Racing Champions #51 Ford Talladega Torino Series 1 of 5,000

    Fireworks, beer, hot dogs, and NASCAR!~ Happy 4th of July to all of you!~ I made a pretty big sacrifice to be able to do this blog today~ I opened an unopened Racing Champions #51 Talladega Torina Series 1/64... one of only 5,000 made~ The good news is, it was a double.. so I'm not in too bad of shape~ With that being said, let's roll this beautiful bean footage!~

    Racing Champions was founded in 1989, by Robert Dods, Boyd Meyer, and Peter Chang~ Dods and Meyer had met in the 1980's, as Dods was a sales rep for several toy manufacturers, and Meyer was a buyer for a small chain of nickel and dime stores~ They formed a partnership called Dods-Meyer, Ltd., and had seen the rapid growth, and interest in NASCAR~ Before long, Dods was flying to Hong Kong to secure deals to get the cars made in China~

    Dods and Meyer still had a long road ahead of them, having to secure licensing deals not only with NASCAR, but the sponsors, car manufactures, the tire manufactures, as well as the drivers~ Surprisingly, they achieved all of this with relative ease, and the first Racing Champions cars hit the stores in 1989~

                                                              The front of the card~

    I was surprised to see when I opened the package, the names printed on the bottom of the card~ They were tucked behind the car in the package, and I never noticed them~ Sadly, the only 2 people who could write properly were Dods, and Meyer~ The first person might be Peter Chang, but it doesn't look like that's what the name says~ I tried my hardest to find out who the other 2 people were, to no avail~

   In my opinion, this is by far one of the coolest Racing Champions cards ever made~ It's the only one I know where the people in it are drawn like a cartoon~ It's like the King of the Hill of Racing Champions cards~ haha~ However, the front of the card is where all the fun stops~ I imagined that even though I couldn't read the other names on the card, I would be able to just flip it over, and the names would be written on the back~ Makes sense, right?~ Well... this is what happened~

                                                               The back of the card~

    First off, I wanna point out that I'm an avid fan of yesteryear NASCAR... I enjoyed this little story on the back of the card.. it was nice to have a little bit more information on the back of the card, instead of just the drivers signature, date of birth, and where they are from~ However, in this one instance.. I'm calling bullshit~ lol~

    It's as if the 2 guys who couldn't legibly sign their name on the front of the card are just trolling us now~ Why isn't their name spelled out on the back of the card?~ It's a never ending riddle that's gonna haunt me for life, I'm afraid~ Maybe one day, they'll read this blog post.. and leave a comment, stating who they are~ I know, I know.. yeah right!~ But it's not the most unimaginable thing I could think of.. it could happen~ *UPDATE* I found out that the third guy is Fred Wagenhols, who left Racing Champions to form RCI, and the first guy is Peter Chung, not Chang~ Anyway, let's just get to the main event, the car~

                                  Racing Champions #51 Ford Talladega Series (1 of 5,000)~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Up until last year, I never knew this car existed~ A friend I met on another site had showed it to me, and my hair instantly blew back~ I knew I had to have one, but didn't think I'd ever be able to find one~ I had seen them on Feebay a time or two, but they were like $16 bucks, and I didn't want to pay that for one~

    I ended up paying 12 bucks to a guy at the flea market~ I asked him if he had one, and a week later he had it there for me~ About 3 weeks later, I found this double at another flea market near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee for a dollar~ So it averaged it out to 6 bucks a piece~ Not to shabby, and it just goes to show, it's better to find these out in the wild, at a swap meet or flea market, than it is to jump on Feebay and pay way too much, just to have it sooner~

    All in all, I really enjoy owning this little car, and the card being "signed" on the the bottom made it a little cooler~ I had heard that it was assumed the guys on the card were execs at Racing Champions, but it wasn't confirmed~ Now that I opened it up, it's totally confirmed~ I give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It lost some points for not having the names of the people printed on the back~ Thank y'all for stopping by the blog, I hope you enjoyed it~ Happy 4th of July, stay alive, and I'll see ya' next time!~ Below are some old NASCAR videos~ :)

                                                                  The good ol' days~

                                                                  NASCAR 1969~

                                                                      1970 NASCAR~

                                                                NASCAR 1970-1978~

Neil Bonnett #51 Country Time Lemonade Chevrolet

    This was to be the car driven in at least the first 6 races of the 1994 season, by Neil Bonnett, for car owner James Finch~ And although the car did make a few starts that season, none of them were with Neil Bonnett behind the wheel~ In today's post, I'll share with you the events leading up to Neil's time in the Country Time car, and his tragic demise~

    On April 1st, 1990, during the running of the TranSouth 500 @ Darlington, Bonnett's car hit the water barrels in front of pit road, drivers side first~ Neil was left with amnesia and dizziness, and retired from racing, going back into the broadcast booth~ By the start of the 1992 season, Bonnet had began testing cars for Dale Earnhardt Sr.~ This gave Neil the desire to race again, and by the start of the 1993 season, Bonnett was once again cleared to drive~

                                          Neil in his big return in the #31 Mom 'n' Pops car~

    In his first race back since his crash at Darlington, Bonnett was back @ Talladega for the DieHard 500~ He qualified in the 20th position, but was involved in a major crash on lap 134, that sent his car airborne and into the catch fence~ Bonnett climbed out of the car unscathed, and was in the broadcast booth calling the race shortly afterwards~ Bonnett's final race was also the final race of the 1993 season, a race in which Bonnett was entered just to retire shortly after the start of the race to ensure Dale Earnhardt of 3 more points in the Championship~ And on lap 3, Bonnett pulled the car in for what would be, unbeknownst to him, his final race~

                                                    Bonnett with his Country Time car~

     Neil wasn't exactly thrilled to have his final start be a start and park deal to help a friend out, and so before the start of the 1994 season, he inked at minimum 6 race deal with James Finch, with sponsorship from Country Time Lemonade~ Bonnett was eager to get out there and compete again, and show people he still had it in him to be a competitive driver~ During the first practice session for the 1994 Daytona 500, he lost control of the car in the 4th turn, swerved onto the track apron, and then up the steep banking of the track, before crashing into the wall nearly head on~ Neil Bonnett was dead at the age of 47~

                                           Custom Neil Bonnett Racing Champions card~

    The team... now with driver Jeff Purvis, got its first start of the season @ Atlanta, for the Purolator 500~ Purvis finished 21st in this race, his highest finishing position during his tenure with the team~ He ran 6 more races with them, failing to make the field for one of those races, the Slick 50 500 @ Phoenix, and was let go at the end of the season~ Current Sprint Cup driver, and former driver for Finch, Kurt Busch, once ran the now infamous Country Time paint scheme to honor Neil in a Nationwide race @ Talladega~

                                      Neil Bonnett #51 Country Time Lemonade Chevrolet~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

                                                       Full diecast hauler with car~

     I've always wondered why the tires on these Neil cars don't have any lettering on them~ It hasn't rubbed off over time, it just never was there~ It bothers me a crumb, but heck.. not that much~ The car looks pretty awesome from a distance, but up close, you can see a little shoddy work on the paint of the car, not bad.. but just enough to notice~

    The hauler is more true to the color of the paint scheme, and was made by Racing Collectibles Inc.~ As a whole, I give these an A-, due to the car not matching in color as closely as it should be, and for Neil's name not being on the car~ I'm sure that was for legal reasons, so I didn't take much off grade wise~

    Neil's candle was already burning out at the time of his death, but he rekindled that flame, and died doing what he loved, driving a fast race car~ Sadly, Neil's death did very little to change the safety of the sport~ It would take the lives of several other drivers to make any proper safety changes like we have today~ Below are some videos featuring Neil throughout his career, along with a tribute video~ As always, thanks for stopping by the blog~

                                            1983 Daytona 125 - Bonnett win and interview~

                                                         TNN Winners - Neil Bonnett~

                                        Neil Bonnett tribute from Inside Winston Cup Racing~

                                               Scary 1993 DieHard 500 Talladega crash~