Back in 1994, Hut Stricklin was getting a lot of attention after parting ways with Junior Johnson after only one season in the #27 McDonald's Ford, to drive the #23 Smokin' Joe's Ford for rookie Cup series owner, Travis Carter~ This was a totally new team, and Hut had high hopes that this would be the start of something good~ That sadly never happened, which we'll soon learn, as we look back on Hut Stricklin's sad 1994 season driving the #23 Smokin' Joe's Ford~
Camel hyped the heck out of Hut Stricklin~
By the time 1994 rolled around, Hut Stricklin had already been racing full time in the Cup series for six years, and had spent basically all of that time driving in sub-par equipment, for sub-par teams~ He ran his rookie season with Rod Osterlund, who was on his way out of the sport by then, and drove for Bobby Allison from 1990-1992, and Bobby wasn't pumping money into his race team, but Hut still had some great runs with that team, having his career best season in 1991 with 3 top 5's, and 7 top 10's~
He next went on to have a disastrous 1993 campaign driving Junior Johnson's #27 McDonald's Ford~ The team was sponsored quite well, but Johnson's divorce from his wife that year had his mind elsewhere, and the team suffered without Johnson's full attention, and Hut finished the season with 1 top 5, and 2 top 10's~ Stricklin left the team at the end of the season to drive for Travis Carter, and was replaced by Jimmy Spencer in the #27 car~
After driving for such junky teams, I'm sure Hut was enjoying all the attention he was getting from his Camel sponsorship~ Camel had tons of money to throw at the team, and they advertised the heck out of Stricklin and the newly founded team~ In every magazine, you'd see a picture of Joe Camel and the race car, it was all over the place, and people loved it~ This car was amazing looking back in 1994, and I was a huge fan of this team, and at first.. a lot of people were pulling for them~
Hut on track, smokin' it up~
By the time Speedweeks was underway, it was obvious it was gonna be a rough season for Stricklin, and he eventually started the 1994 Daytona 500 in 38th place~ At least he made the field for the race... 69 drivers showed up for their shot to make the Daytona 500, two of them (Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr) died, one (Jimmy Means) retired due to Neil Bonnett's passing, and 24 others were sent home to try another year~
Stricklin's car was a turd for the entirety of the race, and he had to settle for a 33rd place finish, 26 laps off the pace of eventual race winner, Sterling Marlin, who won his first Cup race driving the #4 Kodak Chevrolet after 279 attempts~ He beat out former Kodak driver, Ernie Irvan, who was driving the #28 Texaco Ford, Terry Labonte (who was driving the #5 Kellogg's car for the first time), Jeff Gordon, and the wily veteran Morgan Shepherd finished out the top 5, driving the #21 Citgo Ford~
The following week at Rockingham for the "Goodwrench 500", Stricklin was again slow (this will be a recurring theme during this post), qualifying 24th, and finishing 26th, fourteen laps off the pace of race winner, Rusty Wallace, who destroyed the field, leading 347 of 492 laps on his way to an easy victory of Sterling Marlin~ The win was Rusty's third in a row at Rockingham, and his first win driving a Ford~ Rick Mast was 3rd in the #1 Skoal Classic Ford, followed by Mark Martin, and Ernie Irvan~
Things were smokin' alright, but it was fail smoke~
At this point, one would assume things couldn't get much worse for the highly hyped new team, but the Smokin' Joe's team was just getting started, and they proved that by failing to qualify for the "Pontiac Excitement 400" @ Richmond, in only the third race of the season~ Stricklin was able to bounce back somewhat at Atlanta, for the "Purolator 500", and although he qualified 39th, he was able to drag his car up to a 17th place finish, which at this point, must have felt like a win... or at least a top 5~
Moving on to Darlington for the "TranSouth Financial 400", Stricklin cracked the top 20 for the first time in qualifying, with a 15th place effort~ He would slip a couple spots to again finish 17th, but remained a stagnant 33rd in the points standings~ The next stop on the schedule would bring the Smokin' Joe's Racing team into Bristol, for the "Food City 500", where Stricklin would qualify 26th, but due to the amount of carnage in the race, he was able to squeak out a 14th place finish~
Chuck Bown won the pole award for the event, in what turned out to be his only Cup series pole~ Bown was driving the #12 Masterbuilt Ford for Bobby Allison, and was slaughtered by Rusty Wallace in the early goings of the race, and he finished 23rd~ The race was won by Dale Earnhardt, followed by Kenny Schrader, Lake Speed, Geoff Bodine, and Michael Waltrip~ Dave Marcis also picked up his final career top 10, with a 10th place finish in the #71 Tri-City Aviation Chevrolet~
Chuck Bown got the Smokin' Joe sponsor for Richmond following Hut's DNQ~
Following the Bristol race, Stricklin and the team then posted back to back 20th place finishes in the "First Union 400" @ North Wilkesboro, and the "Hanes 500" @ Martinsville~ This was followed up with an 18th place finish in the "Winston Select 500" @ Talladega, and another 20th place run in the "Save Mart Supermarkets 300" @ Sears Point~ In the next three races, Stricklin would put on his best performance of the season, and perhaps the team started thinking things were finally gonna go their way for a change.. we'll just see about that~
After qualifying 40th for the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte, the Hutster held on to the end, and finished the race four laps off the pace of race winner Jeff Gordon (his first career Cup win), in 12th place~ Sadly, Loy Allen, Jr. still beat him, as Allen finished 11th~ Rusty Wallace finished second, followed by Geoff Bodine, Dale Boringsticks Jarrett, and Ernie Irvan~
Stricklin again qualified poorly for the "Budweiser 500" @ Dover, with a 38th place starting spot, but pulled off his best finish of the season with a 9th place showing~ Rusty Wallace won the event, followed by Ernie Irvan (who was a complete beast in 1994, until the crash), Kenny Schrader, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordon~ I'm sure at this point Stricklin was pretty pumped up.. but he was setting himself up for disaster, and there was no way out.. at least until after Atlanta~
Midway through the season, the team switched to this scheme~
Hut qualified 23rd for the "UAW-GM Teamwork 500" @ Pocono, and was able to move up to finish 13th by the checkered flag, one lap off the pace of race winner, Rusty Wallace, who won from the pole, leading 141 of 200 laps~ Dale Earnhardt finished 2nd, followd by Kenny Schrader, Morgan Shepherd, and Mark Martin~ The following week at Michigan, Hut finished 22nd in the "Miller Genuine Draft 400", and this started a downward spiral for the team that would last nearly the rest of the season~
Back at Daytona, where this disaster first begun, Stricklin qualified 20th for the "Pepsi 400", but a blown engine less than 50 laps into the event relegated him to a 42nd place finish~ Things didn't get much better the following week at Loudon for the "Slick 50 300", where after qualifying 30th, Stricklin finished a dismal 36th place~ Back at Pocono the following week, the team managed to do a bit better, with a 22nd place finish in the "Miller Genuine Draft 500"~
Stricklin's next three races consisted of a 25th (DieHard 500 - Talladega), a 36th (Brickyard 400.. can you believe he even made the field for that one!~), and a 30th in the "Bud at the Glen"~ He then failed to qualify for the"GM Goodwrench Dealer 400" @ Michigan, which was the race that Ernie Irvan had his bad practice crash in~ Robert Yates considered putting Hut in the #28 car since he DNQ'd, but Ernie wasn't expected to live, so the team withdrew the car from the event~
The #23 Smokin' Joe's car hauler was pretty nice~
In his return to Bristol for the "Goody's 500", the lights must have gotten to him, because he didn't have the same luck he had in the Spring race, qualifying 26th, and finishing 35th, after crashing out on lap 142, after already being many laps down at that point~ Rusty Wallace went on to win the race in his famous "Midnight" car, followed by Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, and Bill Elliott~ After getting a top 10 finish in the Spring race, Dave Marcis failed to make the show for the night race~
Next up was the mean ol' "Mountain Dew Southern 500" @ Darlington, and Hut qualified 36th for the treacherous event~ Geoff Bodine won the pole for the event in the #7 Exide Ford, but as usual in 1994, he blew the engine, and finished 27th~ Mark Martin and Kenny Schrader both had fast cars, and led a lot of laps, but both had problems before the end of the event, and Bill Elliott held on to take the victory in the #11 Budweiser Ford, in what was Junior Johnson's final win as a car owner, and Bill's last win until 2001~
With a season this weird, you'd just have to know that going back to Richmond, where he failed to qualify in the Spring race, he goes and qualifies on the outside pole, breaking the previous track record, along with first time pole sitter, Ted Musgrave, who was driving the #16 Family Channel Ford~ Stricklin took the lead early, and led for 5 laps, but a flat tire late in the race knocked him out of contention, and he finished in 30th place~
Hut Stricklin #23 Smokin' Joe's promo card~
In the "SplitFire Spark Plug 500" @ Dover, Hut qualified and finished in 32nd place~ He then finished 23rd in the "Goody's 500" @ Martinsville after leading 21 laps early in the event, and 22nd in the "Tyson Holly Farms 400" @ North Wilkesboro~ A really funny thing about that Wilkesboro race... Dale "Boring head" Jarrett failed to qualify in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet~ Also, Geoff Bodine lapped the entire field on his way to an extremely dominating performance, leading 334 of 400 laps on his way to the checkered flag~
Stricklin then finished 21st in the "Mello Yello 500" @ Charlotte, and followed that up with a 27th place finish in the "AC-Delco 500" @ Rockingham~ I remember this race very vividly, because I was pulling my hair out, rooting for Rick Mast to get his first career Cup win, but dang ol' Dale Earnhardt ruined it all~ Mast had to settle for second after leading 58 laps, followed by Morgan Shepherd, Ricky Rudd, and Terry Labonte~
The Smokin' Joe's team next headed to Phoenix for the "Slick 50 500", where Hut brought the Camel machine home in 24th place~ In the final event of the season, Stricklin fittingly qualified 39th, but managed to bring the ol' Ford home for the final time with a respectable 16th place finish~ The long, hard, agonizing season with Travis Carter was officially over and done with... and I don't think anyone could have been happier than Hut Stricklin that the season of suck was finally over for good~
"Camel Powered"?~ It was more like "Dick Trickle's Ashtray Powered"!~ :P
This post kind of made me sad to write, because it doesn't do Hut Stricklin justice~ It makes him look like a crumby driver, and he really wasn't~ In my opinion, he's one of the best to never win in any of the top 3 divisions of NASCAR~ Heck, he never even ran a single truck race.. I think he would have been a beast in that series~ His problem was he just never got a decent shot in the Cup series~ He made those junky cars he drove perform better than they should have, but it was never enough, and was never going to be enough~
No one ever won a race driving for Travis Carter, and I think Carter is the main reason Jimmy Spencer didn't win more Cup races.. he just stayed with Carter for so long, driving those junky cars that didn't stand a chance... and he did get some decent finishes out of them, but in better equiptment, the guy would have won muliple races per year for nearly a decade.. again, these are just my opinions... who really knows?~
Stricklin ended the 1994 season having started 29 of 31 races, with 1 top 10 (Dover), and 26 laps led~ He finished 26th in the final points standings, with an average start of 28.4, and an average finish of 23.3, and was a lead lap finisher in one event (Sears Point)~ Stricklin was out of a ride after being replace by Jimmy Spencer in the #23 car at the end of the 1994 season, but following the disaster of the "Steve Kinser experiment", he was picked to drive the #26 Quaker State Ford for Kenny Bernstein~ The team folded at the end of the season, but Hut had a decent year, winning the pole at Rockingham, and netting 2 top 5's, and 5 top 10's for the fading team~
Hut Stricklin #23 Smokin' Joe's Ford
Well, here she is.. in all of her wretched glory~ Now, this car originally comes in a plastic case, with a purple base that says "Camel Powered"~... so I guess it wasn't ever meant to be taken out and handled, but.. a guy like me just can't resist the urge.. I've just gotta crack the thing open, and dig in~ So.. at first touch, you'll notice that this car feels unlike any other Racing Champions car.. well, it feels like the Prototype cars... like fine sandpaper, or a sand shark~
The paint on the car is in a boring matte finish, which I'm not a fan of, and I just don't like anything about the paint on this car~ I do love the car, and it looks nice.. but it feels like junk, and the wheels barely roll, and they squeak a lot when they do roll~ It's probably one of the junkiest jobs Racing Champions did this late in the game.. by 1994, they'd pretty much worked the bugs out of the molds, and could produce nice cars.. so I don't know why they did this to this poor car~
This could also be the reason why Action produced the Camel cars after this one, and theirs are much better than this version.. by far~ I hate to say that, but it's just true this time~ This is still a very awesome car to add to your Racing Champions collection, and it looks real nice, minus the matte paint~ I made the card in Photoshop, as this one just comes in that purple base case that I mentionted earlier~ I'm giving this car a C- on the Racing Champions quality scale, as I feel like they could have done a better job, and probably lost the Camel account due to the shoddy job they did on this car~ This car had one of my favorite paint schemes at the time, and I still think it looks pretty danged awesome to this very day~ Let's move on to the bonus car for this post~
Troy Beebe #9 Taco Bell Chevrolet~
Troy Beebe was born in Modesto, California on January 5th, 1962~ He ran his first ever BGN race in this car during the 1991 season, where he competed in 23 events, notching his only career top 10 finish in the "Kroger 200" @ IRP, with a 10th place run~ Beebe finished a career high 22nd in the final point standings that year, with an average start of 24.4, and an average finish of 21.4~
He ran the #24 Banana Boat Ford/Chevrolet/Buick for the 1992 BGN season, competing in 14 events, with a best finish of 15th in the season opening "Goody's 300" @ Daytona, and finished 33rd in the final points standings, with an average start of 28.6, and an average finsh of 25.4~
He ran 8 races in 1993, with a best finish of 17th in the "Polaroid 300" @ Rougemont~ These races were also sponsored by Banana Boat, with the exception of the Milwaukee race, where he picked up sponsorship from FDP Brakes~ He ran his final top 3 tier NASCAR race in 1997 Truck series, finishing 39th in the "Carquest Auto Parts 420K" @ Las Vegas, driving the #06 Farris Concrete Chevrolet~
Well, that's about it~ I hope you've all enjoyed this edition of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog, and I look forward to seeing you around for the next one~ Below I've added some videos from Hut's career.. there's not enough Camel footage, so I had to just go with what was out there~ Enjoy them, and thanks again for stopping by the blog!~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ :)
Hut kills the Raybestos car at Bristol - 1991~
Stricklin kills the Smokin' Joe's car - 1994 Watkins Glen~
Hut races Richard Petty to the line~ 1991 Gatorade 125's Race 1~
BGN Volusia County 1992~ Troy Beebe #24 spin~
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