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~

                                                       
   

    




   
   

Dale Fischlein #71 Safelite Auto Glass Chevrolet

    Hello again fellow NASCAR diecast fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog!~ I hope you've all been having a great start to the summer season, and though it's been pretty wet down here where I live, I've still been enjoying the warmer weather quite a bit~

    Today's post is going to be on Dale Fischlein, and his time in the #71 Safelite Auto Glass Chevrolet~ Now, he only drove the diecast version of this car in one ARCA race during the 1993 season, but he also drove the same car in the BGN series for a few events during the 1994 campaign~ Even so, he didn't race a lot - so I'm just gonna give a brief history spanning his entire racing career, since this will be the only post I ever do on him~ Though I'll be talking about his entire career, the pictures used in this post are all from his time in the Safelite car that the post is originally about~

                                     Fischlein sits in his car following a crash while leading~

     Dale Fischlein (pronounced "Fish-Line") was born on January 2nd, 1960 in Davenport, Iowa - and began his racing career nine years later, racing go-karts~ By 1976, he had won two national championships, and in 1978 he moved up to racing stock cars in the Winston Racing Series~

    In 1988, Fischlein won the Central Region championship for the Winston Racing Series divison, and soon after began racing for Phil Barkdoll~ He and his wife Kari relocated to Arden, North Carolina to be closer to the Barkdoll team, and Dale competed mainly @ Tri-Country Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina, and Hickory Speedway~

    In his championship winning season in 1988, Fischlein's stats were stacked like a big' ol' pile of pancakes drenched in butter and maple syrup~ In 46 starts, he had 26 wins, 38 top 5's, and 41 top 10's~ That's pretty awesome, but in 1985, Fischlein had 44 starts @ Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway, and finished in the top 10 every single time~

                                                   Fischlein's car getting tinkered~

    Following his success in the 1988 season, Fichlein tried to jump straight up to the Cup series, where he made a failed qualifying attempt for the "Holly Farms 400" @ North Wilkesboro~ I tried to find a picture of that car, but I couldn't even find out what number it was, the color/make of the car, or if it had a sponsor or not~

    Fischlein would make one final Cup Series attempt in 1991, for the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Richmond, driving Phil Barkdoll's #73 Oldsmobile, but he failed to make the 36 car field, and was also the slowest of the "go or go home" drivers~ James Hylton and Jerry Hill also failed to make the field for the event~

    The following year, Fischlein became the new crew chief for Dave Marcis, and the #71 Winston Cup team~ Though he had a lot less free time, he was still able to run 4 ARCA races, all in cars owned by Marcis~ In fact, the cars Fischlein was running was the same cars Marcis ran in the Cup Series~

                                Fischlein battles with Dick Trickle in the ARCA series - 1993~

    Fischlein's first time in an ARCA car came in the 1993 season opening "ARCA 200" @ Daytona, where he started 23rd in the 42 car field~ Tim Fedewa got out of shape in the middle of turns 3 and 4, causing a massive 24 car pile-up only two laps into the event~ This crash took 17 drivers out of the race, so only 25 cars remained, and the race had just begun~

    Following the crash, the remainder of the race was mild mannered to say the least~ Jeff Purvis led 71 of the 80 laps to take the checkered flag first~ He was followed by Loy Allen Jr., Kirk Shelmerdine, Jeremy Mayfield, and Bobby Bowsher~ Fischlein was credited with a 39th place effort, a zillion laps down~

    Dale was back in the car three races later for the "Poulan Pro 500K" @ Talladega, where he qualified 11th (season high) for the event~ Loy Allen Jr. won the pole for the event, driving the #2 Hooters/Jasper Ford~ Allen swapped the lead back and forth with Tim Steele and Kirk Shelmerdine for the majority of the day, and Fischlein stayed right up there with the pack, learning all he could and just having a clean race~

    In the end, Tim Steele held off Loy Allen Jr. for the win~ They were followed by Bob Brevak, Kenny Allen, and Mark Thompson~ Bob Keselowski finished 6th, and Jeremy Mayfield came home in the 10th position in the #95 Shoney's Inn/Mac Tools/Texaco Ford~ Fischlein finished the race in 13th (season high), and I guess I forgot to mention, but during these races, his car was being sponsored by "Dynamic Motorsports"~

                                           Fischlein comes down pit road in the Safelite car~

    Fischlein wasn't back in the car until six races later, for the "GM Goodwrench 200" @ Michigan, where he qualified 25th (season low)~ The pole was won by Jimmy Horton, driving the #32 Active Trucking Chevrolet~

    Tim Steele led more than half of the race, but faded late to finish in third~ Jeff Purvis beat out Frank Kimmel for the win, followed by Steele, Bill Venturini, and Jeremy Mayfield~ Purvis punted Bob Schacht out of the lead with three laps to go to take the win~

    Fischlein was involved in a crash on lap 46 that also involved Laura Lane~ Both drivers dropped out of the race, with Fischlein finishing 31st, and Lane 32nd~ Following this race, Fischlein would run one more ARCA event during the 1993 season, and for the first time his car was sponsored by Safelite Auto Glass~

                                         Safelite fixes your glass, Fischlein - not your @$$~

    Fischlein's sole ARCA start with the Safelite sponsorship came in the "Jiffy Lube 500K" @ Atlanta, where he qualified 22nd~ Kirk Shelmerdine won the pole in the #98 Action Rent-to-Own Oldsmobile~ A total of 69 cars attempted to make the 43 car field, so just making the show was a pretty big accomplishment~

    The race was filled with crashes and blown engines~ By the end of the race, only 17 cars remained to take the checkered flag~ Sadly, Fischlein wouldn't be one of them~ He was involved in a crash on lap 169, which also took out Jeff Davis, and finished the race in 19th place~ Jeff Purvis would again win the race, followed by Dick Trickle, who should have won but got penalized late in the race, Kerry Teague, Bob Hill, and Kirk Shelmerdine~

    The real bad thing about the crash, was this was going to the the Cup car for Marcis in just two days~ Since it was totaled, Marcis was forced to use a back-up car, and had to start from the rear of the field~ He still managed to finish 18th in the event, so it wasn't a total loss~ Fischlein finished out his ARCA career with an average start of 20.2, and an average finish of 25.5, in a total of four races~

                                             Close-up of the damage from the Atlanta race~

    Fischlein next drove the Safelite colors in the BGN Series during the 1994 season, though the car was now #70, and the car owner was Ivan Murphy~  Their first attempt to make a BGN race ended with a DNQ in the season opening "Goody's 300" @ Daytona~ Their second attempt didn't go any better, with another DNQ for the "Busch Light 300" @ Atlanta~ He followed that up with another DNQ  for the "Champion 300" @ Charlotte~ The fourth time was a charm however, and Fischlein would make his first career BGN start in the 18th event of the season~

    Fischlein's debut in the series came in the "Fram Filter 500K" @ Talladega, where he rolled off from the 31st starting position~ Jeff Purvis won the pole for the event in the #51 Country Time Chevrolet, owned by James Finch~ Sterling Marlin led a majority of the event in the #4 Kodak Funsaver Chevrolet, but he was passed by Ken Schrader with two laps remaining, as Schrader went on to win the race~ Schrader was followed by Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Marlin, and Jeff Purvis~

    Dale Fischlein managed to run a clean race throughout the day, and held on to finish in 14th place, in what must have felt like a victory for Fischlein, a rookie in the series~ The racing bug must have bit him pretty hard too, because he was at the very next BGN event the following week @ Hickory~

                                                 Fischlein awaiting the restart @ Atlanta~

    Dale qualified 26th for the "Pantry 300" @ Hickory, while David Green won the pole in the #44 Slim Jim Chevrolet~ Fourteen drivers failed to qualify for the event, including Rodney Combs, Stevie Reeves, Kevin Lepage, and Tommy Houston~ Fischlein's car was a Buick for this race, though I'm not sure what the reason behind that was~

    The race was a battle between pole sitter David Green, Dennis Setzer, and Kenny Wallace~ Green led a total of 92 laps before fading away to finish in 3rd, while Kenny Wallace took the lead~ Wallace held the lead until the final three laps of the race, when he was passed by Setzer, who went on to win the event~

    Kenny Wallace finished in second, followed by David Green, Doug Heveron, and Larry Pearson finished out the top 5~ Fischlein must not have been very fond of the Buick, because he never was a factor during the race at all, and finished the event seven laps down, in the 21st position~ After starting 36th, he came home 30th in his final event of the season, for the "Detroit Gasket 200" @ Michigan, driving the #70 EZ Go Chevrolet, an event won by the #33 Dentyne Chevrolet, driven by Bobby Labonte~

                                          Fischlein makes laps in the #71 Safelite Chevrolet~

    Fischlein ran an extremely limited schedule in the BGN series until the end of the 1998 season, appearing in a total of 18 races during a five year career, with an average start of 23.3, and an average finish of 27.4~ Along with his 18 career starts, he also DNQ'd for another 12 events, and was a lead lap finisher in just one event~

    The best finish of his BGN career came in the 1995 "Humminbird Fishfinder 500K" @ Talladega, where he qualified 8th, led a lap (the only one of his BGN career), and finished in 13th place~ The final race he ran was the "DieHard 250" @ the Milwaukee Mile, where he qualified 32nd in the #70 Adrian Carriers Chevrolet, and finished 28th after rear end problems~ (hopefully with the car)~

    The final race he attempted to make came in the "Pepsi 200 Presented by: Devilbiss" @ Michigan, where he was one of seven drivers who failed to make the field~ Among the others who DNQ'd were Dave Blaney, J.D. Gibbs (Joe's son), Lyndon Amick, and Casey Atwood~ A sad way to end a unique racing career, but at least he got to have his shot at it, and he'll have those memories forever~

                                           Dale Fischlein #71 Safelite Auto Glass Chevrolet~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    This car had a limited production, and only 2,000 were made~ It was packaged in the clear PVC Racing Champions box, and didn't come with a card or stand~ I made the card from Dale's Maxx card, since there isn't many pictures of him on the internet~ This car is in high demand amongst NASCAR Racing Champions fans, and the last one that was offered on Ebay sold for over 40 dollars~

    Racing Champions did a fine job on this diecast, as the blue color is very appealing, and the white is nice and crisp~ Though Fischlein only raced this specific car in one event (Jiffy Lube 500K - Atlanta 1993), the cars primary paint scheme was based off of Dave Marcis' Cup car at the time~ I feel as if Racing Champions did a splendid job on this car, and only wish a few thousand more were produced.. why so many Jay Fogleman #5 Innkeeper cars instead?~

    On the Racing Champions quality scale, I'm gonna give this one a solid A.. I'll leave off the + for the simple fact that there is no card with this one~ Fischlein is all but forgotten by NASCAR fans, be them old or new.. but his legacy (albeit small) lives on in his Racing Champions diecast, and now here on the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog - his story has been told, and his past has been brought back to present day once more~ May his racing history live on with this post, but for now - let's get to the bonus car~

                                            Dick Johnson #38 RedKote Steel Tubing Ford~

    With a name that is pretty much the equivalent of calling someone "Penis Penis", Dick Johnson has to rival Dick Trickle for the "Most Absurd NASCAR Driver Name" award~ Dickie boy Johnson was a heck of a driver in the Australian Supercar Series, with 30 wins, and 5 championships to his credit... but he was in another galaxy in a NASCAR Winston Cup car~                                                               
    
    The Dickster ran a total of seven races during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, with a best finish of 22nd in the 1989 running of the "AC Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, and never finished a race on the lead lap~ He is best remembered for his crash in the "Budweiser at the Glen" in 1989, where he slammed hard into tire barrier, getting his car stuck on top of the barrier~ The guys in the booth interviewed him, and he was a pretty funny character~ He eventually got back on the ground, and continued on his way~

    Thanks to everyone who stops by and reads the blog here!~ Please share this post with your friends on social media, and click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ I hope you all enjoyed this installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog.. below I have posted some videos on featuring Fischlein and ol' "Penis Penis" - enjoy them, and with that... let's roll that beautiful bean footage!~

                                         Fischlein's #71 Safelite car in action~ Atlanta 1993~

                           Crashing the #71 Dynamic Motorsports car~ Daytona ARCA 1993~

                                                    Dick Johnson being funny after crash~

                         Awesome NASCAR Stop Motion by Campbell N. Add him on YouTube~

   


   

Kevin Lepage #71 Vermont Teddy Bear Chevrolet

    Well hello there, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ In today's post, I'm going to be coming back into "reality" with a car that was actually produced by Racing Champions~ That car is the #71 Vermont Teddy Bear Chevrolet, owned and driven by Kevin Lepage~

    I really enjoyed this car when I would get to see him race it at Bristol~ I had never seen a car with quite the same paint scheme as this one, and I thought it looked pretty amazing out there~ I was sad that he missed the race once at Bristol, but I still got to see him during qualifying~ Kevin's actually a pretty cool guy, he's talked to me a little on Twitter when I'd ask him a question, or post a photo of him, and he's always been more than happy to answer me, or respond in some way~

    I'm dedicating this post to my wife, because this is her favorite car, since she's a huge TY Beanie Baby fan, and only collects the bears~ This is the closest thing there is to a TY Beanie car, for now at least~ ;) So let's get into this thing and see what ol' Kevin did during his time in the #71 Vermont Teddy Bear Chevrolet~

                                                       Custom Kevin Lepage hero card~

    Kevin ran his first race in the Vermont Teddy Bear car in the second race of the 1994 BGN season @ Rockingham in the Goodwrench 200~ He attempted to make the season opener @ Daytona, but DNQ'd~ Lepage started 27th at Rockingham, but his engine gave out only 50 laps into the race, and he finished in 37th place~ He fared much better the following week in the Hardee's Frisco 250 @ Richmond, picking up a 12th place finish~ He would then fail to qualify for the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta~

    In the NE Chevy 250 @ New Hampshire, 65 drivers attempted to make the 44 car field, and Lepage started the race in 21st~ He led for a total of 7 laps during the race, marking the first time in his NASCAR career he'd ever done that, and finished in 9th place, for his first career top 10~ He would have finished better, but he got a flat tire with 2 laps to go, and just parked the car to prevent damaging it~ Derrike Cope actually won the race, with his very underfunded #82 Sports World Ford, picking up his only BGN career victory~

    To say the least, Kevin Lepage had a pretty lackluster season from here on out, only finishing in the top 15 one more time, with a 15th place finish in the Fays 150 @ Watkins Glen~ He also failed to qualify for 5 events (Goody's 300 - Daytona, Busch Light 300 - Atlanta, Champion 300 - Charlotte, Ford Credit 300 - South Boston, and the Pantry 300 @ Hickory), picking up the lone top 10 @ New Hampshire, and finishing 24th in the final points standings~

                                                 Lepage's car sits as the track is being dried~

   Vermont Teddy Bear remained with the team for the 1995 BGN season, and while Lepage did improve, he again failed to qualify for the season opening Goody's 300 @ Daytona~ He finished 18th in his first start of the season in the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, and 19th in the Hardee's 250 @ Richmond~ He qualified 31st in the Mark III Vans 200 @ Darlington, but charged his way to his first top 10 of the season, with a 9th place effort~

    He would then fail to qualify for the Goody's 250 @ Bristol~ I was there that day, and I was so sad that he didn't make it into the race~ If you ever saw this car in person, on the track.. you know how awesome it looked~ I was looking forward to seeing him in the race, and he let me down~ I would get my chance later in the season, though~ :)

    Lepage picked up another top 10 in the Red Dog 300 @ Charlotte, with a 10th place finish~ He qualified a season high of 4th in the Carolina Pride/Red Dog 250 @ Myrtle Beach, and led his only laps (4) of the season during the race, however he would only muster a 21st place finish~ He got another top 10 finish in the Ford Credit 300 @ South Boston, finishing 10th in the event~

                                           Signed hero card featuring Kevin with the car~

    In the Food City 250 @ Bristol, I finally got my chance to see the car in person again, and Lepage didn't let me down, scoring his best finish of the season with an 8th place run~ I was so proud of him~ He notched his final top 10 of the season at the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, where he finished in 10th place~

   Kevin finished the 1995 BGN season with 0 poles, 0 wins, 0 top 5's, and 5 top 10's, while failing to qualify for two races~ He also improved to 18th place in the final points standings~  Vermont Teddy Bear left NASCAR after the season, but did sponsor him in the season opening 1996 Goody's 300, as a kind of consolation prize~ He qualified 7th for the race, in a black and gold #71 Vermont Teddy Bear Chevrolet, which looked much different than the familiar teal and purple car he'd always driven~

    He was involved in a lap 21 crash that also involved Jason Keller, Todd Bodine, Doug Heveron, Andy Hillenburg, Hermie Sadler, and Joe Bessey~ Lepage's car was demolished, and he finished 45th in the 46 car field~ He ran the 5 races in an un-sponsored car, before picking up a one race deal with Piggly Wiggly for the Goody's 250 @ Bristol, where he finished 23rd~ He ran the remainder of the season (minus the season finale) in the #88 Farmer's Choice Fertilizer car~ Kevin won the season finale Jiffy Lube Miami 300 @ Homestead driving the #88 Hype Chevrolet, in his first race with the new sponsor~

                                         Kevin Lepage #71 Vermont Teddy Bear Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

                                  *BONUS* Kevin's #71 Piggly Wiggly custom from Bristol~

    Alright, let's get down to the meat and potatoes of this post... the beautiful car~ Although this is my wife's favorite car, it's pretty high up there on my list as well~ I wish it was done on the previous body style however, as I don't like the bigger tires of the 1995 and beyond series~ That's what junky ol' "Premiers" were for~ :P

    I'm also not a fan of this card style~ I don't wanna pay for 1/2 a card.. gimmie full color.. over the entire card!~ I wish I was around back then to smack whoever came up with this idea in the back of the head~ Sorry about that little tangent, but I just get mad about this card style~ Even the picture of Kevin looks dumb.. they could have used a much better picture than one of him turned sideways, to where you can only see 1/2 of his face... and I wanna see the car on there~

   The paint job on the car is spot on, and you can just imagine the little guy taking off, and racing down the track~ If you purchase this car on Ebay, it usually varies anywhere from 5-10 bucks after shipping costs, so my advice would be to try and find it somewhere locally before you go to Ebay, unless you have to have one right away.. because they are kinda hard to find out in the wild~

   I hope you've enjoyed my recent posts, as well as this one~ Special thanks to my friend Jeff for teaching me how to get these out of the packaging without damaging the package~ Until I knew how to do that, I had to just wait till I got a double of a car before I could do a post on it~ lol~ Below is some footage I found on Kevin's NASCAR career, enjoy, and thanks again for stopping back in to check out the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ Please share this post on Twitter, Facebook, etc.. it only takes a few seconds, and it helps the blog reach more Racing Champions/Old NASCAR history fans~ :)

                                    Lepage's crash in the last Teddy Bear car~ 1996 Daytona~

                                                 
                                                           And then, that happened~

                                        What's your opinion on the crash?~ Here's Kevin's~

                                   End it on a good note~ 1996 Homestead~ First career 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~