I managed to survive through it all though... and even though the mouse and Photoshop didn't want to cooperate, I was at least able to get the stuff I needed done somewhat close to New Years Day~ Today's post is going to be on the #42 Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet, driven by Kyle Petty in the 1989 Coca-Cola 600~ Why was he driving a Chevrolet that day?~ Let's have a look at the ol' NASCAR history books, shall we?~
The pics for the Chevy version sucked, so these are all Pontiac versions~
Kyle Petty drove the full 1989 season (minus two DNQ's) for former Cup owner, Felix Sabates, with the exception of the Coca-Cola 600~ For that race, Petty brought his #42, along with sponsor, Peak Antifreeze, to Rick Hendricks team~ Some have speculated that this was for the movie "Days of Thunder", but I'm not really sure of the exact reason~ I've tried to find out why, but only read speculations, and never found out for 100% what the reason was~ If you know the answer, let me know in the comment section below~
The race was held on Sunday, May 28th, 1989, and Alan Kulwicki won the pole for the event, in his #7 Zerex Ford, and Mark Martin was on the outside of row number one, in the #6 Stroh's Light Ford~ Kyle Petty qualified 33rd in the 42 car field, and seven cars failed to make the show, including H.B. Bailey, Delma Cowart, Jim Bown, Phil Barkdoll, and Rodney Combs~
There were several surprise faces in the race, with Butch Miller making one of his rare Cup appearances in the #51 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet, qualifying 28th~ Two Australian drivers made the field, with Allan Grice qualifying 32nd in the Foster's Lager/Bob Jane T-Marts Pontiac in what would be his final Cup series start, and Terry Byres, who qualified 35th in the #06 Byres Racing Chevrolet~
Ben Hess qualified 30th in the #40 Hess Racing Oldsmobile, in one of his career high nine starts in 1989~ Some 1989 Racing Champions card backs have Ben's name on them, so a Ben Hess car was at some point supposed to be made... I've often wondered if one or more of them exists?~ I'd love to have one of them~ Every time I drive by a HESS brand gas station, it always make me think of Ben Hess~ Former BGN regular Tracy Leslie also made his Cup series debut in this race, starting 29th in A.J. Foyt's #14 Copenhagen Oldsmobile~
Coach Ditka uses Peak antifreeze, and Chris Farley did too~
Mark Martin passed Kulwicki for the lead on lap 6, and led the next 53 laps of the race~ During this time, the only driver to drop out of the race was Butch Miller, who dropped out after wheel bearing issues~ Following green flag pit stops, Harry Gant took control of the lead, driving the #33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile to the front, and remaining there for the next 49 laps~
Gant lost the lead when the caution came out for Jimmy Means, when the engine of his #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac expired~ Rusty Wallace came out with the lead and led for the next 10 laps, before getting passed by Kulwicki, whose car was just coming into its prime~ During this time, on lap 148, there would be one huge obstacle out of the way, as Harry Gant's engine would blow up, ending his chance at victory lane~ He finished in 40th place~
Rick Wilson, who had qualified 5th in the #4 Kodak Film Oldsmobile, finally made his way to the front of the pack on lap 165, where he remained for 15 laps, before fading away to finish 35th in the event~ Dale Earnhardt finally found his way to the lead on lap 221, but blew up while leading two laps later, resulting in a 38th place finish~ Jim Sauter, who was driving the #31 Slender You Figure Salons Pontiac, was the next casualty due to a blown engine, and he finished the race in 37th place~
Kyle being cocky in the fire suit~
As would be expected in a 600 mile event, several cars were dropping out with blown engines~ Australian Allan Grice was the next to catch the blown engine bug, retiring from the race on lap 294, and finishing in 34th place~ Davey Allison followed him just four laps later, and Morgan Shepherd just five laps following Davey~
Three laps following Morgan's blow up, Rusty Wallace's motor bit the dust, and he would finish in 31st~ Greg Sacks was involved in a crash on lap 320, and his Crisco Pontiac was done for the day, finishing in 30th place~ During all of these engines being blown up, Alan Kulwicki had been leading the entire time~ But this was a long race, and only the strongest cars will survive, regardless of the strength of the driver~
I have actually written a blog post about this race already, when I did the Dale Jarrett #29 Hardee's/Ghostbusters II Pontiac, so I hope I'm changing it up a bit, and making it fun for those who have already read that post~ If you haven't, check it out, it's an amazing looking car~ Anyway, back to the race.. Jarrett finished 28th, with you guessed it... a blown engine~ Michael Waltrip was the next to "blow" on lap 333, finishing 27th~
Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antifreeze Pontiac hero card~
Our good friend Alan Kulwicki, was the next one to go, blowing up with less than 30 laps remaining, resulting in a 23rd place finish~ Tracy Leslie, who was making his Cup debut, finished in 25th, after retiring from the race due to crank issues~ Ben Hess was running at the end of the race, albeit 12 laps down.. but he still finished in 20th place, which was amazing for him~
Richard Petty finished in 19th place, followed by Chad Little, driving the #90 Cheerwine/Pugh Oil Co. Ford, owned by Junie Donlavey~ I never knew about this car, until I was doing research for that Dale Jarrett post I mentioned earlier, and it's an awesome looking car~ I may try and make a Photoshop custom of it some day~ Anyway, Kyle ended up finishing in 17th place, 8 laps off of the leader's pace~
Some other drivers I'd like to mention are Dave Marcis, who hung on till the end to take the flag in 16th place, Derrike Cope, who brought the #10 Purolator Pontiac home in the 12th spot, Rick Mast, who finished 11th in the #66 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet, Neil Bonnett, who led for 53 laps before fading back to 7th place, and Brett Bodine, who drove Bud Moore's #15 Motorcraft Ford to an 8th place finish~
Darrell Waltrip too the lead from Kulwicki right before the #7 lost its engine, and he never looked back, leading the remaining 80 laps of competition uncontested~ This race was following the infamous 1989 Winston, where Rusty Wallace crashed Darrell hard on the last lap for the win~ The fans despised him, and started cheering for Darrell~ I'm sure this victory was Darrell's crown jewel of the 1989 season, in which he won 6 races~
Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antrfreeze Chevrolet - White version~
Well, this is considered to be one of the "Holy Grails" of Racing Champions 1/64's~ It's a kind of boring car, compared to my personal favorite from Series 1, Morgan Shepherd's #15 Motorcraft Ford.. but it's pretty classy too~ Its colors are sleek, and sharp, but all these things combined, it doesn't resemble the car he drove in the 600 as well as it could have~
First off, the blue on the front of the car goes back way further on the real car, almost covering the entire hood~ Also, the numbers on the side of the real car were reddish orange, whereas these are white with blue trim~ The real car said "Uniden" on the side, right beside of the numbers, at the bottom corner, whereas this one simply says "Peak" in white with blue trim~
I had been looking for this car for a while, but never really thinking I'd actually find one~ Currently, there isn't a single one of them on Ebay.. not even in the sold section~ I would have been comfortable buying one for 50 bucks, but I've seen them go for over 100 before~ That's too much for me, and luckily, I got this one for 3 bucks, new in the package, at a flea market in Sevierville, Tn.~ I about died when I saw it, and then I almost did die when the guy said it was 3 bucks~
I seen another one at a flea market in Bristol once, it wasn't in the package, but they only wanted a dollar for it... and for some stupid reason, I didn't buy it~ I just wasn't thinking at the time, and now some kid probably bought it and threw it in some dumb river somewhere~ Well, I'm talking so much, I'm gonna add the bonus car now, then I'll grade this car below it~
**Bonus car** Diggity Dave #10 Upper 10 Oldsmobile~
So, as far as the Petty car goes, I'm gonna give it a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ If it was just a bit more accurate, it would easily get an A~ It's a bit pricey unless you find them out in the wild, at your local flea markets, or thrift stores, but if you can get one at a decent price, it's definitely worth adding to your collection~
I hope some of you remember Upper 10 soda~ It was so much better tasting than 7up is now, and Sierra Mist tastes like it has dirt in it... yes, I've ate dirt~ Upper 10 is supposedly still made outside of the U.S., but that doesn't help me out any~ It tasted so crisp, and clean.. I would just love to taste it again before I die~ Maybe one day I'll be in Spain or whatever weird country they sell it in now, and I'll get to drink it again.... Ha!.. No way!~
When I first came up with the Upper 10 car, I didn't like it.. but then it started to grow on me, now I love it~ It's one of my favorite customs that I've made~ I give it an A-, because the shading on the 10 on the side could have been a little darker~ Other than that, it's an awesome car, made even more awesome by my choice of turning it into an Oldsmobile~ I loved them dang thangs~
Thanks for stopping by the blog this year!~ I hope you all have a great New Years day, and I'm sorry I'm a day late on this post.. stuff happened~ Please share this post on any social media site you're on, and click the "follow" button at the top of the page, on the right~ You'll get an email the moment I post a new blog~ Have a suggestion for a car or driver, or did I miss anything in this post?~ Leave me a comment down below~ Below here are some videos, but there aren't any videos for this race, so probably some random Kyle Petty videos~ Thanks again for stopping by, and I'll be around soon with a new post~ :)
1989 Winston Cup 1~ These are about 20 minutes each, but worth it~
1989 Winston Cup 2~
1989 Winston Cup 3~
1989 Winston Cup 4~
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