When I look at this car, I'm filled with lots of different emotions.. some are happy, while others are sad.. and others times I just wonder what it would have been like had he not got back in the drivers seat.. all the great commentary we lost, and all the great family time the Bonnett family lost~ We all lost Neil together, and together we can help keep his memory alive for years to come~
Neil was thrilled to be back in a Cup car~
Neil Bonnett had been out of racing since his crash in the 1990 "TranSouth 500" @ Darlington~ In 1992, he started doing some testing for Richard Childress, which fueled Bonnett's fiery passion for racing~ He started talking to Earnhardt about how he was wanting to get back to driving again, and Earnhardt convinced Richard Childress to give Bonnett the car Dale won the Pepsi 400 in, and let him drive it at Talladega~
When word got out that Bonnett was gonna be racing at Talladega, fans snatched up tickets, and millions tuned in to see the return of the man from Alabama make his return to the highest form of NASCAR~ I remember the first time I saw Bonnett's car on television, how I thought it looked even cooler than Earnhardt's car did~ That big red Mom 'n' Pops logo just popped on tv~ Bonnett's son David attempted to make the field for the BGN race, but his engine blew in qualifying, and he failed to make the field~
Bonnett awaits his qualifying session~
The 1993 "Die Hard 500" was just completely filled with NASCAR history before it even started~ Buddy Baker was attempting a one off deal with Rick Hendrick in the developmental #46 DuPont Chevrolet, and as the story goes, certain drivers didn't feel comfortable racing around Buddy, due to recent blood clots in his brain at the time~
It has been said that Baker was then blackballed by NASCAR officials when his car was impounded, and adjustments were made to the cowl~ These adjustments made the car two seconds slower than he was in practice, thus assuring Baker wouldn't make the field for the event~ The other drivers who failed to make the race were Rich Bickle, Bobby Hamilton, Clay Young, and Kerry Teague (no relation to Brad Teague)~
When qualifying was over, Bonnett found himself rolling off from the 20th position, while his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt qualified in 11th~ The pole position was awarded to "Awesome" Bill Elliott, and the #11 Budweiser Ford, with Ernie Irvan and the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet on the outside of row number one~
Neil awaits the start of the 1993 "Die Hard 500"~
This was the first race at Talladega since the death of Davey Allison, and for some weird reason, Robert Yates put Robby Gordon in the #28 Havoline/Our Teammate Forever Ford~ As fate would have it, Gordon would bring out the first caution of the day, putting him out of the race with a last place finish~ I feel like Davey was smiling that day~ Robby Gordon doesn't deserve to drive Davey's car at Talladega, and it was like Davey put a stop to it himself~
The next caution happened on lap 70, and it was a massive, vicious crash that sent Johnny Horton and the #32 Active Chevrolet over the wall, and out of the race track in tremendous fashion~ Rick Mast, Loy Allen, Kenny Wallace, Stanley Smith, and Ritchie Petty were also caught up in the incident, with Smith getting the worst of it~
As track workers were checking on Horton, it appeared obvious that something was wrong with Smith~ He appeared on raw footage of the race completely soaked in blood, as a tire from one of the other cars came through and hit him in the face, while it was still attached to the car~ Smith had sustained a basilar skull fracture in the accident, and spent many months in recovery~ This is the same kind of skull fracture that would later kill Bonnett, as well as Earnhardt, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and several others before safety measures were improved~
Ted Musgrave ruined it for everyone~
Bonnett was battling with Ted Musgrave, and Jimmy Hensley on lap 132 when Musgrave gave Bonnett a tap coming out of the turn, sending him slamming into the wall and catch fence~ Hensley was caught up in the accident, as well as Loy Allen, who was making his second career Cup start~ Bonnett's car was totaled, and he finished what would be the last full race of his Cup career in 34th place~
After a lengthy delay to repair the catch fence, racing resumed.. and man, what a battle it was!~ I've probably watched this race over 100 times in my life, and it's just a wild race from the start, and all the way down to the finish~ It ended up being a six car battle for the win, and eventually a five car battle when Bobby Labonte's #22 Maxwell House Ford ran out of gas~
In the end, Dale Earnhardt prevailed over Ernie Irvan by just a couple of inches~ They ran the remaining 49 laps under green, and battled like maniacs the entire way to the checkered flag~ No need for "green white checkered" overtime crap.. these guys knew how to race, and they proved it in this wild race at Talladega~ Mark Martin finished third, followed by Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett~
Neil's final race~ Atlanta - 1993~
Neil's final Cup race was ran as a favor to his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt, to help him secure his sixth Winston Cup championship~ Ten drivers would fail to qualify for the 42 car field, but Neil wouldn't be one of them, as he had secured a 35th place starting spot with his qualifying run~ A few notable drivers who failed to make the show include Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Means, Bob Schacht, John Andretti, Norm Benning, and P.J. Jones~
Earnhardt qualified 19th, and had to finish 34th or better to win the championship, and Rusty Wallace pretty much had to win the race to have a chance~ When the race went green, Bonnett did as he had been told, and pulled in after three laps with "engine" issues~ Earnhardt held on for a 10th place finish, and even though Rusty Wallace won the race, still had enough points to secure his sixth Winston Cup Championship~
Rusty was followed to the checkered flag by Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Dick Trickle~ Neil's three lap run was good enough for last place, in what would be the final race of his career~ But not before he gave it another go at the start of the 1994 season, driving the #51 Country Time Chevrolet~
Neil with Donnie and Bobby Allison~
Neil never got to make a start in the #51 Country Time Chevrolet, as he passed away after being involved in a practice crash just nine days before the start of the 1994 "Daytona 500"~ I could have written quite a bit more about Bonnett, and the 1993 "DieHard 500", but it's all been written about much better than I could do.. and I just wanted to go over the basics with everyone again with this post~
Bonnett's career was full of highs and lows, just the same as all the other drivers, but he had a unique personality.. a very likeable personality that current drivers lack~ I miss that the most about Neil, and drivers like him~ They were genuinely nice guys... smart guys, who had wonderful personalities~ I could sit and listen to Neil talk for hours about racing, and never get tired of it~ He just had a way of talking that regular guys like me admired, and could relate to~
I find myself watching old episodes of "Winners" all the time~ That show can't be replicated because Neil made it what it was... he was that show~ You could duplicate the show, but you just can't duplicate Neil Bonnett's personality that we all admired and enjoyed over the years~ Neil's memory will live on as long as I'm alive, and hopefully for many years after that~
Neil Bonnett #31 Mom 'n' Pops Chevrolet~
This car was released in the 1993 Premier set, and had a limited release of 10,000 pieces~ As with all Premier cars, I'm not a fan of the gold stand, and gold trim on the card~ I'm also not a fan of the fat tires the Premiers had, or the clear windows~ Some people prefer the clear windows to the standard black ones, but they started out with the blacked windows, so that's what I prefer~
Other than that, Racing Champions captured the beauty of Neil's real car pretty flawlessly~ Every little detail is there in 1/64 scale form, just the way his car was back in 1993 @ Talladega~ The card features Neil grinning from ear to ear in front of the car, and you sure can tell how happy he was to be back at the track as a driver~
I give this car a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, with points taken off for being a Premier car instead of a standard issue~ The current price of this one isn't much cheaper than its 1/24 scale counterpart, with the cheapest 1/64 version currently on Ebay going for 33 bucks, whereas the 1/24 version can be found for $39.00 after shipping~ The main problem with these Bonnett #31 cars is that people aren't offering them for sale, thus the high price point when they do~
I'm not saying that's an issue all the time.. I lucked up and found mine at the flea market for a couple bucks, but that's not normal.. so be happy if it happens to you~ Usually you find a bunch of commons, but moments like finding a Bonnett Mom 'n' Pops car for a couple bucks are what the hunt is all about!~ I have nearly 1,400 diecasts now, and I'd guess that less than 50 of them were bought on Ebay~
Ebay takes the fun out of going and finding them on your own, and I personally only use it for cars that I know I don't have a chance of finding locally, or whenever I see one going for so cheap that I just can't pass it up~ I recently bought a Sterling Marlin #40 Prilosec OTC Dodge Action 1/64 from Ebay, but only because I got it for $1.75 free shipping~ I would never have found such an odd promo for that price, so I picked it up~ You can overspend on these little hunks of metal and memories... and that doesn't have to be the case~ Before I ramble your eyes out of your head.. let's just move on to the bonus car for this post~
Diggity Dave #14 Dekalb Corn Ford~
Well, here's this ol' thang~ I've got a hat that has the Dekalb corn logo on it, and so I made this car out of boredom one day~ As with the previous post, I have other cars that I'd like to post now, but I've got several requested cars I've still got to post, and a lot of these "Diggity Dave" fantasy cars that I've got done up already... so I'm trying to get that stuff out of the way a little bit first~
Obviously I never raced this car, but if I did... I don't think I would have won any races~ Dekalb Corn sounds like a sponsorship Derrike Cope would have, and I don't think his sponsorship deals are worth too much, so best case scenario.. let's just say for pretend that I got a danged top 5 somehow at Bristol, let's just blame it on Danica crashing a bunch of people, knocking them out of the race.. and I survived through it to finish 3rd, behind Morgan Shepherd in the #21 Citgo Ford, and Derrike Cope in the #12 Mane n' Tail Shampoo Ford~ See.. in fantasy world, anything is possible~ So congratulations on your 3rd Winston Cup victory, Derrike!~ :)
Ok, back into reality world... as of this post, the blog now has over 100,000 views, so I want to thank everyone that has visited during these past couple of years for that accomplishment~ I've enjoyed doing these posts, and hope you've enjoyed reading them~ Please share this post on social media, and click the follow button at the top of the page here~ Below I've included some clips from throughout Bonnett's career, and until next time, always remember... You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd!~ :P
1983 Daytona 125 win~
Neil wins the 1980 Talladega 500~ Amazing!~
1993 Die Hard 400 crash~
Inside Winston Cup Racing tribute to Neil~
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