Dave Marcis #71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet

    Hello once again diecast fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ Another "Daytona 500" is upon us, and it just wouldn't be the Daytona 500 without mentioning Dave Marcis, who competed in 33 of them~ Yes, the "Great American Race" is turning 60 this year.. and even after being retired for the past 16 years, Dave Marcis has still competed in more than half of the Daytona 500's ever ran~

    Marcis never made it to victory lane in the Daytona 500, with his best finish being two 6th place finishes (1976, 1978), but you could always count on seeing Dave Marcis in the "Daytona 500", and it became sort of an event to watch qualifying to see if Dave was going to keep the streak going~ On February 20th, 2000, Marcis' streak of 32 straight "Daytona 500" appearances came to an end, and he would repeat this heartache the next season before making his final start in the 2002 "Daytona 500", one year after the death of his good friend, Dale Earnhardt~

   With drivers retiring younger than ever, I believe it's safe to say that we'll never see another driver with a 35 year career in the top level of NASCAR~ Drivers like Richard Petty, Morgan Shepherd, and Dave Marcis  may have stayed in the sport a little bit past their prime... okay, long past their prime.. but I enjoyed watching them still give it their all each week.. surviving on a shoestring budget in the case of Marcis and Shepherd~ Those guys have heart, and determination to continue, and well.. I love the heck out of that!~ Let's get into this post on Dave Marcis' #71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet, and let the good times roll!~

                                            Marcis reading about Daytona during downtime~

    Big Apple Market first teamed up with Marcis and the #71 Chevrolet for the 1990 "Daytona 500"~ The business was owned by Michael "Mike" Miller, who was born on June 1st, 1940~ Miller's market sold fresh fruit from the family orchard, as well as meats, cheeses, sandwiches, and NASCAR memorabilia~ Miller was an avid racing fan, and met Marcis during one of his trips to Pocono, and the two hashed out a deal to run Mike Miller's Big Apple Market as the primary sponsor, in what turned out to be nearly two complete seasons worth of races~

   Miller was also an avid hunter, an interest shared by Marcis, and the two went on many hunting trips together~ When Mike retired, he sold the Big Apple Market, and moved to Spencer, West Virginia, where he married his wife, Linda Terrell-Miller~ Sadly, he passed away on September 9th, 2017, at the age of 77~ I hate to bring you to tears and all.. but I figured I'd go ahead and do it now, so that your eyes would be better by the time you get down to the car pictures~

  Marcis nearly dnq'd in his first attempt in the Big Apple Market Chevrolet~ He started last in the 42 car field, after finishing 20th in his "First Twin 125" duel race~ He avoided the three crashes in the race, and went on to finish in 23rd place~ His race winning for the event were $22,995, which doesn't sound like much to today's standards.. but in 1990.. to a very low budget independent team... it was like hitting the lottery compared to winnings at any other event~ Dave's second highest paycheck that season was $11,405 from Talladega~

                                              Marcis and Mike Miller pose with the #71 car~

    Marcis followed his Daytona finish up with a 17th place showing in the "Pontiac Excitement 400" @ Richmond~ He then had a pair of 22nd place finishes ("GM Goodwrench 500" Rockingham - "Motorcraft Quality Parts 500" Atlanta), followed by a pair of 15th place runs ("TranSouth 500" Darlington - "Valleydale Meats 500" Bristol), and even led a couple of laps in the Bristol race~

    Following the Bristol race, Dave had his best finish of the season in the "First Union 400" @ North Wilkesboro, with a 12th place effort, narrowly missing a lead lap finish~ This was capped off with a couple of 14th place finishes ("Hanes Activewear 500" Martinsville - "Winston 500" Talladega), and a 16th place finish in the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte... which is pretty impressive for an independent team~

   Marcis led three laps in the "Heinz Southern 500" @ Darlington, before falling back to finish 16th~ His best qualifying effort of the season came in the "Goody's 500" @ Martinsville, where he started 13th, and finished in 14th place~ On the year, Marcis competed in all 29 races, completing 92% of the total laps ran, leading 8 of them, with an average starting position of 26.0, and an average finish of 20.7~ He placed 21st in the final point standings for the Winston Cup championship, and his total winnings on the year were $232,724~

                                       Marcis passes Rick Mast in a Dale Earnhardt loaner~

    Coming into the 1991 Winston Cup season, Marcis had already secured the Big Apple Market sponsorship for another full season, however this deal couldn't have been for more than a set or two of tires each race, so the car was re-branded for the upcoming "Daytona 500" as the U.S. Coast Guard Chevrolet, as part of a five car sponsorship by R.J. Reynolds entitled "Support Our Troops", in support of the Desert Storm troops~ Marcis finished 35th after breaking a valve~

   Compared  to his 1990 season, the 1991 season was disastrous in a lot of ways~ In 1990, Marcis completed all but 4 events, and made every race.. compared to 1991, where he had 10 DNF's, as well as two DNQ's ("Valleydale Meats 500" Bristol - "Hanes 500" Martinsville)~ My family used to go watch qualifying at Bristol, and I cried when Dave didn't make that race... hush, I was a kid!~

   Dave's shining moment of 1991 came in the "Peak AntiFreeze 500" @ Dover, where after starting 31st, he managed to miss a 15 car pileup early in the race, and held on to finish in 10th place~ This was to be his only top 10 of the season, and the next to last one of his career~ The 1991 Winston Cup season came to an end, and for Dave Marcis, it consisted of making 27 of 29 races, with 1 top 10, 3 laps led, and $217,760 in race winnings~ He had an average start of 28.7, and an average finish of 25.2, and was 29th in the final points standings for the Winston Cup championship~

                                                          Colorized b&w of Marcis~

    By the start of the 1992 Winston Cup season, Marcis had worked out a four race deal with Abilene Boots, which included the first four races of the year~ Big Apple Market returned to the car for the "Food City 500" @ Bristol, where he qualified 21st, and finished in 31st place following a blown engine~ Alan Kulwicki went on to win the event, and eventually the 1992 Winston Cup championship~

   Though he was driving a plain blue car for the "Save Mart 300K" @ Sears Point (Sonoma), Big Apple Market is credited as being his sponsor that day~ Perhaps they paid for a set of tires or something, or Marcis just wanted to be kind, and give them some free publicity for helping him out.. regardless, Marcis started 27th, and made it to 23rd by the drop of the checkered flag~ The race was won by Ernie Irvan, who after qualifying 2nd, was black flagged for jumping the start of the race, and forced to start from the rear of the field~

   The final time Big Apple Market was credited with sponsoring the #71 car came in the "Champion Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, where Marcis finished 18th after qualifying 32nd~ He competed in all 29 races that season, with an average start of 28.6, and an average finish of 27.3, while only completing 70% of the total laps ran during the season~ He finished 29th in the final points standings for the Winston Cup championship, with race winnings totaling $215,295~

                                            Dave Marcis #71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    In my very first post on this blog, I stated that I really wanted to do a post on this car.. but at the time, I couldn't find one that looked good enough to do a post on~ I kept finding them with chipped paint, or the autograph was smeared, there was always something wrong with every Marcis car I found~ And then I finally found this one.. but that was over a year ago~ I had different cars that I already had lined up to do a post on, and just never got around to doing this one~

   When I was a kid, I would have races on the floor with these Racing Champions cars~ These were 8 car events, and I would go around, and around in circles having races all day long~ This Marcis car and the Food Country car won almost all of those races~ One of the cars I used to race a lot in those races was the rare #33 Bobby Labonte Dentyne Pontiac, and although  I finally found another one a few months ago, it still bothers me that I ruined a rare car by having my little races~

   I was just a small sperm the last time Dave Marcis went to victory lane, so I made him a constant winner when I held my races~ This car has tons of nostalgic memories to me, and though Dave never did much in it, it's still one of my favorite Racing Champions cars of all time~  Now let's get to the bonus car for this post~

                                   Mike Wallace #7 Piggly Wiggly/Clabber Girl Chevrolet~

   
    Mike Wallace drove six BGN races for Ed Whitaker during the 1997 season, and in at least one race, this is what his car looked like~ I can't vouch for the other five races, but this was the car Mike drove at Bristol for the 1997 "Moore's Snacks 250", where he qualified 7th, and finished 17th after being involved in an 8 car pile-up midway through the event~ Wallace was able to continue, but the damage was too severe to compete for the win~

   The race was won by Jeff Burton, who was driving the #9 Track Gear Ford, followed by "Magic Shoes" Mike McLaughlin, Randy LaJoie, Michael Waltrip, and Dick Trickle to finish out the top 5~ This Piggly Wiggly scheme is one of my favorites, and I was pleased with the outcome of this Photoshop custom version~ It's feels good to bring a lost paint scheme back to life, and preserve it for people to see years from now~ 

   I'd like to thank you all for stopping by the blog.. I hope you enjoyed this post, if you did, please click the "Follow" button at the right hand side of the top of this page, and I'll have a new one up some time next month~ Below are some random NASCAR videos, because I've already used all the Dave Marcis videos in other posts~ Happy Racing Season, y'all!~ :)

                                                     Kyle Petty sings "The Other Guy"~

                                             Winston Cup Photographers segment - 1991~

                                      Dale Earnhardt McDonald's Breakfast commercial - 1991~

                                           1988 Valleydale Meats 500 - Bristol highlights~

                                                       
   

    




   
   

Stevie Reeves #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet

    Hello again, and welcome back to the blog!~ I've been dreading this post for a while, but I've finally decided to do it.. Stevie Reeves' #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet~ The main reason I've been putting it off is because Reeves was horrible at NASCAR~ He was a two time USAC champion, but that doesn't always relate to success in NASCAR, and poor ol' Reeves never even managed a top 5 finish in 8 years of NASCAR competition~

    Although Reeves never amounted to anything in NASCAR, he was good enough to catch the eye of legendary Grand National team owner, and Bristol's own, Ed Whitaker~ That's right.. Reeves was picked to take over for Harry Gant's old BGN ride~ Gant used to tear it up in this car in the early 90's, and won a lot of races in it, so Reeves should have done the same... right?~ Not even close~ He only lasted one season in the car before being let go of his driving duties~

    I've always assumed that Reeves' father must have been part owner in the Clabber Girl Baking Powder company, because that's the only way I can explain them sponsoring him for as long as they did.. however, I've never found any proof to back up that assumption~ Reeves was born in Indiana, and the company is based in Indiana, and the company also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so who knows~ At any rate, let's bust into this post on Mr. Reeves' time in the #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet~

                                                  Custom Stevie Reeves card that I made~

    His first race in the car came in the season opening "Goody's 300" @ Daytona, where he started 34th, and was involved in a lap 8 crash that ended his day, and relegated him to a 43rd place finish~ Things didn't go much better the following week at Rockingham, for the "Goodwrench 200"~ After starting from 22nd, Reeves was only able to move up two spots in the race, to finish in 20th~

    It looked like it was gonna be a lot more of the same for the "Hardee's 250" @ Richmond, with Stevie qualifying 29th.. but he caught some nice breaks during the race, and was able to hang on to a 6th place finish~ Surprisingly, this was the best finish of his entire career... not just for the season, but for all 8 years in the sport, this was his best finish of them all~ He then sadly followed it up with a 33rd place finish in the "Busch Light 300" @ Atlanta, following a blown engine~

   Stevie followed up the blown engine @ Atlanta with a lap 175 crash in the "Opryland USA 320" @ Nashville~ The accident knocked him out of the race, resulting in a 34th place finish~ As if things couldn't get any worse, he blew an engine in the "Mark III Vans 200" @ Darlington, where he finished 35th, and blew another one the following week, in the "Goody's 250" @ Bristol, resulting in a 33rd place finish~

                                   Stevie on track in the original Clabber Girl paint scheme~ 

    Following the blown engine @ Bristol, Reeves then failed to qualify for the "Red Dog 300" @ Charlotte~ He rolled off 19th in the "GM Goodwrench/Delco 200" @ Dover, but finished the race four laps down, in the 21st position~ At this time, Reeves found himself 30th in the BGN points standings~

    By the way this season went, it's no wonder Ed Whitaker was out of the sport only 25 races after his dealings with Reeves~ With Stevie in the car, the team brought in 21,000 dollars less than they did the season before, with Harry Gant at the wheel~ That kind of hit on a small, part time team will really do some damage, and the Whitaker race team was never the same after the season with Reeves~

    Stevie qualified 32nd in the "Sears Auto Center 250" @ the Milwaukee Mile, but was only able to move up six positions during the race, to finish in 26th~ He then qualified 38th for the "Hummingbird Fishfinder 500K" @ Talladega, but was involved in the "big one" only nine laps into the race, ending his day prematurely with a 41st place finish~

                                              Reeves chats with Jeff Gordon at PIR - 1992~

    One of the highlights of the season (if you can call it that) was when Reeves finished 12th in the "Kroger 200" @ IRP, after starting from 29th~ Besides his 6th place run @ Richmond earlier in the year, this is as close as Stevie would come to another top 10 during the 1995 campaign~ Jason Keller won the race in the #57 Budget Gourmet Chevrolet, followed by Elton Sawyer, Mike McLaughlin, Tracy Leslie, and Tommy Houston~

    After finishing 31st in the "Detroit Gasket 200" @ Michigan, Reeves shocked the NASCAR world when he won the pole for the "Food City 250" @ Bristol, in what would be his only career pole~ He led the first 60 laps before getting passed by Johnny Benson Jr., and wound up finishing in 14th place~ Steve Grissom went on to win the race in the #29 Chennellock Chevrolet, followed by Jeff Green, Tim Fedewa, Chad Little, and Terry Labonte~

    Reeves qualified 6th for the Gatorade 200" @ Darlington, and it was beginning to look like he knew what he was doing~ He lasted 28 laps before retiring for "handling" issues~ Mark Martin and the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford went on to win the race, followed by Johnny Benson, Ward Burton, Phil Parsons, and Joe Nemechek~ Larry Pearson, who won the pole for the event, finished in 17th place in the #92 Stanley Tools Chevrolet~

                                                  Stevie and Bobby Dotter on track~ 1995~

    After qualifying 36th for the "Autolite 250" @ Richmond, Reeves again failed to finish the race, going out with 26 laps remaining, due to "rear end" problems~ Let's just hope those rear end problems were with the car, and not the driver~ He would follow this race up with a 35th place finish in the "MBNA 200" @ Dover, following a 12th place qualifying effort~

    Stevie and the team then failed to qualify for the "All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300" @ Charlotte, the same track the dnq'd at earlier in the season~ At least 64 drivers attempted to make the 44 car field, and among some of the other dnq'ers were Rick Wilson, Michael Waltrip, Patty Moise, Derrike Cope, Todd Bodine, and Mike Wallace~ Stevie finished 19th in the "AC-Delco 200" @ Rockingham, and 20th in his final race for Ed Whitaker, in the "Jiffy Lube Miami 300" @ Homestead~

    Reeves finished the 1995 BGN campaign having ran 18 of the 26 events, while dnq'ing for another two, amassing 1 pole, and 1 top 10, while finishing 29th in the final points standings, with an average start of 24.3, and an average finish of 27.5~ For his career, he ran 85 BGN races, finishing on the lead lap in only seven of those races, and he also ran 3 Truck Series races in 2000 to finish out his driving career, where he had a best finish of 24th in the "Michigan 200"~

    Following his driving career, Reeves got work as a spotter for Dale Earnhardt Jr., and later spotted for Jimmie Johnson during a championship season~ He currently is the spotter for Paul Menard in the Cup Series, and also does some BGN (I'm not calling it whatever it is now.. it's forever Busch Grand National to me) spotter work~ So even though he didn't amount to a hill of beans in the NASCAR world, he wound up still being a part of it anyway by transforming into a master spotter~ Sometimes crappy stories have a happy ending after all~ Awww~ :P

                                   Stevie Reeves #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Even though I talked a little smack about his racing career, I always was fond of his Clabber Girl cars~ They were always one of the sharpest looking cars out there at the time, and even to this day the paint scheme still holds its own~ His Ed Whitaker car was my favorite of them all, as I preferred the #7 to the #96~

    There was also a #7 Clabber Girl car produced for the 1996 Preview Edition, but Reeves was booted before the season started, and instead drove the #96 Clabber Girl Ford for Donald Laird~ His best finish that season was 15th in the "Goodwrench Service 200" @ Rockingham, and he drove a total of fifteen races that season, so it was pretty bad~ Along with his best finish being dismal, he also failed to qualify for six more races~

    Back to the car here.. I think this car is a true beauty~ That slanted red #7, combined with the white and sky blue Clabber Girl colors really made this car stand out on the race track, as well as in your diecast collection~ It's a truly beautiful car, and if it was only based on the car, I would give it an A+.. but since the card counts as part of the score, I have to give it a B+.. yeah, to me the card is that bad~ The blue paint on this one tends to crack on some cars, so you have to look carefully before you buy one, unless you don't care about cracks~ Anyway.. let's move onto the bonus car for this post~

                                           Shawna Robinson #99 Tombstone Pizza Ford~

    This was the first car Shawna Robinson ever attempted to make a Winston Cup race in~ It was for the 1995 running of the Daytona 500, where 64 drivers were attempting to make the 42 car field~ Robinson wound up 52nd, and didn't make the field~ Among others who dnq'd that day were Bobby Hillin Jr., Greg Sacks, Doug Heveron, Kenny Wallace, Jim Sauter, Jimmy Spencer, James Hylton, and Ritchie Petty, the son of Maurice Petty~

    Robinson being Tombstoned out of the Daytona 500 wasn't the end of her being Tombstoned in the Tombstone car however, as she also attempted to field a Tombstone car for the "Hardee's 250" @ Richmond in the BGN series, and again failed to qualify~ It was to be her final tombstone~

    I guess I'd give this car a C- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ I was kind of rushing it along when I was working on it, and it's a little sloppy in areas that I could have did better on~ I used the 1989 body for it because I already had a blank black old body Ford sitting around, so that's what I used~ It's still a pretty neat looking car, and looks close enough to the real thing she drove back then~

    Thank you all for stopping by and reading this post!~ Please share this post on social media sites to help get some more people reading these posts~ The blog is growing bigger everyday, and it's all because of people like you, who enjoy the posts, and share them around to others who'll enjoy them~ Below are some random videos, because they're aren't any good Reeves videos~ Enjoy them, and goodnight Mrs. Calabash.. wherever you are!~

                                                1991 Martinsville trophy model builder~

                                                 Steve Byrnes and Ned Jarrett bloopers~

                                                  Cale, Ned, and Benny tell rain stories~

                                                J.D. McDuffie 1985 Daytona 500 profile~

                     
  
    

Alan Kulwicki #7 Hooters Ford

    Alan Kulwicki is, in my opinion, the last true champion of NASCAR~ A lot of very talented drivers have attempted to do what he did during the 1992 season, win a NASCAR Cup series championship as an owner/driver, including Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd and Geoff Bodine among others, but no one since has been able to pull it off~ Today, we look back on Alan's career in the Hooters Ford...

    Car owner Junior Johnson tried his hardest to get Alan to drive for him in both the 1990 and 1991 seasons, even offering Kulwicki 1 million dollars to drive one of his cars, Alan declined, thinking he had secured sponsorship for his own team from Maxwell House Coffee, Johnson then went behind Alan's back and secured Maxwell House's sponsorship for his own car, being driven by Sterling Marlin~ This forced Alan to start the season with no sponsor~ He picked up sponsorship from the U.S. Army for the start of the Daytona 500, and then ran unsponsored cars for the following 2 races~

    Kulwicki's first race under the Hooters sponsorship came in the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 @ Atlanta, where he put the car on the pole, led for 8 laps, and finished in the 8th position~ This was supposed to be a 1 race deal, but due to Alan's good finish, the deal was extended~ I had the privilege of being at the Bud 500 that season, where Alan won his first race for the Hooters team~  Hooters stuck with Alan for the remainder of the season, as well as throughout the remainder of his career~ He finished the 1991 season with 4 poles, 1 win, 4 top 5's, and 11 top 10's, finishing 13th in the final points standings~

 Alan poses in front of the Hooters car in Daytona 1992~

                                            
          The 1992 season proved to be magical for Kulwicki~ He sat on the pole for the Food City 500, where he led for 282 laps, and won the race~ However, he was not considered to be a contender for the championship, and was expected to fade from contention~ After winning the Bristol race, Kulwicki was 5th in the points, and he was never lower than 5th for the remainder of the season~ He started 6th in the Champion Spark Plug 500 @ Pocono, and won the race, his second win of the season~ This was to be the final race win for Kulwicki in his career~ The win moved Kulwicki to 3rd in the points standings after 13 events, behind Davey Allison and Bill Elliott~

      Alan remained 3rd in the points for most of the season, until the Peak Antifreeze 500, where he won the pole for the race, but was caught up in an accident on lap 91, resulting in a 34th place finish~  After this race, he was 278 points behind in the points, and was very vocal that this was probably the demise of his championship hopes, being quoted as saying "This probably finishes us off in the championship deal"~

    But in the following race @ Martinsville, Kulwicki posted a 5th place finish, while Bill Elliott's engine expired on lap 158, resulting in a 30th place finish~ Davey Allison also had a poor finish, ending up 16th, as well as Gant, who was 3rd going into the event, finished 19th~ Alan had cut Bill Elliott's lead down to 191 points~

                                                 Alan Kulwicki's "Underbird car" 1992~

    The following race was @ North Wilksboro for the Tyson/Holly Farms 400, where Elliott again had a poor running, resulting in a 26th place finish, while Allison finished 11th, and Kulwicki, who had won the pole for the race, finished in the 12th spot~ Alan was now 144 points back from Elliott in the points standings~ He again won the pole for the following race, the Mello Yello 500 @ Charlotte, leading 63 laps, and finished 2nd to Mark Martin~ Elliott had sway bar problems, which knocked him back to finishing 30th, while Allison finished 19th~ This put Kulwicki just 47 points back from Elliott in the points standings with just 3 races remaining~

    Bill Elliott extended his lead over Allison and Kulwicki the following race @ Rockingham, finishing 4th, while Allison was 10th, and Kulwicki, now 85 points behind Elliott, finished 12th~ But Elliott had a horrible run the following race in Phoenix, finishing 31st, while Allison went on to win, and Kulwick finished in the 4th position~ Allison's win moved him into the points lead, and Alan's finish moved him up to 2nd, only 30 points behind Allison, while Elliott dropped to 3rd, 40 points back~

    The final race of the season came @ Atlanta for the aptly named Hooters 500, and was Allison's to lose, and lose he did~ Allison got into a scuffle with Ernie Irvan when Irvan had a tire go out with 73 laps to go, leaving his car too damaged to continue~ It was now up to Elliott and Kulwicki to battle it out, and boy, did they ever~ Kulwicki made his final pit stop only after securing the "most laps led" bonus points, and the team rushed to put fuel in his car~

    Alan left the pits with little fuel in the car, and had to conserve throughout the remainder of the race, while Elliott took advantage of the teams mistake, and went on to win the race, but it wasn't enough, as Kulwicki came home in 2nd, and went on to win one of the most talked about championships in NASCAR history, defeating Elliott by 10 points~

                                      Alan Kulwicki hoisting up the championship trophy~

    Due to his tragic death, Alan would run only 5 more races in the car for the 1993 season~ He finished 26th in the Daytona 500, 4th in the GM Goodwrench 500 @ Rockingham, 3rd in the Pontiac Excitement 400 @ Richmond (his final top 5), 36th in the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 @ Atlanta following a crash on lap 133, and in his final race ever, the TranSouth 500 @ Darlington, he finished in the 6th position~ At the time of his death, the defending champion was 9th in the points standings~
   
                                              The aftermath of Alan's plane crash~ 4-1-93~

     I'll never forget April 1st, 1993 as long as I live~ I was in bed, about to be woken up for school~ My mother ran into my room crying, screaming "He's dead!~ Alan's dead!~" I at first thought this was some kind of elaborate April fools prank.. but I quickly realized it wasn't once I wiped the sleep from my eyes and saw my mother standing there crying her eyes out~ I didn't go to school that day, instead I stayed home weeping, in shock that the champion of the sport I cherished so dearly was gone just like that~ I was almost 10 years old, so to me, heroes were still "immortal"... they weren't supposed to die~

    My Dad was a supervisor for Food Country USA, and we visited with him on the weekends due to my parents being divorced~ The assistant meat cutter at the Blountville store was also a part time EMT, and was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of Alan's crash~

    She described in graphic detail what she had seen.. being a small child, I couldn't believe what she was saying to me... describing how Alan's brain's were "scattered all over the place"~ I wanted to punch her in the nose for the way she was just basically treating it like a freaky little game or something, but I refrained, went into the back stock room behind a huge pallet of paper towels, and weeped~

     The race that Sunday was extremely saddening~ Everyone in attendance, you could see it in their eyes.. this was like a giant funeral for Alan~ We all stood there with a glaze in our eyes, hardly pay attention to the race, just reflecting on Alan's memory~ It was a weekend I'll never forget, and a weekend I wish never happened~ Alan finished his career with 24 poles, 5 wins, 38 top 5's, and 75 top 10's in 207 races~

                                                    Alan Kulwicki #7 Hooters Ford~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

 

                                                   1/43 scale Pit Crew Showcase~

                                                                1/24 scale version~

    Racing Champions did a spectacular job on all of these Kulwicki cars~ Every detail is there, and the logos and striping on the cars are all very crisp and clean~  As far as I know, these are the only 3 scales of cars Racing Champions made featuring Alan's Hooters car~ If they made a 1/144 or 1/18 scale version, I'm not aware of it~ You can get a version of the 1/64 with a different card, featuring Alan with the Hooters girls, but I don't have that one~

    I give all 3 versions of these cars an A+ rating on the Racing Champions quality scale, and consider each one of them great additions to my collection~ Looking at them sometimes makes me sad, and I often sit around, as many of you, wondering "What if?"~ I guess I should be thankful we got to see a driver of his caliber for the years he was alive, as no other driver in NASCAR history since has been able to do what he did, and probably never will~

    As with all of my blog posts, I have added some videos featuring some highlights from Alan's career~ Enjoy them, and thank you all so much for visiting the blog~ - BMJ~

                                                        Last 9 laps of the Hooters 500~

                                                     Outside the Lines - Alan Kulwicki~

                                                                All of Alan's Cup wins~

                                            ESPN tribute before Bristol Busch series race~

           

Harry Gant #7 Manheim Auctions Chevrolet

    Today's post is gonna be a bit short for a couple reasons, one of those reasons is that today is my birthday~ The other reason is that I have 5 Harry Gant cars to review, and so I'm only gonna talk about the specific car for each of his posts~ Today, I chose his 1994 #7 Manheim Chevrolet, which he ran during 17 races that season~ 1994 would mark the end of a famed NASCAR career for Gant, who at the age of 54, was still running competitively and winning races, at least in the BGN series~ I say it marked the end, but Gant actually was talked into making a comeback in the Truck Series, where he ran 11 races in 1996 at the age of 56, netting him 4 top 10 finishes~

    Harry started his 1994 BGN campaign off strong, with a 4th place qualifying effort driving for legendary car owner Ed Whitaker, but finished the race 32nd due to engine troubles on lap 60~ The next race of the season was the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, where Gant started 7th, and finished runner up to Terry Labonte~ The following race was the Hardee's Frisco 250 @ Richmond, and once again, Gant ran a strong race, qualifying 8th, and finishing in the 3rd position behind Kenny Wallace and race winner Joe Nemechek, although 1 lap down~ This was also the only victory in Nemechek's 1994 campaign~

                                                  Gant in the #7 Manheim car @ Bristol~

    The 4th race of the season was the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta, where Harry qualified poorly, in 23rd, but was able to climb his way to the top and secure his only victory of the season~ This wasn't just a run of the mill BGN field either, in the field that day were superstar Cup drivers such as Dale Earnhardt, Terry and Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and Ernie Irvan, as well as a strong Busch field, with drivers like Joe Nemechek, Kenny and Mike Wallace, Michael Waltrip (was in Cup by then, but I put him as a Busch driver because he wasn't any good in Cup), Robert Presley, Johnny Benson, Ricky Craven, David Green, and Larry Pearson, amongst others~ This man just beat all of those guys, dominated really.. leading 86 of the 197 laps, at the age of 54!~ He seemed to never age, and to this day, basically looks as he did that very day, back in 1994~

    Harry skipped the Martinsville BGN race, but was back for the 6th event, the Mark III Vans 200 @ Darlington, where he started 3rd, and finished 5th~ He skipped the next event, held at Hickory due to his Cup Schedule~  The next race, the Goody's 250 @ Bristol, Gant nearly grabbed the pole, with a 2nd place run, he led for 18 laps, before running out of steam, and finishing in 7th~ He didn't attempt to run the next 3 races, held @ Rougemont, Loudon, and Nazareth due to his Cup scheduling~ His next race came in the 12th event of the season, the Champion 300 @ Charlotte, where again he nearly grabbed the pole, qualifying on the front row and leading 36 laps before having problems with an oil pump on lap 87, leading to a 30th place finish~

                                              Gant wants you!~ Team Manheim wants you!~

    Gant didn't have another top 10 finish until the 26th event of the season, the SplitFire 200 @ Dover, where he sat on the pole and finished runner up to Johnny Benson, after leading 106 of the 200 laps~ He did manage to also get the pole for the Food City 250 @ Bristol a few races earlier, but finished 28th after his engine gave out, after leading 58 of the 92 laps he completed~ Gant's final BGN start came in the final event on the 1994 schedule, the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, where he had yet another amazing race, starting 5th, and finishing 4th, and leading 43 laps~ Although he only ran 17 of the 28 events, he managed to finish 23rd in the points standings, finishing the season with 1 win, 6 top 5's, 7 top 10's, 2 poles, and 370 laps led~

                                              Harry Gant #7 Manheim Auctions Chevrolet~

                                                           Click pics to enlarge~

    I think it's safe to say that Harry Gant proved that green isn't an un-lucky color in NASCAR~ Most of his career he was in a green car, winning or at least getting a top 5~ I watched countless races where he was the runner up~ I wouldn't be surprised if he held the record for finishing 2nd more than any other driver~ Racing Champions did another fantastic job with this car~ An added bonus is the Hoosier tires I love so very much~ I still wear my purple Hoosier tires hat to this day~

    I remember coming to the fall race @ Bristol, where Harry won the pole, and just feeling the excitement of the crowd as they cheered him on~ It felt like the entire crowd wanted him to win that day, and it was just a magic moment that you can only experience when you there live at the track~ You could almost feel the wind gush out of everyone's sails when he engine soured~ The rest of the event, people were just kind of  ho-hum, and had the look of bitter defeat in their eyes~

    Harry Gant meant so much to the fans of NASCAR, and he was and still is a very hard working, kind soul.. when I think about Harry, he reminds me of how hard of a worker my Dad always was and still is~ As time has gone on, it seems there are less and less of those kind of hard working people, who enjoy being out there and getting something done~ Those kind of people make me proud, and I'll always look up to them~ Below are some videos of Harry, including his final BGN win in full~ Enjoy, and as always, thank you all for stopping by~

                                                      Harry's final BGN win Atlanta~

                                                     1994 Food City 500 Gant crash~

                                                     1994 Coca Cola 600 Gant profile~

                                                 1991 Southern 500 Finish~ Gant win~

               

1991 Daytona 500 Support Our Troops cars

    Hello again, and welcome once more to the one and only blog dedicated entirely to NASCAR Racing Champions 1/64 scale diecast cars~ In this blog post, I'm gonna be zipping back to the 1991 Daytona 500 to take in the scenery, and rekindle a little history about the event, the drivers, and their cars~ Put your imagination cap on, and come along with me to the 1991 Daytona 500~   

    On February 17th  1991, Five typically un-sponsored cars were chosen to represent the 5 branches of the U.S. military~ These 5 cars were driven by: Alan Kulwicki driving the #7 Army Ford, Greg Sacks in the #18 Navy Chevrolet, Mickey Gibbs in the #24 Air Force Pontiac, Dave Marcis in the #71 Coast Guard Chevrolet, and veteran driver Buddy Baker was at the helm of the #88 Marines Pontiac~

    This was the first time NASCAR had used special paint schemes for a race~ The race is also known for Dale Earnhardt killing a seagull on the backstretch during the first lap, ultimately ruining his chance at victory for the day~ I've heard several people complain that the government was wasting money by sponsoring cars in NASCAR, but in this case.. these cars were sponsored by Winston Cigarettes out of respect to the troops~

                                                         Before the start of the race~

    Greg Sacks was the first of the 5 drivers to suffer casualty when he was collected in a wreck with Rick Wilson on lap 5, ending his day~ He would finish dead last in the field, after starting from the 25th position~ Buddy Baker, who qualified 16th (the highest starting spot of the group) in his #88 Rod Osterlund owned Pontiac, was out of the race by lap 35 due to engine trouble and finished 37th~ This was to be the final Daytona 500 entry for Osterlund in his legendary career~

Dave Marcis started the day off in 42nd in the 42 car field~ He managed to make it to lap 40 before suffering with valve problems, and would finish in 35th place~ Mickey Gibbs qualified in 38th, but did manage to finish the race.. albeit 3 laps down, but still.. a very impressive finish of 17th after being black flagged~ Alan Kulwicki, who started  in 27th place, was the only driver of the group to place in the top 10, with an 8th place finish~ His impressive finish would draw him a lucrative sponsorship with Hooters just 1 race later~

                                                             Ernie Irvan reaps his reward~

    The race was won by Ernie Irvan, with the help of many of the favorite drivers falling out competition~ It was also the first ever Cup start for Robby Gordon, who finished 18th in the #90 Publix Supermarkets Junie Donlavey machine, as well as the final Daytona 500 attempt for J.D. McDuffie, who failed to make the race, and passed away at Watkins Glen later in the season~

     All in all, this is an amazing race, filled with excitement, mishaps, toil, and plenty of trouble~ If it's been a while, I highly suggest giving it another watch all the way through~ I'll post a video of it below the pics if you're interested in that~ I give the race 5 stars all the way, and I really enjoyed seeing my local guys bask in the glory of NASCAR victory lane at Daytona~ But enough about the race... let's take a look at the diecasts~

                                                        Alan Kulwicki  #7 Army Ford~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

                                                      Greg Sacks  #18 Navy Chevrolet~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

                                                      Mickey Gibbs #24 Air Force Pontiac~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

                                               Dave Marcis  #71 Coast Guard Chevrolet~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

                                                  Buddy Baker  #88 Marines Pontiac~

                                                         Click pics to enlarge~

    As you can see, especially with the Pontiacs, the early Racing Champions cars were very crude~ These came in a 5 pack set, with collectors cards, but no stand~ The car of Mickey Gibbs was the only time R.C. made a replica of his car, and the Buddy Baker car was the only one using his #88, as well as with Greg Sacks and the #18~

    Another thing you can notice is, the cars of Marcis, Kulwicki, and Baker were from the 1989 body styles, while the other 2 were the 1991 models~ I find this odd considering the only way to get these cars was to buy a special 5 pack set containing all of them~ I figure they had extra, and hey.. why be wasteful?~ I also noticed on my Greg Sacks in the pics here, they didn't put the contingency stickers on the side~ I checked, and both sides were like that~ I've got 2 others, but the one in the pics is the most photogenic one I've got, so I went with it for the blog pics~

    In my opinion, this set of cars is a must have for Racing Champions/NASCAR fans~ The cars they used for them weren't in the best condition.. but if you look hard enough, you can put together a pretty nice set of them by buying multiple sets~ I give this set as a whole a B+, as I am taking a whole letter grade away from them from not including stands with the set~ That caused me to use up 5 stands that could have been used for loose promos~

   If you have any questions about these cars, or their drivers, please feel free to leave a comment~ Also, if you are interested in watching the 1991 Daytona 500, I have posted the full race down below, as well as a few random NASCAR videos~ Thanks for taking time to stop by the blog~

                                                                                                                 
                                                         The pre-race ceremonies~

                                                                  Sum up of the race~

                                                              
                                                      The finish with victory lane~

                                                                       Full race~