Tasha #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ Today's post is going to be the final one of 2016, and I'm gonna end it with a special fantasy car post, featuring my wife, Tasha, and her #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~ The blog has grown quite a bit in 2016, and I hope 2017 will be just as good, if not better~ I certainly have plenty of cars to post, and many more stories to tell~

    If everything goes as planned, I'll have my first post of 2017 posted on New Year's Day~ I already have the car picked out, I just have to take some pictures, and edit some stuff, so I should be able to get it all done in time~ So with that out of the way, put your imagination goggles on, and let's dive into my wife Tasha's time in the #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~

                                                 The heiress to the Slush Puppie empire~

    Our story fictionally begins in 1989, when Tasha was fictionally 17 years old~ Her and her father had moved to Cincinnati Ohio when she was just 2 years old, so that he could help his friend, Will Radcliff, and his sister, Phyllis, with a new business they'd just created~ That business became the Slush Puppie brand, and through it all, Tasha was always there~ She became like one of the family to the Radcliff's, and they always showered her with gifts while she was growing up~

   
    On October 10th, 1989 - Will and Phyllis Radcliff were killed in a private plane crash, on their way back from a food convention in Umatilla, Florida~ In Will's will, he left the entire Slush Puppie business to Tasha~ Her father was left in charge of everything until her 18th birthday, which was 8 months away~ In less than 2 years, she would turn the successful business, into a massive empire~

                                           Tasha on opening day of Slush Puppie World~

    Tasha decided to open a Slush Puppie themed amusement park, to help gain brand recognition with children~ The park was opened in the spring of 1992, and was a major success with kids, as well as adults~ The park featured the fastest wooden roller coaster of its time, "TimberSlush", as well as the roller coaster with the steepest drop, known as the "Slush Crusher"~

    Tasha and I were married the following year, on June 6th, 1993, and I had been trying to get her to buy a Winston Cup race team, since she was so rich, so that I could race in the Cup series~ She did buy a Cup team, but she chose to drive the car herself, entering the #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile in various races for the next 5 seasons, before she chose to retire~

                                                     Tasha leading @ Bristol~ Spring 1995~

   The new team, which was christened "Slushpup Motorsports", made its debut in the 1994 Goodwrench 500 @ Rockingham, where Tasha qualified 16th in the 42 car field~ While she didn't lead any laps, she was able to finish in 3rd place, the final car on the lead lap~ The race was won by Rusty Wallace, and the Miller Genuine Draft team~

   She next ran in the TranSouth Financial 400 @ Darlington, where after starting 9th, she went on to lead for 166 laps, on her way to her first career victory, in only her second career start~ With her first win under her belt, she focused the Food City 500 @ Bristol~ High winds, and cold weather haunted the qualifying session, and Tasha struggled bad, with a 24th place starting spot~ The bad weather worked to Chuck Bown's advantage however, as he picked up his first, and only career Winston Cup pole~

   Things cleared up on race day, and Tasha slowly worked her way up towards the leaders~ On lap 317, she passed Geoff Bodine, who was driving the last car Alan Kulwicki had driven before he died, and never looked back, leading the final 183 laps on the way to back to back victories in only her 3rd Winston Cup start~

                                               Tasha's custom Racing Champions card~

   Tasha finished out the 1994 season with 1 pole (Tyson Holly Farms 400 - North Wilkesboro), 3 wins (Darlington, Bristol, AC-Delco 500 - Rockingham), 5 top 5's, and 6 top 10's in 10 events~ She ran 6 races in 1995, with 0 poles, 2 wins (Hanes 500 - Martinsville, Goody's 500 - Bristol), 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's~ Her only non top 10 of the season came in the Food City 500 @ Bristol, where she was crashed by Dale Earnhardt with 22 laps remaining, resulting in a 21st place finish~

   In 1996, she ran 11 races, with 1 pole (Pontiac Excitement 400 - Richmond), 4 wins (First Union 400 - North Wilkesboro, Goody's Headache Powder 500 - Bristol, Miller 400 - Richmond, and the NAPA 500 - Atlanta), with 7 top 5's, and 9 top 10's~ She ran less races in 1997, running 7 races, with 0 poles, 2 wins (Coca-Cola 600 - Charlotte, AC Delco 400 - Rockingham), 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's~

   Her final year in NASCAR was the 1998 season, where she ran in 5 races~ She had 2 poles, both at Bristol, 2 wins, also both at Bristol, 4 top 5's, and 5 top 10's in her final season in the series~ Following the season, she sold the team to Robby Gordon, and spent more time at Slush Puppie World, with her family~ She will forever be remembered as the first female to win a Cup race, and in 2016, was the first female ever elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame~

                                                   Tasha #89 Slush Puppie Oldsmobile~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    I wish this car was really around back then, because I think it's pretty awesome~ I miss the old Slush Puppie machines from when I was young, that had the big Slush Puppie spinning around and around on the top~ I also don't like that Slush Puppie's are premixed now~ My favorite thing to do was mix 1 squirt of lime, and 1 squirt of pina colada, and now I can't do that anymore, because they premix the flavors into the syrup now~

   Sometimes, I would use just a little of each flavor, and make some kinda freak Slush Puppie, which may have been part of the reason they'd changed to premixing the flavors~ Sometimes, it would taste really good, if you did it just right~ If you used too much of the flavoring, it just tasted like sour horribleness~ There was an art to making them taste just right, and I was usually pretty good at it making them taste super awesome~

   As far as this car goes, I give it an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with a little bit of points being taken off because of minor flaws on my part~ I used Tom Peck's #96 Thomas Racing Oldsmobile to make this one~ I just want to state again that nothing in the above story is meant to be taken as truth, well.. other than the fact that Tasha and I are married~ lol~

   I hope you all enjoyed this blog post, and thanks for making 2016 a great year for this page~ Below are some random clips, along with a bonus custom Racing Champions car~ Please share this post on any social media sites you are a part of, and I'll see ya' next time here on the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~

                                        **BONUS** Diggity Dave #33 Sprite Chevrolet~

  I make this one from Bobby Hillin Jr.'s #31 Ireland Racing Chevrolet~ I love the old Sprite logo, and it just looks like a Christmasy car~ This would have been an awesome car to see at the track back then, and I think Sprite should use this logo again, for at least a few months or so~ I think just that logo alone, on a black can, would look amazing~ I know I'd buy more Sprite if that were the case~

                                                         Old Slush Puppie commercial~

                                                     Slush Puppie Unwrapped segment~

                                                Diggity Dave - Little Sister - Elvis cover~

        
                                                      8 minutes of 1980's commercials~

Rodney Combs #89 Evinrude Outboards Pontiac

    Rodney Combs was a heck of a dirt track racer, as well as a 2 time ASA National Tour Champion~ His venture into the Winston Cup series went about as bad as it could have gone, and today, I'm gonna be writing about his tenure in the Mueller Brothers #89 Evinrude Outboards Pontiac~

    His first start in the car was in the 1989 Daytona 500, where he qualified 30th, and finished in the 37th position, due to a crash on lap 72~ He then drove several races for Ken Allen, in the #34 Allen's Auto Glass Buick~ Combs returned to the #89 Evinrude car for the Miller High Life 400 @ Michigan, qualifying 35th, and finishing in 40th, due to engine troubles~

    Following a 1 race deal with Lake Speed @ Darlington, Combs was back in the Evinrude car for the All Pro Auto Parts 500 @ Charlotte, where he qualified 31st, and finished 32nd, again due to engine malfunctions~ In the Autoworks 500 @ Phoenix, Combs qualified in 40th place, and finished in 27th, his highest finish of the season for Mueller Brothers Racing~ In his last race of the 1989 season, Combs qualified 32nd in the Atlanta Journal 500, and finished in 41st, due to oil line issues~

                                                           Rodney Combs promo card~

    The start of the 1990 season didn't fare any better for Combs, who failed to make the field for the Daytona 500~ In his first start of the season, he qualified 39th in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, and finished 33rd due to engine issues~ In the Miller Genuine Draft 400 @ Michigan, Combs started and finished the race in the 40th position, due to a bad piston~

    He didn't race again until the next Michigan race, the Champions Spark Plug 400, where he qualified 23rd, but due to oil line issues, finished in 34th~ He qualified 31st for the Checker 500 @ Phoenix, and finished a season best 27th~ In the final race of the season, the Atlanta Journal 500, Rodney qualified 38th, and finished in 30th place, in what would be his final career Cup start~

                                                  Rodney Combs #89 Evinrude Pontiac~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    I did a post a while back on Jim Sauter's version of this car, and while both of them look similar, there are a few differences between them~ The #89 on this version is red, where on the Sauter car, the numbers are pink~ Rodney's version also has the silver coned rims, which I always think is a plus~ I probably have a stronger connection to Sauter's version, because that's the one I had when I was young~ I never had the Combs version back then~

    As I said with the Sauter car, I love the white stripe along the bottom of the car, and that blue color is one of the coolest looking colors on a Racing Champions car, in my opinion~ The Pontiac cars were always pretty crude back then, but this is a fairly decent one~ Overall, I give the Evinrude car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ Could have been an A+, but Combs is looking like a total creeper on the card, so that knocks a few points off~

    I have to admit, there are a lot of older drivers that I miss being in the sport, but Rodney Combs just isn't one of them~ He was always so boring, and he never amounted to much even in the BGN series, and he had decent rides back then~ Even though I don't really miss him, I do enjoy his old Racing Champions cars, especially the Lance Crackers one~ Below are some videos featuring Rodney during his time in NASCAR~ Thanks for stopping by the blog~ :D

                                         1996 Hummingbird Fishfinder 500k Combs crash~

                                                       Rougemont 1994 Combs crash~

                                                   Rodney Combs interview IRP 1995~

                                                  Rare footage of Combs leading a race~

                                                                                   

Jim Sauter #89 Evinrude Outboard Motors Pontiac

    Before writing this post, I was under the impression that Jim Sauter was retired, and living somewhere in Wisconsin~ Sadly, he passed away last Halloween, following a brief illness~ He was 71~ His Cup career consisted of 76 races during the span of 16 years, where he tallied 0 wins, 0 poles, and 4 top 10's~ He also ran 4 BGN races from 1989-2002, with 0 wins, 0 poles, and 0 top 10's~

    Sauter started racing modifieds in 1964 @ Raceway Park in Savage, Minnesota, moving up to the late models in 1965~ He moved to Wisconsin, where his career took off after winning the North Star 500 @ the Minnesota State Fair in Dave Marcis's Chevelle~ Sauter later commented about the race "The funny thing about that race, was the fact that we had a barn full of various brands of tires that we wanted to use up, and ended up with Goodyear on the outside and Firestone on the inside for no other reason than that~ Everyone thought it must be the hot tip~"

   Marcis called on Sauter again in 1978, asking him to run his car in the ARCA 200 race, where Sauter battled with Bruce Hill for the win on the last lap~ They crashed, with Hill ending up against the wall, while Sauter went on to win~ His first Cup race came in the 1980 National 500 @ Charlotte, where he started 31st, and finished 41st~ Sauter won back to back ARTGO Challenge Series Championships in 1981 and 1982, along with winning the 1983 All American 400~ To help pay the bills, Sauter did Goodyear tire tests, along with Marcis~

                                       Sauter battles it out on the track with Rusty Wallace~

     His best Cup season came in 1989, where he had 17 starts, with 2 top 10's, as well as leading 8 laps @ Rockingham~  I had the privileged of meeting Jim in what would turn out to be his final Cup race, the 1996 Goody's Headache Powder 500 @ Bristol~ His last BGN start came in the 2002 GNC Live Well 250 in Wisconsin, at the age of 59, driving for Richard Childress in the #29 Advance/Rockwell Automation Chevrolet,  he started an impressive 10th, but finished 29th due to brake issues~

    Also competing in the race, were his son's Tim, Jay and Johnny~ His final ride in a top tier NASCAR event came in the 2004 Black Cat Fireworks 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held @ Milwaukee~ Driving the #43 Curb Records Chevrolet, fielded by Cary Agajanian, Sauter qualified 22nd, and clawed his way up to finish in 13th~

                                     Jim Sauter #89 Evinrude Outboard Motors Pontiac~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    I chose to review this car today in part due to my previous post, where I had mentioned that I loved this color on a race car, and the pink and white added to the blue make it that much better~ The crisp white stripe along the bottom gives the car added eye appeal~ Also, I just really liked the body styles of the Pontiac's that Racing Champions was making at the time~ I was always amazed at the amount of drivers they would make die-casts of, with Greg Trammell's #18 Melling car being the most shocking, in my opinion~

    Jim's sons Tim, Jay, and Johnny have followed his footsteps by competing in the NASCAR circuit, while his son Jim Jr. has raced in regional events, along with his grandson Travis~ In all, at the time of his death, Sauter had 12 children, along with 51 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren~

    His son Johnny's lone 2014 win came @ Michigan, where he mentioned his father, saying "I'm just going to relish in this win because this has been a tough, tough race track for me throughout my career~ My Dad always said, 'That place is easy~' But, I never felt that way~ Until today, I mean when you have a truck like this -- it was just awesome~"

    Jim Sauter, like J.D. McDuffie was a true racer, and hard working gentleman, something the NASCAR world hasn't seen in quite some time~ Alan Kulwicki was the last to have true fame as an independent, but drivers like Sauter and Morgan Shepherd helped keep the dream of being a common man in racing alive~ Below are a few videos from Jim's career~ Enjoy~

                       **Bonus Car** Jim's #89 Handy Snacks Ford from 1993~ Custom~

                                                           1981 ARTGO interview~

                                                     1989 Winston 500 Sauter spin~

 
                                              1997 Myrtle Beach Sadler Sauter tangle~

                                                  Jim's final Cup race 1996 Bristol (full race)