior, the sport was constantly seeking younger, more marketable drivers~ That's what pretty much done Rumley in, he was a "good ol' boy"... and NASCAR was done with that kind of driver~




                 **Bonus Car** Diggity Dave #72 Wrigley's Spearmint Gum Pontiac custom~

   This custom was done using Ken Bouchard's #72 ADAP/Auto Palace Pontiac~ Not the best one I've ever done, but it's not bad looking~ I wouldn't chew this gum, because they put aspartame in it now, and that's nasty~

    Johnny Rumley will be 60 years old this April, and I'm sure he's still out there somewhere, working hard, and having a pretty good life for himself~ He accomplished a lot in his short NASCAR career, a lot more than some people ever accomplish (insert Derrike Cope's BGN stats here)~



   Thank you all for stopping by, and supporting the blog~ I've added a "follow" button to the blog now, it's located at the top of the page, on the right hand side~ Follow the blog to get updated on when I post new blog posts, and please share this blog post on any social media sites that you frequent~ I have added some videos below featuring Rumley, and maybe some other NASCAR stuff~ Y'all be careful out there, and have a happy New Year!~ :)


                                                    Johnny Rumley interview from 1995~

  1995 Kroger 200 - Rumley, Heveron, Mike Wallace crash~

                                     Rumley clipped by Robert Pressley - South Boston 1997~

                                          Interviews with people, Rumley amongst others~

Tasha #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ Today's post is going to be the final one of 2016, and I'm gonna end it with a special fantasy car post, featuring my wife, Tasha, and her #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~ The blog has grown quite a bit in 2016, and I hope 2017 will be just as good, if not better~ I certainly have plenty of cars to post, and many more stories to tell~

    If everything goes as planned, I'll have my first post of 2017 posted on New Year's Day~ I already have the car picked out, I just have to take some pictures, and edit some stuff, so I should be able to get it all done in time~ So with that out of the way, put your imagination goggles on, and let's dive into my wife Tasha's time in the #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~

                                                 The heiress to the Slush Puppie empire~

    Our story fictionally begins in 1989, when Tasha was fictionally 17 years old~ Her and her father had moved to Cincinnati Ohio when she was just 2 years old, so that he could help his friend, Will Radcliff, and his sister, Phyllis, with a new business they'd just created~ That business became the Slush Puppie brand, and through it all, Tasha was always there~ She became like one of the family to the Radcliff's, and they always showered her with gifts while she was growing up~

   
    On October 10th, 1989 - Will and Phyllis Radcliff were killed in a private plane crash, on their way back from a food convention in Umatilla, Florida~ In Will's will, he left the entire Slush Puppie business to Tasha~ Her father was left in charge of everything until her 18th birthday, which was 8 months away~ In less than 2 years, she would turn the successful business, into a massive empire~

                                           Tasha on opening day of Slush Puppie World~

    Tasha decided to open a Slush Puppie themed amusement park, to help gain brand recognition with children~ The park was opened in the spring of 1992, and was a major success with kids, as well as adults~ The park featured the fastest wooden roller coaster of its time, "TimberSlush", as well as the roller coaster with the steepest drop, known as the "Slush Crusher"~

    Tasha and I were married the following year, on June 6th, 1993, and I had been trying to get her to buy a Winston Cup race team, since she was so rich, so that I could race in the Cup series~ She did buy a Cup team, but she chose to drive the car herself, entering the #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile in various races for the next 5 seasons, before she chose to retire~

                                                     Tasha leading @ Bristol~ Spring 1995~

   The new team, which was christened "Slushpup Motorsports", made its debut in the 1994 Goodwrench 500 @ Rockingham, where Tasha qualified 16th in the 42 car field~ While she didn't lead any laps, she was able to finish in 3rd place, the final car on the lead lap~ The race was won by Rusty Wallace, and the Miller Genuine Draft team~

   She next ran in the TranSouth Financial 400 @ Darlington, where after starting 9th, she went on to lead for 166 laps, on her way to her first career victory, in only her second career start~ With her first win under her belt, she focused the Food City 500 @ Bristol~ High winds, and cold weather haunted the qualifying session, and Tasha struggled bad, with a 24th place starting spot~ The bad weather worked to Chuck Bown's advantage however, as he picked up his first, and only career Winston Cup pole~

   Things cleared up on race day, and Tasha slowly worked her way up towards the leaders~ On lap 317, she passed Geoff Bodine, who was driving the last car Alan Kulwicki had driven before he died, and never looked back, leading the final 183 laps on the way to back to back victories in only her 3rd Winston Cup start~

                                               Tasha's custom Racing Champions card~

   Tasha finished out the 1994 season with 1 pole (Tyson Holly Farms 400 - North Wilkesboro), 3 wins (Darlington, Bristol, AC-Delco 500 - Rockingham), 5 top 5's, and 6 top 10's in 10 events~ She ran 6 races in 1995, with 0 poles, 2 wins (Hanes 500 - Martinsville, Goody's 500 - Bristol), 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's~ Her only non top 10 of the season came in the Food City 500 @ Bristol, where she was crashed by Dale Earnhardt with 22 laps remaining, resulting in a 21st place finish~

   In 1996, she ran 11 races, with 1 pole (Pontiac Excitement 400 - Richmond), 4 wins (First Union 400 - North Wilkesboro, Goody's Headache Powder 500 - Bristol, Miller 400 - Richmond, and the NAPA 500 - Atlanta), with 7 top 5's, and 9 top 10's~ She ran less races in 1997, running 7 races, with 0 poles, 2 wins (Coca-Cola 600 - Charlotte, AC Delco 400 - Rockingham), 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's~

   Her final year in NASCAR was the 1998 season, where she ran in 5 races~ She had 2 poles, both at Bristol, 2 wins, also both at Bristol, 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's in her final season in the series~ Following the season, she sold the team to Robby Gordon, and spent more time at Slush Puppie World, with her family~ She will forever be remembered as the first female to win a Cup race, and in 2016, was the first female ever elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame~

                                                   Tasha #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    I wish this car was really around back then, because I think it's pretty awesome~ I miss the old Slush Puppie machines from when I was young, that had the big Slush Puppie spinning around and around on the top~ I also don't like that Slush Puppie's are premixed now~ My favorite thing to do was mix 1 squirt of lime, and 1 squirt of pina colada, and now I can't do that anymore, because they premix the flavors into the syrup now~

   Sometimes, I would use just a little of each flavor, and make some kinda freak Slush Puppie, which may have been part of the reason they'd changed to premixing the flavors~ Sometimes, it would taste really good, if you did it just right~ If you used too much of the flavoring, it just tasted like sour horribleness~ There was an art to making them taste just right, and I was usually pretty good at it making them taste super awesome~

   As far as this car goes, I give it an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with a little bit of points being taken off because of minor flaws on my part~ I used Tom Peck's #96 Thomas Racing Oldsmobile to make this one~ I just want to state again that nothing in the above story is meant to be taken as truth, well.. other than the fact that Tasha and I are married~ lol~

   I hope you all enjoyed this blog post, and thanks for making 2016 a great year for this page~ Below are some random clips, along with a bonus custom Racing Champions car~ Please share this post on any social media sites you are a part of, and I'll see ya' next time here on the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~

                                        **BONUS** Diggity Dave #33 Sprite Chevrolet~

  I make this one from Bobby Hillin Jr.'s #31 Ireland Racing Chevrolet~ I love the old Sprite logo, and it just looks like a Christmasy car~ This would have been an awesome car to see at the track back then, and I think Sprite should use this logo again, for at least a few months or so~ I think just that logo alone, on a black can, would look amazing~ I know I'd buy more Sprite if that were the case~

                                                         Old Slush Puppie commercial~

                                                     Slush Puppie Unwrapped segment~

                                                Diggity Dave - Little Sister - Elvis cover~

        
                                                      8 minutes of 1980's commercials~

John Andretti #37 Kmart / Little Caesars Ford

    Hello again racing fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog!~ I'm getting my Christmas on today, with a special post for a guy named Walt~ I know nothing about him, other than his first name, but Walt had commented several months back asking me to do a post on his favorite driver, John Andretti, and his #37 Kmart/Little Caesars Ford~ It's been quite some time since his request, so I hope he's still a follower of the blog~

    John Andretti's first season with the Kranefuss/Haas team came in 1995, after he had been let go by Petty Enterprises following the end of the 1994 season~ The team was owned by Michael Kranefuss, the former head of the Ford Motor Company's International Motorsports division, and current NASCAR co-owner, Gene Haas~ With that out of the way, I'd like to wish Walt a very Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy this post~

                                                             John Andretti hero card~

    John's first race with the team came in the 1995 Daytona 500, and he didn't fare so well, with a 27th place effort~ However, he turned the corner the following week in the Goodwrench 500 @ Rockingham, with a 7th place qualifying spot, and a 13th place finishing position~ He followed this up with a 10th place finish in the Pontiac Excitement 400 @ Richmond~ The series next ran @ Atlanta, for the Purolator 500, where Andretti struggled a little bit, finishing in 20th place, 5 laps off the pace of race winner, Jeff Gordon~

    Andretti qualified 15th for the TranSouth Financial 400 @ Darlington, and ran good all day long, finishing the race with another 10th place showing~ He had a good qualifying session for the Food City 500 @ Bristol, with an 8th place effort, but finished the race 8 laps down, in 19th spot~ Moving on the following week to the First Union 400 @ North Wilkesboro, John qualified poorly, with a 34th place showing, but worked his way up to 17th by the drop of the checkered flag~

    The first road course race of the season was the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 @ Sears Point, and I remember thinking that this was the race I felt Andretti was really going to shine in... but he only qualified in 25th, and I was a little shocked~ He ended up finishing 11th, but was never a factor in the race, and I'm guessing the car just wasn't up to par for the course~ I was also pulling for Wally Dallenbach Jr. during that race, and he ended up finishing in 39th, with suspension problems~

    John qualified 36th for the Coca-Cola 600, but was able to improve the car somewhat during pit stops in the 600 mile marathon, and finished in 17th place~ The Miller Genuine Draft 500 @ Dover was next up on the schedule, and it ended up being, and still is to this day, one of my top 10 favorite races of all time~ Andretti qualified 4th for the event, but got loose on lap 2, causing Ricky Craven to make contact with him, which ended up causing a 20 car accident~

    Andretti was out of the race following the accident, and finished in 39th, followed by Dale Jarrett, Elton Sawyer, and Bobby Hillin Jr., who were also knocked out of competition following the lap 2 accident~ Kyle Petty dominated the day in the #42 Coors Light Pontiac, leading 271 laps, on the way to his 8th, and final win of his career~ Ted Musgrave, whom I was also pulling for to win, finished 3rd, and Hut Stricklin had an impressive run in the #26 Quaker State Ford, finishing with a 4th place showing~

                                                         Custom John Andretti hero card~

    After starting 21st in the Miller Genuine Draft 400 @ Michigan, Andretti picked up the first top 5 of his career, as well as the first for the Kranefuss/Hass team, with a 4th place showing~ He then had a steak of 4 races without a top 30 finish, before finishing 12th in the Brickyard 400~ In the Bud at the Glen, Andretti didn't have the best of qualifying efforts, with a 17th place run, but was able to battle his way up to a 7th place finish~

    John qualified 4th in the GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 @ Michigan, but suffered an engine failure on lap 73, which resulted in a 37th place finish~ He picked up his first of 4 career poles in the Mountain Dew Southern 500, and while he did lead 41 laps of the race, his car just wasn't there when he needed it the most, and he fell back to finish in 12th position~

    Following a 31st place qualifying effort for the Miller Genuine Draft 400 @ Richmond, Andretti was able to claw his way up to finish in 7th place, in what turned out to be the final top 10 of his 1995 campaign~ He qualified 9th for the MBNA 500 @ Dover, but was involved in a crash on lap 39, which ended his day with a 39th place finish~ He finished out the season with 1 pole, 1 top 5, and 5 top 10's, having led 41 laps, and finishing 18th in the final points standings~

                                                      Andretti hero card with white car~

    Andretti and the team had high hopes for the 1996 season, especially after qualifying 6th in the season opening Daytona 500~ The car was super strong during the race, and Andretti led 23 laps of the race, but he was involved in an accident with Michael Waltrip~ John over corrected, clipping Waltrip's car, and sending him head on into the wall, in what was a horrendous crash~ He only suffered minor cuts and bruises, though the car was toast, and he finished in 38th place~

    The following week in the Goodwrench Service 400 @ Rockingham, he again qualified well, with a 7th place effort, but his engine gave up on lap 159, resulting in another 38th place finish~ In the Pontiac Excitement 400 @ Richmond, he qualified 38th, and battled his way up to a 12th place finish~ He qualified 7th in the Purolator 500 @ Atlanta, but the car faded away as the race went on, and he finished in 21st, 8 laps down to race winner, Dale Earnhardt~

    John failed to make the field for the Food City 500 @ Bristol, and I have a feeling this may have got under the skin of team owner, Michael Kranefuss~ Andretti then failed to crack the top 30 in the next 3 races~ In the Winston Select 500 @ Talladega, he qualified 34th, but was able to guide his way up through the field, to a 9th place finish~

                                                      John Andretti's car @ Talladega~

    Andretti again qualified poorly for the Save Mart Supermarkets 300 @ Sears Point, starting 25th, but was able to move up to 11th by the end of the race~ After qualifying 3rd for the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, the car wasn't able to hold up during race conditions, and the team had to settle for a 27th place finish~

    John qualified 25th at Dover, for the Miller 500, but worked his way to the lead, where he led for 3 laps, before his engine blew within the last 100 laps of the race, resulting in a 33rd place finish~ After qualifying 19th for the DieHard 500 @ Talladega, Andretti was able to get to the lead, where he stayed for 4 laps~ However, he was involved in a crash on lap 102, that collected 11 other drivers, taking him out of the race, with a 39th place finishing position~

   In what turned out to be his final race with the team, Andretti qualified 15th for the Mountain Dew Southern 500 @ Darlington, and held on for an impressive 5th place finish~ Following this race, team owner Michael Kranefuss basically traded Andretti to Cale Yarborough, in exchange for the virtually unknown at the time, Jeremy Mayfield~ Andretti had his final top 5 of the season in the Hanes 500 @ Martisville, driving the #98 RCA Ford to a 5th place finish~

                                                       The promo packaging on this car~

  

   As I was doing my research on this car, and gathering photos to use for the post, I realized that not many people care to remember John Andretti, and that made me sad~ It was pretty hard to find decent pictures of him in this car, and I figured that'd be easy to find.. but it wasn't the case~ John was a unique drive, who could win in any series he chose to race in~ Heck, he won a race driving for Cale Yarborough... who else can say that?~

   As you can see in the photo above, this was a promo item, only sold at Kmart~ It is a limited edition of 50,000... and I never understood how 50,000 of something qualified it as "limited edition"~ Seems kind of pointless to me, but I'm sure it's a marketing thing to try and sell more of them~ The backwards K and the H beside the Kmart logo is the Kranefuss-Haas team logo~

                                                 John Andretti #37 Kmart / Little Caesars Ford~

                                                            Click pics to enlarge~

    While I was a fan of this car, and the driver.. I never understood what a car sponsored by Kmart and Little Caesars would be purple~ Neither of the companies had that color in their logo, so it made no sense to me~ I guess that could be why they eventually changed to the white paint scheme, which in my opinion was a much better looking machine~

    The purple just kind of clashes with everything too much~ I'm a fan of wild looking cars, but mismatched color patterns is where I sort of draw the line~ I'm giving this car a break though, because there aren't many purple cars in the sport, so I feel obliged to be a fanboy of this odd looking paint scheme~ With that being said, I'm still only giving this car a C+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It's of the newer body style that I'm not a fan of, it's weird and purple, and the card is hideous looking, as Andretti looks like he's sitting on the toilet trying to drop a load~

    I'd like to thank you all for viewing this post, and I hope that Walt gets to read it, and enjoys it as well~ If you have any suggestions for cars to post, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll get to it if I have the car~ Below are some clips from John's career, along with a bonus car~ Enjoy them, and please share this post on any social media sites you are a part of~ :)

                     **Bonus car** Diggity Dave #41 Domino's Avoid The Noid Chevrolet~

                                                              All of John's Cup wins~

                                                             Top 5 Andretti crashes~

                                   
                                           1994 Coca-Cola 600 - Andretti's marathon day~

              
                                         Andretti crashes his DEI car - 2003 Brickyard 400~

     

   

Lake Speed #9 Cartoon Network / Happy Birthday NASCAR Ford

    Hello once again, Racing Champions diecasts fans~ It's getting closer to Christmas, so I hope you've got most of your shopping done~ If not, may I suggest a nice Racing Champions 1/64 diecast custom, available on Ebay~ Today's post is not gonna be one of my best.. I just couldn't find many pictures of this car, which is hard to believe since it's pretty iconic, in my opinion~

    I'm talking about the Lake Speed #9 Cartoon Network/Happy Birthday NASCAR Ford, which Lake drove in 6 races during the 1998 season~ Harry Melling owned the car, and this would be his last full time season as a car owner, as he would die partially through the 1999 season, leaving the race team to his son, Mark (who was just 26 years old at the time), who continued the family business until the 2002 season~ Now, let's look back to the mid-point of the 1998 Winston Cup season, and take a peek at Lake's stats in the #9 Cartoon Network/Happy Birthday NASCAR Ford~

                                                                 Side shot of the car~

      For the first 10 races of the season, Speed drove a red #9 Cartoon Network car that will be shown later in the post~ His first race in the Happy Birthday NASCAR paint scheme came in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte~ This was the perfect race to debut the paint scheme at, since most of the race is run under the lights, and this car could twinkle about better than any of them~

     Speed qualified the car in the 19th position, and finished the race three laps down, in the 27th spot~ Jeff Gordon won the race after a late caution came out, and he got four tires, while Rusty Wallace and the rest of the leaders only took two~ Jeff pounced on the leaders after the restart, and never looked back~

    The next race on the schedule was the MBNA Platinum 400 @ Dover, and Speed had his best start of the season with the Happy Birthday NASCAR paint scheme, with an 11th place starting spot~ However, he wasn't a factor in the race, and finished in 36th, 10 laps behind race winner Dale Jarrett~ Jarrett won on fuel mileage, after Jeff Gordon, who dominated the race, had to pit for fuel~ Buckshot Jones picked up his only Cup career top 10, with an 8th place finish, in only his second Cup start~

                                       Speed with the original red #9 Cartoon Network car~

    The cars were in Richmond the following week, for the Pontiac Excitement 400, and once again, Speed had a solid qualifying session, with a 12th place starting spot~ For some reason, he just never was able to go the distance when the race got started all season long, and this race was no different~ He finished in 26th place, three laps down to race winner, Terry Labonte~

    This race was the final short track win of Labonte's career~ He won after NASCAR red flagged the race, and he was able to sneak by Dale Jarrett after the restart~ Jarrett, who had an amazing car that day, would bring the same car back the following year, and win the race~ Buckshot Jones, who had a career best day the week before, with an 8th place finish, failed to make the field for this one~

   Which brings us to the Miller Lite 400 @ Michigan~ Speed again flexes his horsepower in qualifying with a 13th place starting spot, but again can't come up with a decent showing in the race, finishing in 25th place, two laps down to race winner Mark Martin~ This was Lake's 400th start in the Cup series, at the age of 50~

                                                 Lake's car taking a nap, behind the scenes~

    Lake had his worst start in the #9 Cartoon Network/Happy Birthday NASCAR Ford in the Pocono 500, where he qualified in 40th place~ He would finish the race in 25th, tying his best finish in the car~ The race was won by Jeremy Mayfield, and was his first ever Cup victory~ Darrell Waltrip also picked up the final top 10 of his storied career, with a 6th place effort, subbing for an injured Steve Park in the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet~

    Following his poor showing @ Pocono, Speed was turning heads during the first practice session @ Sears Point (Sonoma), with the second fastest time, behind Jeff Gordon~ During the second practice session however, Speed ran over debris, cut a tire, and spammed into the tire barriers, breaking his sternum~ He was replaced for the race by Butch Gilliland, but would return for the next race @ Loudon~

   Speed's final race in the car came in the Jiffy Lube 300 @ Loudon~ He qualified 26th, and finished 41st, following a crash on lap 34, which also took out Hut Stricklin, and Steve Grissom~ Jimmy Spencer,  Geoff Bodine, and Joe Nemechek were also involved in the crash, but were able to continue~ Speed had aggravated his injury during the wreck, and told the team it was best if they found another driver to finish out the season (which turned out to be Jerry Nadeau), and effectively retired from NASCAR racing~

                             Lake Speed #9 Cartoon Network/Happy Birthday NASCAR Ford~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~                              

    As I said earlier, I really like this car~ I'm sure it gave older fans fits with their poor eyesight, and hatred for colorful objects, but I thought it was nice seeing a car with so much junk on it~ Most cars at this time were kind of basic, as far as paint schemes go, and this one was chocked full of eye candy~ Cartoon Network had several paint schemes, and this one was the second one ever, with the red version being the first~

    The card on this one is pretty cool as well~ I'm not totally sure on this, but this may be the only card where the artworks overlaps into the white border of the card~ If it isn't, there aren't many that do~ I'm going to give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with a few points being taken off because I'm not a fan of this era of Racing Champions body style~ Basically anything past 1995, I'm not a huge fan of, though I still enjoy the artwork, and the history of the car/driver~

    I'm sad that Lake's career ended the way it did, but on the other hand, he probably didn't have many years left in the sport anyway~ I'm just sad he had to get injured, because he's a really nice guy~ Lake Speed is going to be 69 years old this January.. and that makes me feel old~ I can remember the guy in his prime, and now he's almost 70~ I hate to end this post on a sad note, so below are some clips on Lake Speed, along with some random NASCAR videos, AND a bonus car~ Thanks for stopping by the blog again, and please share this post on any social media sites you may be a part of~ As of the last post, we now have over 50,000 views, so I appreciate everyone who's helping the blog grow~ :)

  **Bonus car** Casey Atwood #27 Castrol GTX Pontiac~ Very ugly, and he never drove a Pontiac~

    This custom sucks pretty bad~ I did it back when I was doing the Rusty Wallace post, just for something to do, and it's full of flaws~ But it's just been sitting around in my "unused cars" folder for months, so I figured I'd throw it up here, so I can remove it from that folder.. I'm tired of seeing it~ lol~ I give this bonus car an F-, because it's horrible, and sloppy~ :P

                     Lake Speed and John Andretti giving Earnhardt his only Daytona 500 win~

                                               
                                                   1987 Lake Speed Wynn's commercial~

                                    1989 Pepsi 400 Lake Speed crash - Called by MRN radio~

                                               Top 5 Oldsmobile moments in NASCAR~

Stub Fadden #16 NAPA Buick

    Hiya folks, welcome back to the blog~ Today's post has a bit of a unique story to it, and I'll do my best to tell it right~ We're gonna be looking at Stub Fadden's #16 NAPA Buick, which he drove in 2 BGN races during 1994, and 1995~ He also drove the car in the Busch East Series, where he had more success~

    Since he only ran the NAPA car in 2 BGN events, I'll write about both of those, and then delve into his 1994 Busch East Series season, which was his best season with the NAPA sponsor~ He ran NAPA cars in the Busch East Series until the end of the 1998 season~ Stub won over 230 feature races, during his five decade long career, and was always a threat on the short tracks~

                                          Stub Fadden on the track in the #16 NAPA Buick~

     Stub was a native of New Hampshire, born in North Haverhill, on October 18th, 1933~ He ran his first race in the NAPA Buick @ Loudon, in the 1994 NE Chevy 250~ Of the 65 cars trying to make the 44 car field, Fadden qualified in 25th place~ He was collected in a crash on lap 65, when Kenny Wallace spun out race leader Randy LaJoie, who then collected Dale Earnhardt, Mike Wallace, and Fadden, who was being lapped by the leaders at the time of the incident~

    The race was probably most well known as the first and only BGN win for long time racer, Derrike Cope, who was driving a very low funded car~ Bobby Dotter also had a great race, finishing runner up to Cope~ Fadden finished the race in 38th place, and was awarded $4,600 for his effort~ The crew chief for all of his BGN series starts, as far as I know, was Frank Stoddard~

                                                        Stub Fadden promo from 1995~

    Fadden was back at Loudon the following season, for the 1995 NE Chevy Dealers 250, in what would be his final BGN series race~ 58 drivers attempted to make the field, and Stub barely squeaked his way into the 43 car field, with a 42nd place starting position~ Mike McLaughlin won the pole, in the #34 French's Mustard Chevrolet~

    Stub managed to finish the race, and bring the car home in one piece, but he did so six laps down to race winner Chad Little, who was driving the #23 Bayer Ford~ Busch North driver Tom Bolles picked up the first of 2 BGN career top 10's, with a 9th place effort~ Stub finished in 27th, and was awarded $6,520 in race winnings~ Although this was the end of his BGN career, Stub raced in the Busch East Series until 2003, at the age of 69~

                                   Stub with the #16 NAPA Chevy - 1996 Busch East Series~

    The 1994 Busch East Series season was by far his best in that series, which is pretty awesome, considering he was 60 years old at the time~ He started the season out in the Tri-State Megabucks Twin 125's @ Loudon, where he started 5th in the 50 car field, and came home in 3rd place~ Two races later, in the Busch 150 @ Monadnock, Stub finished in 7th place in his #16 NAPA Buick~

    Fadden qualified 3rd in the Fisher Snowplow/Minute Mount 150 @ Williamson, and brought the car home in 10th place~ In the Busch 150 @ Holland, he again had a top 10 finish, with an 8th place run~ He matched that finish in the Watkins Glen 125, where he again finished in the 8th spot~

   The Stubster then qualified 4th for the Chevy 200 @ Jennerstown~ He went on to lead 148 laps of the 200 lap event, on his way to his first victory of the season~ He passed Martin Truex Sr. on lap 70, and never looked back~ Stub finished 3rd in the Auto Palace/Slick 50 150 @ Loudon, and also finished 3rd in the GMC Truck 150 @ White Mountain, after starting from the outside pole~

                                              The front of Stub's Racing Champions card~

                                     Notice it doesn't have a signature.. what's with that?~

    Stubby won the pole for the "Scranton Pontiac - GMC/NAPA 100" @ Riverside Park, but had issues with the car during the race, and only managed an 18th place finish in the event~ Jerry Marquis ended up winning the race, in the #23 Temporary Environmental Technicians Buick, followed by Glenn Sullivan, in the #34 Christy's Markets Chevrolet, and Bobby Dragon's #71 Talarico Dealerships Chevrolet finished in the 3rd spot~

    The next race on the schedule was the Bud 200 @ Lee Speedway in New Hampshire~ Stub qualified 5th for the event, while Tom Bolles won the pole in his #76 Bolles Racing Buick~ Robbie Crouch led 121 laps of the 200 lap event, but ol' Stubonator came though in the end, passing Dave Dion's #29 Berlin City Ford machine with 55 laps to go, and never looking back, on his way to the final victory of his Busch East Series career, at the age of 60~

  Stub ended the 1994 Busch East Series season with 1 pole, 2 wins, 5 top 5's, and 10 top 10's, in 18 events~ He led a career high 203 laps, and finished 6th in the final points standings~ Dale Shaw, who didn't win a race, nor lead a lap all season long, ended up winning the series championship, thanks to a very consistent season in the #7 Skoal Racing Pontiac~

                                          Back of the Stub Fadden Racing Champions card~

                                                       No signature on the back~

    Stub ended his Busch North Series career at the age of 69~ His final race came in the 2003 True Value 150 @ Thunder Road Speedbowl, in Vermont~ He qualified 19th, and by the end of the race, ended up with a 9th place finish to end his career on a high note~

    The final race of his entire racing career came a few months later, also @ Thunder Road, in the "Milk Bowl", where he finished in 21st place~ Less than 6 years after that final start, on March 11th, 2009, Stub passed away, at the age of 75~ In the New England states, if you're a race fan, you know who Stub Fadden was.. he's a legend up there.. but not many race fans know of him outside of the New England area~

    I don't know why both sides of Stub's card is missing the signature~ I know Stub could write, because I've seen autographs of his before... so I'm guessing some worker was slacking on "Stub Fadden" day, and just forgot to print the signatures on the cards~ As far as I know, this Stub card is the only Racing Champions card with this error, and I don't know if they ever corrected it, or if all of them are like this, but all the ones I've ever seen were like this~

                                                      Stub Fadden #16 NAPA Buick~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, the first thing I notice is the no signature thing, and the fact that it doesn't have the contingency stickers~ In the pictures of the real car, there never was that many on there either.. so I don't know if they left them off for that reason, or just forgot to put the stickers on~ Maybe the workers were under the influence during this whole "Stub Fadden" car day~

    It's funny holding the Racing Champions version of a 1995 Buick~ Also, Stub just may be one of the last drivers to drive a Buick~ If anyone knows that for sure, leave a comment below~ All in all, I give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with a few points taken off for the signature thing, and the stickers~ I'm just happy that it was made, and it's a part of my collection~

    It's sad, but drivers like Fadden, who stood the tests of time, driving till almost 70, or in Morgan Shepherd's case, past 70, are all gonna be gone soon~ And I don't think they'll be drivers like them, that want to race that long~ These days, driver get paid multi-million dollars per season~ They don't need to hang around for 50 years, they can afford to retire, and they are doing so much earlier these days~

   I'm embarrassed to say, that there isn't any videos of Stub Fadden on the entire internet~ I've tried for 2 days, everything I could to try and find at least 1 video, but I just couldn't find one~ So below are just some random NASCAR clips, along with a bonus car~ Enjoy them, and thanks for stoppin' by the blog!~ Please share this post on any social media sites you are a part of~ :)

                            **Bonus Car** Diggity Dave #50 Valleydale Honee Weenee Ford~

                                                           1991 Winston 500 Big One~

                      
                                          1990 Valleydale Meats 500 Irvan/Earnhardt spin~

                                             Irvan has to apologize for being a bonehead~

                                              Rusty Wallace pranks Dale Earnhardt~  lol~