Mike Skinner #31 RealTree Camouflage Chevrolet

    Hello again NASCAR Racing Champions fans, and welcome back to the blog!~ I've been really busy here lately with work, and haven't had time to post in a while, but thanks to a case of the Bristol flu, I've slowed down enough to crank one out, and I chose Mike Skinner's #31 RealTree Camouflage Chevrolet~

   Skinner drove a total of 5 races for Richard Childress in this car during the 1996 Winston Cup season, becoming a teammate of Dale Earnhardt~ He would run full time in 1997, with sponsorship from Lowe's, but he got his start with Richard Childress in this RealTree car, and he had some decent success in it, to a degree.. so let's take a look back on his time in the ride~

                                                              Watch out for that wall!~

    Well, first of all.. I pretty much just lied to you above when I said that Skinner drove this car 5 times during 1996~ He actually drove it 4 times, and the first race he ran was sponsored by RCR, for a total of 5 races~ Now that I've confessed my sins to you, I'll tell you that Skinner's first race with RCR was in the "Goodwrench Service 400" @ Rockingham, where he rolled off from the 35th position~ The pole was won by Terry Labonte, driving the #5 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet~

    Terry's car was strong, and looked like the car to beat for a while, but he suffered engine problems, and was out of the race~ Then Jimmy Spencer looked strong for a while, but his car blew up, and he finished 27th~ Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Hamilton were battling back and forth for the lead after that, and it looked like Hamilton was gonna pull it off, and win one for Petty Enterprises~

    That's when Earnhardt pulled an Earnhardt, and popped poor ol' Bobby Hamilton right into the wall~ Earnhardt sped away, and won the race.. saying he didn't mean to do it, just like every other time he stole a win from someone~ Skinner held his own throughout the day, and came home in 12th place, which is pretty impressive for his first start with a new team~ My "Hero of the Race Award" goes out to Steve Grissom, who finished in 5th place, after starting from the 6th position in the #29 Cartoon Network Chevrolet~

                                             Mike Skinner LOVES beating Jeff Gordon~

    Skinner next ran with the team at Bristol, for the "Food City 500"~  To the shock of at least a few, he qualified 6th~ I can remember wondering who the "guy in the white car" was when I got to the track~ I had to look in the program to find out who it was~ Although he seemed to be holding a few guys up, he was holding his own during the beginning of the race~

    Mark Martin won the pole, and led the first 59 laps, before pitting~ The lead was then handed over to Skinner, who didn't pit during the caution~ He led for 10 laps, before being passed by Bill Elliott~ He eventually crashed into the wall, ending his day early, which resulted in a 36th place finish~ This race was red flagged a total of three time~ Twice for rain, and once for Darrell Waltrip's accident, when his fuel cell busted~ It was a long day, and the race was eventually ended early due to the weather~

    Rusty Wallace was strong throughout the day, leading a total of 76 laps, and finishing in 5th place~ Jeff Gordon won the rain shortened event, followed by Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Earnhardt, and Wallace~ My "Hero of the Race Award" goes out to Dick Trickle, who brought the #19 Healthsource Tri-Star Ford home in 8th place, for his only top 10 of the season~ 




                                                      Skinner leading the Food City 500~

    The next stop for Team RealTree came in the "Winston Select 500" @ Talladega, where Skinner again qualified in the 6th position~ Good ol' Ernie Irvan won the pole for the event, driving the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford~ This race had a TON of lead changes, with the bulk of the laps being led by Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, and Jeff Gordon, who all led for at least 16 laps each~

     This race is probably best remembered for the huge wreck on lap 129, involving 13 cars~ The most noticeable of those cars was the #41 Kodiak Chevrolet, driven by Ricky Craven~ Craven's car jumped into the sky, and over 5 cars before crashing down~ This was the first of several accidents that eventually ended the career of Craven, who was having a great start to the 1996 season prior to this accident~ Bill Elliott also broke his leg during this crash, and as a result, he missed seven races during the season~

    Following the caution for the Craven accident, Sterling Marlin basically ran away with the show, on his way to his second consecutive Talladega win~ Dale Jarrett was second, followed by Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, and Michael Waltrip, who picked up the only top 5 of his three year stint with the Wood Brothers~ My "Hero of the Race Award" goes to Steve Grissom again, who finished 6th in the #29 Cartoon Network Chevrolet~ Skinner ended up finishing in 17th place, after dealing with an ill handling car~

                                                 The Batman and Robin of NASCAR~

    Team RealTree didn't race again until 16 races later, in the "MBNA 500" @ Dover~ Skinner qualified in 16th place, while the pole award went to Bobby Labonte and the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet team~ Our ol' friend Rick Mast qualified on the outside pole, in the #1 Hooters Pontiac~

    The race was a wreck fest for the most part, with 14 cautions, and is probably best remembered as the time Jimmy Spencer tried to beat up Wally Dallenbach Jr.~ Ernie Irvan led for a while, but crashed out when he claimed he was pinched down by the lapped car of Derrike Cope~ Later in the race, Cope's car caught fire and retired from the event, and members of Irvan's team (mainly Larry McReynolds) tried to start a fight with Cope, before being broken up by NASCAR officials~

    Jeff Gordon basically dominated the danged race, leading for a total of 204 laps on his way to the checkered flag~ He was followed by Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin finished out the top 5~ My "Hero of the Race Award" goes out to Rick Mast, who after qualifying on the outside pole, came home with a 6th place finish for the Richard Jackson owned Hooters team~

                                                    I told him to watch out for that wall!~

    Skinner's final race in the #31 RealTree car came in the "Dura Lube 500" @ Phoenix, where he managed to put the car on the outside of row number 1~ Bobby Labonte narrowly beat him out for the pole position in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet~
                  
    There wasn't really a dominant car all day long during the race, as several drivers kept swapping the lead back and forth from each other for the most part of the day~ Bobby Hamilton, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Labonte each lead for at least 29 laps, with Martin leading the most with 83~

    In the end, it was our ol' pal Bobby Hamilton picking up his first career Winston Cup victory, and the first for Petty Enterprises since 1983, which made for a pretty emotional victory lane celebration~
Mark Martin finished second, followed by Terry Labonte, Ted Musgrave, and Jeff Gordon~ My "Hero of the Race Award" goes to Ted Musgrave, picking up a top 5 finish in the #16 Family Channel/Primestar Ford~ Mike Skinner finished 13th, and would go on to race the #31 Lowe's Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing for the next five seasons, all winless~

                                       Mike Skinner #31 RealTree Camouflage Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

     This has to be the ugliest Richard Childress paint scheme of all time~ It's sponsored by RealTree, and it's just mostly white.. the most un-camouflaged color of all time~ Don't get me wrong.. I'm a fan of simplistic paint schemes, but this car is just pretty ugly~ I mean.. it looks like someone took a dump all over the hood of the car for crying out loud~

    RealTree went on to have some pretty awesome paint schemes, most notably with Dave Marcis, but this one just bites~ I've been told that this car is one of the harder ones to find from the 1996 set, though I'm not sure why that would be, and I've never found out any information as to why it would be harder to find than any of the others~ It usually commands a little bit of a higher price tag, compared to a common car, but it's by no means an expensive rarity~

    I'm gonna give this car a D- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ The card is boring, the car is boring, the stand is boring, just everything about this car is totally boring~ I'm just not a fan of this car, and although I do like the history around the car, the car itself is a big ol' pile of Dale Jarrett style boring~ Now let's take a look at the bonus car for this post, before I start spitting all over the place~

                              **BONUS CAR** Marty Noll #46 Qik Joe/Milazzo Chevrolet~

    Marty Noll was a Busch North driver who drove a total of 4 races during the mid to late 90's~ He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 1st, 1962~ His best finish came in the 1997 "Thompson Sunoco 300" @ the Thompson Speedway in Thompson, Connecticut, where he finished 24th~

    Not much is known about Noll other than that.. he just kind of disappeared from the sport~ I found an old postcard featuring his car, and decided I'd make a Photoshopped Racing Champions version of it for a bonus car post~ It's a pretty nice looking car, in my opinion~ I used Shawna Robinson's #46 Polaroid Chevrolet as the "donor" car for this one~

    Thank you all for stopping by the blog once more~ I'd like to be posting on a more regular basis, but I've gotta stay busy during the warm months so I don't freeze to death in the winter time~ I'll get these posts up as quickly as I can, though they might be a little more spaced apart until the end of summer~ Below are some random videos from Mike Skinner's career, since there isn't much on his RealTree car~ Please share this post on social media, and anywhere else, and click the follow button at the top of this page, on the right hand side~ Until next time, stay alive.. don't drink and drive!~ :)

                                                  Skinner Cup wins~ Non points races~

                                           Skinner relieves Earnhardt 1996 Brickyard 400~

                                                         Skinner being a whiny baby~

                                                        Top 10 Mike Skinner crashes~

Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet

    Hello Racing Champions fans!~ Well, it doesn't seem like it, but this is my 99th blog post~ Since we're so close to 100, I figured I'd make this one a special post too~ I actually just got this car a few days ago, and I'm pretty excited about it~ What we're going to be looking back on today is the Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet~ Blakley drove this car during the 1994 Goody's Dash Series season, as well as a DNQ in the Busch Grand National division~

    In case some of you may not know, Ramses is a brand of condom~ This car was very controversial in its time, and the team used to hand out samples of the condoms to the fans.. at least for the first race~ They also promoted AIDS education, and safe sex~ At first, Blakley went to Ramses parent company, London International, looking for sponsorship from their manicure implements division, but the Sarasota Florida based company had another idea~ We'll get to that, and more in this edition of the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~

                                                Racing was one of Sherry's many talents~

    Even before she started her professional racing career, Sherry was a fierce competitor.. competing in softball (shown above), basketball, figure skating, and cheerleading~ She attended Clark High School in Texas, and was the co-captain of the cheerleading squad~

    As a youth, she participated in go-kart racing, and won several events~ With her father backing her, she was able to compete for wins, and even championships in the go-kart ranks... but to move up the chain, you need sponsors to back you, and Blakley soon found this out~

                                                Young Sherry getting coached by her father~

    After spending her early teens in go-karts, Sherry was growing tired beating everyone, and was looking for her next challenge~ She had accomplished all she could in the go-karts, and it was time to make the step up to Late Models~ That whole sponsor thing came into play here for the first time~ She picked up sponsorship from Bud Light, and drove a Pontiac in several Late Model starts~

    She was quite competitive in the Late Model division, and with good looks on her side, she was able to keep the sponsorship dollars rolling in, allowing her to move up the ranks quite steadily~ Before long, she was knocking on the door of the Goody's Dash series~

                                               Magazine insert of Blakley's Bud Light car~

    Sherry was one of the few female TIDA Late Model drivers~ Under the guidance of her father Jack, she quickly learned how to mix it up with many experienced male drivers on the TIDA Southwest Circuit such as Slick Yoemans, John Kelly, Rick Rapp, David Umscheid, Greg Davidson, Jay Watson, and dozens of other well known drivers~

    Along with Bud Light, La Quinta was another one of her earlier sponsors~  Before running Late Models, she raced in the All Pro Super Series, running a five race campaign during the 1988 season~ She would compete the following year in the TIDA Late Models, due to poor records, all I can tell you is that she had a best known finish of 14th in a race at Twin Cities Speedway, in Odessa Texas on April 1st, 1989~ Larry Schild won the event~

                                                      Blakley in the All Pro series days~

    As you can see in the picture above, La Quinta was a sponsor during her All Pro series races~ Texas Pete, Skoal Long Cut, and Gatorade were all series secondary sponsors~ I also found it interesting that she drove an Oldsmobile during this time, though it wasn't uncommon~ I had just seen information of her driving either a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet.. up until researching for this post~

    Blakley ran five races during the 1988 season of the All Pro series~ She had a best finish of 12th twice~ The first time came in the San Antonio 100 @ San Antonio Speedway, and the other was the Hoosier Tire 150 @ Mobile International Speedway, in Irvington, Alabama~

   She ran her first Goody's Dash Series event in the 1991 Cam 2 100 @ Five Flags Speedway, in Pensacola, Florida, where she finished in 15th place~ She made that lone start in the series, and took the entire 1992 off, perhaps to be with her family, but I'm not sure of the exact reason~ She returned in 1993 to run the entire schedule, and was quite impressive, as we'll soon find out~

                                                    Sherry at a promo shoot for Ramses~

    The 1993 Goody's Dash Series season was perhaps her finest moment, as far as racing goes~ She ran the complete schedule, with a best finish of 3rd, in the Goody's Dash 100 @ Florence Motor Speedway, in Timmonsville, South Carolina~

    She finished 4th in the Goody's Dash 125 @ the Nashville Fairgounds Speedway, and finished the season off with a confirmed two top 5's, and ten top 10's, while finishing 8th in the final points standings~ Two of the races during the season don't have confirmed stats, so she could have gotten more top 5's, or top 10's.. but I an confirm the above stats stated above~

                                                             Blakley's Dash Series car~

    I'm not sure why, but there are more stats for the 1993 Dash Series, than there are for the 1994 season~ Five races are missing all of the stats, so I can't give a complete rundown on her season, but here's what I know~ She had two top 10's, with the first being an 8th place finish in the NASCAR Goody's Dash 100 @ Florence Motor Speedway, in Timmonsville, South Carolina, and the final one coming in the Dooly Printing & PSK Radio 300 @ the Motor Mile Speedway, in Radford, Virginia~

   Blakley attempted to make one start in the 1994 BGN series season, in the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte~ She was supposed to run a five race deal with Ramses, however NASCAR didn't like the fact of people handing comdoms out to their fans, so they banned the sponsor from the sport, effectively ending Blakley's BGN career~

    She finished off the season in the Dash Series, with mostly lackluster finishes, and ran the final race of her career in the American General Finance 125 @ Hickory, where she finished in 12th place~ After her racing career ended, she got remarried, and sold cars at her new husbands dealership, in North Carolina~

                                                    Blakley during her ice skating days~

    Sometimes in life, we take things for granted when we shouldn't~ We expect people to be there for us, and then one day, they're not there anymore~ Then you start to regret not spending more time with them~ That's why it's important to always be with the ones you love, and let them know you care~ One day, Sherry Blakley was a teenage ice skater, then a race car driver, then, on February 13th, 2011, while vacationing with her husband, she failed to wake up from her sleep, and was gone~

    I haven't ever seen a cause of death for Sherry Blakley, but I'd imagine she had some kind of cardiac arrest, though that is just my speculation~ For someone not even 50 years old to just die in their sleep... it just seems odd to me~ I'm sad that she's dead, but I'm happy that I was able to do this blog post on her, to let people be able to know a little about who she was~

                                              Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    After watching Mark Martin drive the #6 Viagra car, which was totally hideous looking.. this car actually looks pretty amazing!~ The pink stripe down the middle, the Delta Airline wings on the hood (in gold!), the pink striping around the numbers, and along the bottom of the car, which is also trimmed in gold... along with Sherry's name... this car is just all around top notch, and more than worth the current price you can get one for~

    The card shows a great picture of Sherry in front of the car, with rows of palm trees in the background~ Since NASCAR banned this sponsor, the car was taken off of store shelves immediately, so this car is a little bit tricky to find at times, but never more than 15 bucks when you do find it~ I got this one on Ebay for five bucks, free shipping...which is way low, in my opinion~

    As far as the Racing Champions quality scale on this one, I've got to give it an A+ all the way around~ It's a great looking car, with an awesome card.. what more can you ask for from a Racing Champions diecast?~ As always, I'd like to thank you all for checking out the blog~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "Follow" button on the top of this page, on the right hand side to get updates on new posts~ Below I have posted some videos featuring glimpses of the Ramses car, as well as a bonus car~

                           **Bonus Car** Diggity Dave #46 Pizzarias Pizza Chips Chevrolet~

    When I was a kid, I loved Pizzarias Pizza Chips!~ They were the most awesome things ever at the time, and then one day... POOF!~ They were all gone... never to be seen again~ I wish they would bring them back, even if they give you cancer, I still loved them, and want them in my life again~ :)

                                  1994 Florida 200 & Daytona 500 highlights~ Blakley crash~

                                           Goody's Dash Series comp~ Blakley appearance~

                                             1993 Goody's Dash Dave Stacy in the Lake~

                                                                   Weird AIDS PSA~

   
   
                                                    
                                                            

Al Unser Jr. #46 Valvoline Synthetic Chevrolet

    Welcome back Racing Champions fans~ I've been wanting to do this post for quite some time, and finally got some free time today to get it done~ I'm gonna be jumping back to the 1993 Daytona 500 so we can re-live Al Unser Jr's time in the #46 Valvoline Synthetic Chevrolet, which he drove for Rick Hendrick for a grand total of, 1 race~ :P

    The story begins in the winter of 1992, when Al Unser Jr. gets a call from Rick Hendrick, inviting Al, and his current sponsor Valvoline to come race the Daytona 500 for him~ For years, several NASCAR drivers, including Dale Earnhardt, and Kyle Petty, had begged Unser to make the jump over to NASCAR.. and this deal with Hendrick had everyone wondering if it was gonna be a permanent switch~

    Coming into Speedweeks, Unser was having trouble finding speed.. and was at the bottom of the speed charts constantly~ He crashed during his 125 race, and barely squeaked into the field on his qualifying time, starting 40th in the 41 car field~ (Before 1995, 10 cars got in on time.. Unser was the final car to get in on time, so if this would have been 1995, he wouldn't have made the race.. as they changed the rule to only 8 get in on their speed)~

                                                   Al Unser Jr.'s actual Daytona 500 car~

    As I said earlier, Unser crashed his main car during his 125 qualifying race~ They didn't bring a back up car for him.. so he was given Ken Schrader's Busch Clash car~ Just making the field was a major accomplishment, as 13 drivers failed to do so.. including my personal favorite driver, Brad Teague~

    Despite his horrid starting position, Unser actually showed some speed in the race, and was moving right through the field~ The field was bunched up after a caution on lap 149, and got the re-start on lap 155~ Dale Earnhardt kinda made a bone head move by diving by Unser to take the spot away coming out of the turn.. Unser thought he had cleared Earnhardt by the time they were out of the turn, but he just clipped the front of Earnhardt's car, sending him flying into the grass, before coming back up onto the track~

    Bobby Hillin was also involved in the crash, and came back up onto the track, collecting Kyle Petty~ Kyle had been promised an extra 1 million dollars by car owner Felix Sabates, if he won the race.. so Kyle was pretty fumed~ He later called Hillin "The little blind boy"~ After the crash, Unser's day was done, resulting in a 36th place finish~

                                                      Unser's main car before the crash~

    Though that was the end of Unser's NASCAR career, it was much more than that~ This was the first Daytona 500 for Jeff Gordon, as well as the last for Alan Kulwicki, and Davey Allison~ It was also the first time the #43 hadn't been on the track in eons.. with Richard retiring, and Rick Wilson driving the newly numbered 44 STP car~ It was also the last Daytona 500 for Jimmy Means Racing, who had Jimmy Hensley driving for them~ And let's not forget, Rusty Wallace's violent crash.. I thought he was dead for sure~ Everyone that saw it did~ I was so happy he made it out alive~

    For many people, the ending of the 1993 Daytona 500 was amazing~ For me, I wanted to puke~ I couldn't stand Dale Jarrett, basically because no matter where he was in the field, Ned had to bring it up 50 times during the race.. "I can see Dale Jarrett is there running in the 32nd position.. he must be having some issues today, Chris Economaki"~ That bothered me so much~ I was hoping that Earnhardt was gonna win it that day.. and instead, it was boring ol' Dale Jarrett~ lol~


                                            Al Unser Jr. #46 Valvoline Synthetic Chevrolet~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, this is my very first little custom job I've ever done~ I still haven't printed off the card.. I just Photoshopped it in back there for now, but I think it's a pretty nice job~ There really isn't that many pictures of Al with this car.. I think I used every one of them from Google for the blog today, minus the ones with copyright stuff on them, like Getty Images~

    The car is pretty much spot on from his 125 car, with the exception of the Pyroil logo in place of the Napa one~ I wish they would have made his Daytona 500 Ken Schrader Busch Clash car, but I'm not aware of one being made~ All in all, I love this little car~ I'll be glad when I get the card printed, so I can display it like this, and I'm pleased with the job I did on it~ I give it an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with the minus being for the NAPA logo being replaced~

    I can't say I'm personally a fan of Unser's private life.. but I can say it's none of my business.. really~ Unser made a lot of bad decisions that took away from his full driving ability~ He was chocked full of talent, yet couldn't get past his addictions.. cutting short a career that could have been much more than what it ended up being~  Below is a clip of the wreck, along with some random NASCAR clips from Daytona~ Thanks for stopping by the blog again~ Please share this blog post with anyone you think would enjoy it, and until next time.. y'all stay safe out there~ ;)

                                       Al's 1993 Daytona 500 crash~ (about 6 minutes in)~

                                                Unser in the 1995 Daytona IROC race~

Both 1993 Gatorade 125 races~

                                           Rusty Wallace's violent 1993 Daytona 500 crash~