Ralph Earnhardt #31 1964 Ford Galaxie Fastback

    Howdy Folks!~ It's me, Colonel Sanders, and I'd like to tell you about my new KFC Smoky Mountain BBQ~ *pulls off mask* I'm lying.. it's really me, Buttermilkjug, back with another installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ I've been spending WAY too much time lately watching old NASCAR races, and it got me nostalgic for Dale Earnhardt~ I'm gonna be honest with y'all.. ever since the man died, it's like there's been a void in my NASCAR world~

   When Dale passed away, I basically started blocking him out of my NASCAR memories~ It hurt to even think about him~ This is my 128th blog post, and I've yet to do one on Dale, or Dale Jr., for the simple fact that it just pains me to think of Dale Earnhardt... that is, until recently~ It happened one night as I was watching an old Busch Grand National race, and it happened without me even noticing~ I got the fever.. the Dale Earnhardt fever... and the only prescription was more cowbell~ I'm kidding again.. it was more Dale Earnhardt videos~

   So with more Dale Earnhardt videos on the horizon, I started getting psychological about it, and that led me to thinking about the death of his father, Ralph.. which led me to wanting to do this post on Ralph Earnhardt, and the #31 Ford Galaxie Fastback, from the 1964 Grand National season~ I've really been thinking a lot about the Earnhardt family the past few days,I feel it's time for me to do a post on the man who started it all~

                                                 True love~  Ralph and Martha Earnhardt~

    If you do a search on Ralph Earnhardt, the stats you'd find about his racing career are pretty lackluster~ Records from the early days of racing are hard enough to find even for the Grand National series, let alone the many short tracks scattered throughout the south in the early 50's - mid 60's~ In reality, Ralph won over 350 races, multiple track championships, as well as the 1956 NASCAR Sportsman championship~ (Trophy shown above)~

   Ralph's Cup career consists of 51 starts, with one pole, six top 5's, and sixteen top 10's~ His lone pole came in his debut start in the Grand National series, driving the #22 DePaolo Engineering Ford (normally Fireball Roberts' car), in the "Buddy Shuman 250" @ Hickory~ He beat out Buck Baker for the pole, and finished runner-up to the #300 Carl Kiekhaefer Chrysler, driven by Speedy Thompson~

   Earnhardt was declared the winner of the race, but a protest was requested by the Kiekhaefer team, following claims of a scoring error~ After further inspection, it was declared that Thompson was the winner, to the dismay of nearly everyone in attendance~ Spectators were ready to torch the place to the ground before Earnhardt took to the track microphone to announce that he was okay with the decision, thus saving the venue from the destructive hands of the local crowd~

                         Cotton Owens, David Pearson, and Ralph~ 1964 Dixie 400 @ Atlanta~

    Moving on to the 1964 Grand National season, Earnhardt worked out a 9 race deal (10 if you count the Daytona 500 Qualifier race) with the newly formed Tom Spell racing team to drive their #31 Ford Galaxie~  Spell's team ran a total of 15 races during the 1964 Grand National season, ten with Earnhardt, four with Possum Jones, and one with Cale Yarborough, and ran their final Grand National event in 1965, with Cale at the wheel~ Of these 16 races, Earnhardt had the better average start by 5 spots, as well as having an average finish 5 spots higher than Jones or Yarborough~

    Along with these accomplishments, Earnhardt was also the only driver to be running at the end of a race while driving for Spell, doing so four times, as well as the only driver to earn a top 5 or top 10 finish for the team~ During my research for this post, I was unable to find any information about Tom Spell following the conclusion of 1965 Grand National race the team competed in~ I probably spent over two hours trying to find out who he was, and if he was still alive or not~ I'm guessing he's not alive anymore, but I never was able to prove that~ I figure he died in the 60's or 70's.. sometime before the rise of the internet, or else I'd have been able to find an obituary, or a mailing address~

   While the conclusion of Spell's fate remains a mystery, one thing is certain... Ralph Earnhardt finished 14th in his Daytona 500 Qualifier race, putting him 28th in the 46 car field for the 1964 "Daytona 500"~ The car had sponsorship from "Jimmy Rivers Body & Paint Shop" for this event, and Earnhardt finished 19th, twenty laps off the pace of race winner, Richard Petty, who killed the field, putting every car at least one lap down before the drop of the checkered flag~ This was the first of 7 Daytona 500 wins for the King, as well as his first win on a superspeedway~

                                                         Closeup of Ralph in a Pontiac~

    After Daytona, the team packed up and headed to Richmond, for the "Richmond 250"~ After qualifying 5th for the event, Earnhardt's car lasted on 73 laps before rear end troubles forced him out of competition, relegating him to a disappointing 22nd place finish~ This race was scheduled to be ran on March 8th, which was a Sunday.. but due to heavy rains, the track was too muddy, and the race couldn't be ran until Tuesday, March 10th~ This was the old dirt track version of Richmond, at the old Fairgrounds, not the track they run in current day NASCAR~ David Pearson held on to win the event, followed by Richard Petty, Billy Wade, Junior Johnson, and Doug Yates finished out the top 5~

   Next up on the circuit the team headed to Bristol, for the "Southeastern 500", and it did not go well for the elder Earnhardt~ After qualifying 33rd in the 36 car field, the engine gave out just a few laps shy of the halfway point, leading to a 23rd place showing~ The race was won by Mr. Fred Lorenzen, driving the famed #28 LaFayette Holman-Moody Racing Ford, followed by Fireball Roberts, Paul Goldsmith, Buck Baker, and Marvin Panch~ In his two career starts at Bristol, Ralph had an average starting position of 31.0, and an average finishing position of 28.0, which is surprising for all of his short track talent and abilities~ I'm pretty sure he would have preferred it as a dirt track~

   We've now made our way down to the Greenville-Pickens Speedway, in Greenville, SC, for the "Greenville 200"~ Ralph qualified 5th for this event, but again was plagued with rear end issues, dropping out of the race after 69 laps~ He finished 18th in the field of 22, and the race was won by David Pearson, who was on a hot streak in the #6 Cotton Owens Dodge~ Ned Jarrett was 2nd, followed by Marvin Panch, LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Tiny Lund~ Following this race, the team would take a three race absence from the Grand National series, but would return for the Hillsboro race~

                                              Ralph's #31 Ford in the 1964 Daytona 500~

    In his return to the Grand National series, Ralph qualified 26th in the 28 car lineup for the "Joe Weatherly 150" (Weatherly was killed in the Riverside season opener) @ Hillsboro/Orange Speedway, with David Pearson on the pole in the #6 Cotton Owens Ford~ Hillsboro was a .900 mile dirt track located in Hillsborough, NC, so you can imagine this was the type of track Earnhardt felt most comfortable racing, and it showed that day~

    He not only finished the race, he did so by posting the final top 5 (and top 10) of his Grand National series career, with a 4th place finish~ The Silver Fox outfoxed the field again, with his closest competition three laps off of his race winning pace~ Ralph Earnhardt earned $575 in race winnings for his 4th place effort~ Adjusted for inflation, that is the equivalent of $4,612.41 today.. it's not much, but still good enough for a short track event back then~

  
   Next up on the schedule was "Race #16", which had no name.. so we'll call it the "Spartanburg 200"~ The race was held at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, a 1/2 mile dirt track in Spartanburg, SC~ Earnhardt started 11th in the field of 19 cars, and finished 16th following an overheating problem~ The team received 100 dollars for their efforts, which equates to $802.00 today, so it's not as bad as it sounds, though a little skimpy if you totaled your car in the event~ Ned Jarrett went on to win the race in the #11 Bondy Long Ford~

                                                                    Eyes on the prize~

    Moving on to another 1/2 mile dirt track, Ralph qualified 11th for the "Columbia 200" @ Columbia Speedway~ He finished the event 12 laps down to race winner, Ned Jarrett, who lapped the field on his way to the checkered flag~ The thought of so many dirt tracks on the schedule is mind blowing these days~ We get one dirt race in the truck series, and I'm surprised that happened~ I feel like the Eldora race has become one of NASCAR's crown jewels, and it's easily one of my most anticipated races each year~
   

    Ralph next competed in the "World 600" @ Charlotte, driving the #70 Paul Clayton Pontiac, instead of the #31 Tom Spell Ford~ He finished 37th following a blown engine on the 5th lap of the event~ Jim Paschal and Richard Petty had 1-2 finishes for Petty Enterprises, with Paschal winning by a margin of 4 laps over Petty~ This race is sadly most known for the lap 7 crash involving Fireball Roberts, Ned Jarrett, and Junior Johnson~ Fireball Roberts died five weeks after this incident, from injuries/burns sustained in the crash/fire~
  
  Earnhardt returned to the Tom Spell team for two more races during the 1964 Grand National season~ After qualifying 9th for the "Pickens 200" @ Greenville, overheating issues resulted in an 18th place finish~ In his final start of the season, and what turned out to be the final race of his Grand National career, he qualified 5th for the "Concord 200" @ Concord, NC, a 1/2 mile dirt track~ The engine blew 55 laps into the event, resulting in a 13th place finish~ Ralph attempted to make one more Grand National race during the 1966 season, when he DNQ'd for the "World 600" @ Charlotte, driving the #00 Emory Gilliam Dodge~

                              Ralph on break with King Richard, Ned Jarrett, and Bobby Isaac~

    On September 26th, 1973, Ralph Earnhardt suffered a heart attack in his race shop behind the house~ Dale came in and found him, and he was taken to the hospital, but pronounced DOA.. he was 45 years old, and Dale was 22~ Dale Jr. was born the following year, and lost his father at the age of 27~ It's hard to imagine what that had to feel like for both of them~ Dale won the Winston Cup championship seven years after his father's death, and probably would have traded the world to have his dad be there to witness that~

   And then when Dale died, Dale Jr. had to go through the same thing, and will continue to do so for the rest of his life~ Earlier this month he was quoted saying "It's sad sometimes~ When I have my daughter, it will be super sad thinking about Dad, wishing he could see what I was able to accomplish, the man I have become, having a child~ I just would love if he could meet her and see what's going on~"... and what's sad about that is that I'm almost positive his father lived his adult life having those very same feeling about his father~

   We only get one father in life, and though you may be able to find a "father figure" in someone, it's never going to be the same as your real father, the man who raised you, and made you who you grew up to be~ Some people might not have had the best father in their life, and some people have never had a father in their life~ It's important to cherish your time with your parents.. you don't always realize it when you're young, but the older you get, the more you wish you'd have spent a little more time with them, and cherished the moments a little bit more~

                                         Ralph Earnhardt #31 1964 Ford Galaxie Fastback~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, here's the #31 Ford that Racing Champions came up with, but I don't know how they came up with it~ I looked high and low, but I couldn't find a single photo of Ralph driving a white #31 Ford with a black top~ Heck.. I couldn't even find a photo of him driving a white #31 Ford period~ I found him driving a red #31, and the one I posted earlier from Daytona, where his car was kinda Fireball Roberts purple color, with a gold top~ Also, though Racing Champions produced this car as a 1964 Ford Fastback, Ralph actually drove a '63 Ford during the 1964 season~

   Unless Racing Champions knew something that I'm not aware of, this car is a fantasy car, and never competed in NASCAR competition~ I'm not saying that as 100% fact, but as my personal opinion as of this posting~ If photo evidence of this car ever becomes available, I'll update this post accordingly~ I like this car, and would give it a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It's a nice, clean, simplistic paint scheme, with a nice card, and these Fastback cars are a great collection to have, and look great on display~

    There is also a red #54 Ralph Earnhardt car from this set, that is far more rare than this one is, but I'll save that one for another post~ This car was available in the Fred Lorenzen blister pack, as well as a PVC promo box (5,000 produced)~ As of this posting neither car is available on Ebay in Racing Champions form, though the white one shown here is seen more often than the red one when they do pop up for sale~ And now, let's move on to the bonus car for this post~

                                      Jeff Krogh #56 Clearwater Forest Industries Chevrolet~

    Jeff Krogh was born in Kamiah, Idaho, on March 21st, 1972~ He is the brother of fellow racer Mark Krogh, and the son of Robert Krogh, who owns Clearwater Forest Industries~ I guess what I'm saying is that Robert bankrolled Jeff and Mark's NASCAR careers... and there's nothing wrong with that, I suppose~

   Sadly though, sometimes bankrolled drivers that shouldn't be allowed to compete in the highest form of motorsports are allowed to pay their way into competition, and they end up causing a lot of damage, and sometimes, even death on the race track~ Jeff Krogh found this out in 1999, during practice for the "DieHard 250" @ the Milwaukee Mile, when he slammed into the wall, and was sent into a coma~ He laid in a vegetative state for nearly a month before regaining contentiousness, and his recovery time took well over one year~

   Thank you all for stopping by the blog again~ Please share it with your friends on social media, and if you'd like, click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page to subscribe to these blog posts~ Below are some random NASCAR videos, as well as one small video clip featuring an interview with Ralph Earnhardt himself~ Thanks again for stopping by, and I'll see ya' the next time you come around!~ :)

                                       1962 "Southern 500" Earnhardt slams into guardrail~

                            Ralph's wife Martha doesn't want the #3 on the track~ (I agree with her)~

                                   Colorizing a black & white Brad Teague photo~ (My channel)

                                      Short Ralph Earnhardt interview/clip~ Turn volume up~

   

   
   

  

Davey Allison #1 Lancaster Tobacco Chevrolet

    Welcome once more to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ In today's post, I'm gonna be taking you back to the 1985 Winston Cup series, where we'll be look back on Davey Allison's time in the #1 Lancaster Tobacco Chevrolet~ Davey made his Winston Cup debut in this car, which was owned by long time Cup series owner, Hoss Ellington~

    Allison attempted to make the field for the 1985 running of the "Daytona 500", as well as the "Coca-Cola 500" @ Atlanta, driving the #77 McCord Gaskets Chevrolet owned by Marvin Ragan (David Ragan's uncle), but failed to make the field for either event~ Allison continued to race in the ARCA series throughout the year, but finally got another chance at the Cup series with a call from Ellington~ The rest is history, and we're gonna relive that history right now~

                                              Allison's first Cup race at Talladega - 1985~

    You'd think it would be fitting that Allison made his debut at Talladega, being a member of the "Alabama Gang", but in all actuality it would have been more fitting had he made the field for the "Daytona 500"~ Many fans aren't aware that Davey was born in Hollywood, Florida, and that he started his racing career in gator country~

    Though he wasn't a native of Alabama, Davey was a master at Talladega, pretty much from the start of his career~ Heading into the "Talladega 500", Bill Elliott was the talk of the town, as he had been for basically the entire 1985 season~ His bright red #9 Coors Ford was a dominate force at the time, especially at the superspeedway tracks~ As was expected, Elliott put the #9 Ford on the pole for the event, beating out an aging Cale Yarborough for the honor~

    Davey qualified 22nd in what would be his Winston Cup debut, and though that's not great, it must have felt like he won the pole~ After two failed attempts earlier in the season, he was finally going to be in a Winston Cup race, racing against his heroes, as well as his father~ Two drivers failed to make the field for the event, Eldon Dotson, and Dick Skillen~

                                        Davey shared row 11 with Harry Gant in his debut~

    At the start of the race, Elliott's car was clearly the car to beat, and it looked like the race was gonna be for second place, because nobody was gonna catch Awesome Bill~ Following the first caution of the day, Elliott's team struggled on pit road, putting him way back in traffic~ He was able to zip right through them and get right back to the lead, and his happened several times throughout the day~ The only person who could even come close to Elliott was Cale Yarborough, driving the #28 Hardee's Ford~

    Davey got as high as 2nd place under caution, but was never able to take the lead, and faded once the race restarted~ Midway through the event, the driveshaft on the Trevor Boys car malfunctioned, and it flew into Dale Earnhardt's car, and shattered the windshield~ Pieces of the windshield cut Earnhardt's face, and he could be seen blood covered in his car as repairs were made~ He made it back out and finished the race, though he was a bloody mess~ With around 20 laps remaining, Elliott's car lost a cylinder, which ended his chance at victory, and sent Cale Yarborough into first place~

    Cale led the remaining 22 laps with relative ease, and went on to win the event, in what turned out to be the next to last win in NASCAR~ Neil Bonnett came home in second, followed by Ron Bouchard, Bill Elliott, and A.J. Foyt, who picked up the final top 5 of his NASCAR career~ It would also be the final top 10 of his career as well~ Davey Allison finished the race in 10th place, picking up his first top 10 in his first career start in the Cup series~ 

                                    Davey ran the final two races in this black Lancaster car~

    Allison wasn't back in the Cup series until 8 races later, for the "Miller High Life 500" @ Charlotte, and when he showed up to the track, the car was sporting a new black paint scheme~ He qualified 17th for the event, with "Handsome" Harry Gant taking the pole position in the #33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet~ Tim Richmond was on the outside of row number one in the #27 Old Milwaukee Pontiac~ Glenn Sears was the only driver who failed to make the show~

    Harry Gant led the majority of the race, but blew an engine with less than 100 laps remaining, handing the lead over to Bill Elliott, who had the second most dominate car of the day~ Elliott then led 35 laps before being passed by Cale Yarborough, who led the remaining 46 laps on the way to the final victory of his NASCAR career~ The first two Cup starts of Davey's career were won by Yarborough~

    Elliott finished runner-up (though he gave Cale one heck of a race), and was followed by Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, and Joe Ruttman~ Davey's engine gave out on lap 307, relegating him to a 19th place finish, which was still better than Dale Earnhardt, who finished in 20th~ In his first two Cup races, Davey finished higher than Earnhardt on both occasions~ Not too shabby for a youngster making his debut in the Cup series~

                                                Davey's car on pit road at Charlotte - 1985~

    Davey's final race of the 1985 Winston Cup season came in the "Atlanta Journal 500" @ the old Atlanta International Raceway~ He qualified 32nd, running the black paint scheme again, while his teammate Rick Wilson, who was filling in for David Pearson in the #21 Chattanooga Chew Chevrolet qualified 31st~ "Handsome" Harry Gant was on the pole again, alongside Geoff Bodine on the front row~ Ten drivers failed to make the field for the event, including Doug Heveron, Jim Sauter, and Blackie Wangerin~

    The race was a fierce, and very vicious battle between Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough all afternoon~ During the middle of the race, Cale's car was exceptionally strong, but he faded a bit near the end.. not enough to fade out of competition for the win, but enough for Elliott to catch up to him and make it an exciting race~ In the last 50 laps of the event, Cale's car fell off even more, allowing Elliott to ease his way into victory lane one more time~

    Yarborough finished second, and was followed by Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, and Morgan Shepherd~ Davey was the first driver to fall out of the event following a blown engine on lap 52, so he picked up his first career last place finish in 42nd~ His teammate Rick Wilson was able to finish the race in 18th, seven laps off the pace of the race winning car of Elliott~ 

                      Davey keeping an eye on Harry Gant in his Cup debut~ Talladega - 1985~

    Davey finished out his unofficial rookie campaign with 3 starts, and 1 top 10 finish~ He ran a total of 539 laps, and had an average start of 23.7, with an average finish of 23.7~ He finished 70th in the final points standings for the1985 Winston Cup championship, which was won by Darrell Waltrip and the #11 Budweiser team, owned by Junior Johnson~

    Allison would compete in another partial season in 1986, running 4 races with the Sadler Brothers (while also failing to qualify for an additional two races) in the #95 Chevrolet, with a best finish of 12th in the "Miller High Life 400" @ Richmond~ He also filled in for the injured Neil Bonnett for the "Talladega 500", driving the #12 Budweiser Chevrolet to a 7th place finish~

    He made his official run for "Rookie of the Year" in 1987, winning two races, with 5 poles, 9 top 5's, and 10 top 10's~ He easily won "Rookie of the Year" honors, with an average start of 9th, and an average finish of 14.2~ He finished 21st in the final championship points standings~ Throughout his entire Winston Cup career, Allison averaged one win for every ten races he entered, with 19 career victories in 191 starts~

                                           Davey Allison #1 Lancaster Tobacco Chevrolet~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    This car was produced for the 1994 Premier set, and was limited to 10,000 pieces~ Racing Champions didn't make many of these 85-88 Monte Carlos, and the only ones that come to my mind are Darrell Waltrip's #17 Tide, Dale Earnhardt's #3 Goodwrench, and Kirk Shelmerdine's #3 Goodwrench car~

    Racing Champions did a mighty fine job on this diecast, and I'm also very happy with the card for this one~ Sterling Marlin drove this car for 10 races in the 1986 season, with sponsorship from Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce, and the number 1 looked the same on that car~ I'm a big fan of the way they did that number~ This car is pretty awesome all the way around~ It's clean, crisp, and void of any major flaws~ You can't ask for more from a Racing Champions diecast~

    I'm giving this car an A+ all the way on the Racing Champions quality scale, even though I'm not a fan of the gold stand and gold trim on the Premier cards~ This is probably my favorite Premier car of all time, and the only one I would like better is the black version of this car~ I don't think that one was ever produced, but I've learned to never say never with Racing Champions~ I personally would value this car in the 17-20 dollar range, though you can sometimes find it cheaper if you're not impatient~ And now, without any further adieu.. I give you the bonus car for this post~

                                              Rick Wilson #27 Indianapolis Colts Ford~

    I had another car picked out for this bonus car post, but after I found out that Wilson was Allison's teammate for a race, I had to change my plans~ This car was driven by Wilson in the 1997 Brickyard 400, and the Colts sponsorship literally came together at the last minute~ Wilson was trying to revive his career following a four year absence from the Cup series, and had teamed up with David Blair to drive the #27 Blair Motorsports Ford~

    His first race back was in the "Miller 400" @ Michigan, where he qualified 31st, and finished 21st~ He next raced the car five races later for the "Brickyard 400" @ Indy~ Even in the qualifying session, Wilson's car was sponsored only by Blair Motorsports, with their logo on the hood of the car~ Once it was known that Wilson wasn't going to be one of the ten drivers who would DNQ for the event, the Indianapolis Colts came on board just in time for the race~ Wilson would start the race from the 34th position~

                                                       What the actual car looked like~

    Wilson wasn't really even shown during the race, and had a forgettable 21st place finish~ Ricky Rudd went on to win the race, and Wilson ran one more race for Blair Motorsports, finishing 19th in the "UAW-GM Quality 500" @ Charlotte~ He attempted to run two races (Talladega, Daytona) in 1998 in Larry Herdick's #41 Kodiak Chevrolet, but failed to make either event~ Following these two DNQ's, his Cup career was officially over~

    This car doesn't truly represent Rick's Brickyard car 100%, because I couldn't find many shots of the car to get it 100% correct~ This is my interpretation of what the car looked like, and I feel like it's close to what the real thing looked like~ I just couldn't get a clear shot of the hood to tell what the logo above "COLTS" was~ Thank you all for visiting the blog~ I hope you enjoyed this post, and share it with your friend on social media~ Below are some videos from Davey's career, though I can't find much from his 1985 season without having to post full races, and I'm just not doing that~ If you enjoy this blog, please click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ And until next time, eat a cow for your tomorrow... eat a cow for us, and all the world to share~ :)

                                               Davey's first Cup win - 1987 Winston 500~

                                                        Remembering Davey Allison~

 
                                                   Davey is furious with Geoff Bodine~

                                       First Turn: Best Rookie Seasons - #8: Davey Allison~

    
     

   
       

Dave Marcis #30 Dodge Daytona

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ It's been quite some time since I last made a post, but I guess that'll happen from time to time~ I haven't had a chance to sit down and get a post done in so long that I failed to get a post up for the two year anniversary of the blog, which was on June 27th~ On that day, I made my first post on the 1991 Daytona 400 Support Our Troops Set, and followed that one up the same day with Stanley Smith's #49 Ameritron Batteries Chevrolet~

    In the two years since I started the blog, I've tallied up 116 total posts, and the blog has received 96,832 page views~ It makes me happy to think that I've done something that helps give these ol' racers a little respect and honor~ We saw some of the best racing in the history of the sport, and some of the biggest personalities in sports history, and I like keeping that memory alive and well for future generations of race fans, as well as us ol' Grand National/Winston Cup fans~

    When I first started the blog, I wanted my first post to be on Dave Marcis' #71 Big Apple Markets Chevrolet, but I didn't have one yet, and couldn't find one without flaws, so I moved on to other posts, and never did the Big Apple post, even after I found a semi-flawless version~ So I figured I'd do a Marcis post for this special two year anniversary post, except I chose his #30 Dodge Daytona from the 1992 Collector's Series Dodge Daytona set~

                                     Marcis grins for the camera in the #30 Dodge Daytona~

    Dave's NASCAR career began in 1968, where he ran 10 races for Larry Wehrs in the #30 Chevrolet, picking up a couple of top 10 finishes along the way~ Marcis started the 1969 season with Wehrs, but the team was sold to construction tycoon Milt Lunda following the "Alabama 200" @ Montgomery, which was their first race of the season~ The team ran Chevrolets for the next two events, but made the swap to Dodge for the "Carolina 500" @ Rockingham, and remained with Dodge for the remainder of the season~

    Following the swap to Dodge, Marcis instantly started qualifying better - with a 4th place starting position for the "Cracker 200" @ Augusta Speedway~ He didn't last long in the race however, running only 27 laps before the engine gave out, resulting in a 23rd place finish in the 25 car field.. and his earnings for the race is listed as 0 dollars~ Dave improved the following week for the "Southeastern 500" @ Bristol International Raceway, qualifying and finishing in 6th place, for his first career top 10 in a Dodge~ He followed that up with another 6th place finish one race later in the "Atlanta 500"~

    Marcis qualified 3rd for the "Hickory 250", and smoothly came home in 4th place, with a perfectly intact race car~ The race was won by the legendary Bobby Isaac in the famed #71 K&K Insurance Dodge - a team Marcis would find himself driving for in just a few seasons, which would net him 4 of his 5 career Cup wins~ Dave qualified 3rd for the "Tidewater 375" @ Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va., and finished in the same spot~ The race was won by pole sitter David Pearson, and the #17 Holman-Moody Ford team~

                                                      A #30 Marcis car restored in 1978~

     Throughout the next few races, Marcis would qualify well, but had two more blown engines, and an ignition problem that ruined his chances at being competitive during race conditions~ In the "Kingsport 250" @ Kingsport Tn., Marcis nearly put the car on the pole, but was beat out by Bobby Isaac, with Marcis on the outside pole~ Richard Petty went on to win the race, with independent driver Big John Sears picking up one of two career runner up finishes, a career best~ Marcis had a flywheel go bad, and finished in 14th place, with race winnings of 240 bucks~

     Marcis qualified 10th for the "Firecracker 400" @ Daytona, and brought the #30 Lunda Construction Dodge Daytona home in 6th place~ LeeRoy Yarbrough went on to win the race in Junior Johnson's #98 Torino Talladega~ Dave started 8th in the "Northern 300" @ Trenton Speedway in New Jersey, and again finished in the 6th position~ David Pearson won the race, and eventually the season points championship~
   
    Over the span of the next 12 races, Marcis would continuously be in the top 10 on the starting grid, but the team was plagued with engine problems, overheating, oil leaks, broken springs, rear end problems, and ignition issues, resulting mostly in mediocre finishing results~ He led 10 laps early on in the "Southern 500" @ Darlington, but steering issues relegated him to a 33rd place finish~ During this 12 race span, he had a best finish of 6th place in the "Wilkes 400" @ North Wilkesboro - a race also won by David Pearson~

                                                      The good ol' days of NASCAR~

    For the remaining 6 races of the season, Marcis never qualified outside of the top 10, but 4 of the 6 races were plagued with mechanical problems or totally blown engines~ He did manage a 4th place finish in the "American 500" @ Rockingham, a race again won by LeeRoy Yarbrough - who finished the race as the only car on the lead lap~

    His last good finish of the season came in the season finale for the "Texas 500" @ College Station, where he squeaked out a 9th place finish after starting 10th~ This race would mark the final time Richard Petty would drive a Ford during his NASCAR career, finishing in 24th place following a blown clutch~ Bobby Isaac went on to win the race, followed by Donnie Allison, Benny Parsons, James Hylton, and Dick Brooks~

   Marcis finished out the 1969 season having competed in 37 of 54 events, with 3 top 5's, and 11 top 10's, 10 laps led, $32,383 in race winnings, and was 19th in the final points standings, with an average start of 10.3, and an average finish of 17.4~ Team owner Milt Lunda decided he wanted out of the racing business, and sold the team to Marcis, marking the first time he owned his own car in the top racing series~ He would continue to run the #30, and also stuck with Dodge race cars, though he would moonlight for other teams throughout the 1970 season when he could~

                                          Look how proud he is in front of that beautiful car~

    Marcis' first race as a team owner came in the 1970 season opener "Motor Trend 500" @ Riverside, where he started 20th, and finished in 14th place following a crash with 30 laps remaining~ Following a water pump issue in the Daytona qualifier, Marcis ended up starting 33rd for the "Daytona 500", but fought his way up to 10th, for his first top 10 as a team owner~ He finished 6th in the "Carolina 500" @ Rockingham, and 5th in the "Savannah 200" @ Savannah, Ga., in what was the final NASCAR race at the track~

    1970 was to some the final true season in NASCAR, due to the fact that NASCAR quit racing in smaller towns and on dirt tracks following the end of the season~ Though I wasn't born back then, I can assure you that I agree with them 100%~ Who wouldn't like to see the current Cup guys running local dirt tracks and smaller local/hometown tracks?~ The crowds they have now might just fill a local track up... if NASCAR was lucky - but anyway, back to Marcis we go~

    Dave had a good run in the "Beltsville 300" @ Beltsville, Maryland, where he finished 5th after starting from the 4th spot~ Bobby Isaac won the race in what would be a championship winning season for the #71 K&K Insurance team~ Marcis also ran well the following week in the "Tidewater 300" @ Langley Speedway, where he brought the #30 Dodge home in 9th place - 19 laps off the pace of race winner, Bobby Isaac~ Bobby Allison was 2nd, followed by Neil "Soapy" Castles, James Hylton, and Benny Parsons~

                                                     The rear of the #30 Dodge Daytona~

    His next good finish came in the "Maryville 200" @ the Smokey Mountain Raceway in Maryville, Tn., where he picked up a 5th place finish~ Bobby Isaac led every lap of the event on his way to another victory, and he was followed by James Hylton, Neil Castles, Dick Brooks, and Marcis~ He then had a 9th place run in the "Motor State 400" @ Michigan~ Cale Yarborough won the race, followed by Pete Hamilton, David Pearson, LeeRoy Yarbrough, and Bobby Isaac~

    Marcis qualified 6th for the "Hickory 276" @ Hickory, and though he finished the race 4 laps off of the winner's pace, he still came home with a 3rd place finish behind Dick Brooks, and race winner Bobby Isaac~ The next week the series was at Kingsport in what would be the final race at the Kingsport Speedway - and Marcis qualified 5th for the event, with Richard Petty winning the pole~ Petty went on to win the race, followed by James Hylton, Marcis, Bobby Allison, and Neil Castles~

    Dave qualified 4th for the "Albany-Saratoga 250" @ Malta, NY, with Bobby Isaac on the pole~ Richard Petty quickly took the lead and never looked back on the way to the checkered flag~ He was followed by Bobby Allison, Marcis, Neil Castles, and G.C. Spencer~ Marcis then finished 6th in both the "Thompson 200" @ Thompson, CT., and the "Schaefer 300" @ Trenton Speedway~ After qualifying 8th for the "Volunteer 500" @ Bristol, he blew an engine 83 laps into the event, and settled for a 23rd place finish which netted him 465 bucks~

                                                       Custom tribute to Dave Marcis~

    By this point in the season, Marcis had crashed his good cars, and was running on fumes in the bank account, so he started moonlighting for other teams to make it through the season~ This hurt his teams development, but also - the cars he was moonlighting in were mostly junk, so he didn't run well in them either~ His best runs the rest of the season were a 5th place finish in the "West Virginia 300" @ International Raceway Park in Ona, W.V., driving for Cecil Gordon, and a 7th place run in the "Home State 200" @ the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., driving for Earle Brooks~

    In the "Old Dominion 500" @ Martinsville, Marcis was one of 14 independent drivers to "quit" the race in protest due to $10,000 of bonus money that was awarded to the top qualifiers for the event~ Those drivers who won the money were pole winner Bobby Allison, Bobby Isaac, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and Dave Marcis himself~ This was just a 30 car field, so you can imagine what 14 guys just dropping out of the race by lap 40 would look like~ The independents turned the race into a ghost town one by one, and NASCAR big wigs didn't like it one little crumb~ Petty, Allison, Yarborough, and Isaac went on to finish 1,2,3,4~

   Marcis finished out the 1970 season having competed in 47 of 48 events (DNQ'ing @ the second Talladega race),  with 3 top 5's, and 15 top 10's, he led a total of 14 laps, and earned $41,111 in race winnings~ He finished 9th in the final points standings, and had an average starting position of 12.6, and an average finish of 17.5~ For the 1971 season, Marcis would swap the #30 for #2, though he kept driving Dodges~ The Daytonas were also outlawed by 1971, thus officially ending his time in the #30 Dodge Daytona forever~

                                                       Dave Marcis #30 Dodge Daytona~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    To me, this was the coolest looking Dodge Daytona that Racing Champions made~ I mean, I like the Marty Robbins one, and I have it in my collection.. but I just prefer this one over it~ I've always loved the baby blue cars, and Marcis drove a few of them in his career~ Dave has been criticized numerous times over his career choices, and choosing to run in his own stuff when he could have ran for better teams - but I think he was just trying to do what he felt was best for his family... was he wrong sometimes?~  Probably.. but he was right enough to stay in the Cup series for 35 solid years - that's pretty dang impressive in my book~

    No matter how bad things seemed at times, drivers like Marcis, J.D. McDuffie, James Hylton and a slew of other independent teams could always find a way to make it through at least a partial season year after year~ Drivers and teams helped each other out, and Big Bill France would always make sure teams would at least have enough money to get to where they were going~ Then greed took over and ruined it all - making it impossible for the independent teams to survive in the sport~ It even got so expensive just to go to a race that many fans were turned off after their current driver at the time retired~ Most people quit going to the tracks by 2007, and it just got worse from there~

    Back to the car, I really love everything about it~ The yellow and black are a perfect color combo for the baby blue main color of the car~ I'd have to give this one an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, as it is my favorite car from the set~ Dave didn't run this winged version in all of the 1969 and 1970 tracks, I just gave the history of the full 69-70 season~ The car shown above that was restored in 1978 is now painted up in Winston Cup colors, or was.. not sure if it still is~ Richard Petty drove it around at some track back in the day, but I was too tired to look it up at this point.. so I'm just gonna go straight into the bonus car for this post now~ :)

                                          Jake Raudabaugh #63 SqueezIt Chevrolet Lumina~

    The cool thing about these bonus cars is they're just a bonus, so I can make up custom cars, or use non Racing Champions cars, and it doesn't really mess with the regular post~ This car was sent to me by a fan of the blog named Rob~ Thanks, Rob~ :) It was made by Action in 1997, and although Chevrolet had switched to Monte Carlos in 1995, this car was ran in the lower tier Busch North series, and was still allowed to run as a Lumina~

    Raudabaugh drove this car for one race only, during the "Nazareth 100" @ Nazareth Pa., in the Busch North series~ He qualified 33rd in the 34 car field, and finished the race 7 laps down - in the 25th position~ The race was won by former BGN series driver Bobby Dragon, who was driving Dale Shaw's #7 Skoal Bandit Pontiac~ Though he did attempt to qualify for two races in 1998, he failed to make the field, and his sponsor isn't listed, so there's no way of knowing if SqueezIt was the sponsor for those two events or not~ Well, unless you call the guy yourself and ask him~ :P

   Though he's unknown to many, Raudabaugh still races to this day in Pennsylvania~  In 2002, he was crowned KARS Champion in the 358 Sprint series, and won a race as recently as May of this year at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania~ He is the owner of Fine Line Auto Body in his hometown of Carlisle Pa., and is a sponsor and fundraiser for PET, Personal Energy Transportation~ 

    Thank you all for coming back to the blog for the past two years!~ I hope you enjoyed this post, and have a wonderful 4th of July!~ Happy birthday, America!~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "Follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ Below is some footage of the classic cars from the 69-70 era~ Enjoy it, and have a great Independence day!~

                                                     NASCAR 1969 Flat Out~ 12 mins.~

                                            Daytona/Superbird/Torino/Talladega footage~

                                                     1970 Daytona 500 feature~ 7 mins.~

                                    Old footage from the final NASCAR race at Trenton, NJ~

    
    

Mike Olsen #61 Little Trees Pontiac

    Hello once more, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ Today's post is going to be on Mike Olsen and his time in the #61 Little Trees Pontiac~ Olsen is the grandson of legendary New England driver, Stub Fadden~ Olsen also had one of my favorite sponsors of all time.. I mean, who doesn't love Little Trees?~ Sure they smell generic, and only last a couple of days before their fragrance disappears, but they're cool looking and cheap~

    Olsen got his start in NASCAR with the help of Fadden, who was almost godlike in their hometown of North Haverhill, New Hampshire~ Fadden and his family ran the local NAPA store in North Haverhill, and NAPA would also sponsor Fadden's cars in various racing divisions~ Click on the blue link above to read more about Stub's career~ Now let's get into the Olsen post, and see what he was doing in the #61 Little Trees Pontiac~

                                                           One of many Olsen postcards~ 

    Mike Olsen was born on February 8th, 1968 in North Haverhill, New Hampshire~ He won the Camping World Series East championship in 2001, as well as 2006~ His first BGN attempt came in 1990 @ Oxford, for the "True Value Oxford 250", but resulted in a DNQ~ He wouldn't make another attempt in the BGN series until 1996, where he made his first start in the "Meridian Advantage 200" @ Nazareth~ 

    Olsen qualified 38th in the 42 car field, while David Green put the #95 Caterpillar Chevrolet on the pole for the event~ Martin Truex Sr., Bill Hoff, and Brian Donley failed to make the show and were sent home early~ Tom Peck qualified Dick Trickle's car since Trickle was also racing in the Cup race, and wasn't at the track for qualifying, so he was sent to the rear of the field for the start of the race~ Jeff Fuller was in the #17 for this race, (instead of his usual #47) due to the fact that he was lower in the BGN points standings than Kelly Moore was in the Busch North Series points standings, so Moore had the rights to the #47~ 

    This was a pretty wicked race, with five cars blowing up with two laps of each other, and a ton of wrecks~ Thanks to that, Olsen was able to finish in 21st place, one lap down~ The race was won by Randy LaJoie, followed by David Green, Jeff Green, Dick Trickle (nice run from the back of the pack), and Jason Keller finished out the top 5~ This was the only BGN race Olsen ran during the 1996 season, but he was back in 1997, driving the same car~ 

          With the amount of postcards made, Olsen should have been sponsored by "If It's Paper"~

    Olsen's first race of the 1997 BGN season came in the "Hardee's Fried Chicken 250" @ Richmond, where he qualified 25th~ Randy LaJoie won the pole in the #74 Fina Chevrolet, and seven driver failed to make the field, including brothers Kevin and Wayne Grubb~ This race would mark the end of Doug Heveron's BGN career, and he qualified 17th in the #40 MHCO Ford, and finished in 24th place~ 

   The race was largely dominated by Jeff Burton, who was driving the #9 Track Gear Ford~ Burton led a total of 179 laps, but was booted out of contention on the final lap by Jason Keller~ Burton and Keller got into a screaming match after the race, but nothing really came of it~ Mark Martin passed them both, and went on to win the event in the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~ 

   Martin was followed to the checkers by Jeff Green, Steve Park, Phil Parsons, and Jason Keller~ Ed Spencer III brought the #20 Spencer Motor Ventures Chevrolet home in 15th place, which was a career high in what turned out to be his final start in the series~ Ron Barfield picked up his career best BGN finish with a 9th place effort in the #94 New Holland Ford, owned by Bill Elliott~ Olsen had major issues with the car throughout the event, and came home in 35th place, nearly 70 laps off the pace of the race winner~ 

                                                                Yet another postcard~ 

    Olsen next ran in the "Galaxy Foods 300" @ Hickory, where he qualified 29th in the slimmed down 31 car field~ Todd Bodine was on the pole in the #36 Stanley Tools Pontiac, and nine driver failed to make the field for the show, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rodney Combs, The Krogh brothers Jeff & Mark, and the Grubb brothers Kevin & Wayne~ 

    Randy LaJoie led all but 45 laps of the wreck filled event, but he was no match for eventual race winner Dick Trickle, who picked up the first win of his BGN career, and in doing so he became the oldest driver ever to win in one of NASCAR's top three divisions, a record that has only been broken since by Dick himself, one year later - at the age of 56~ 

    The Trickler was followed to the stripe by LaJoie, Tim Fedewa, Jeff Green, and pole winner Todd Bodine~ Mike Olsen was the first car to exit the event, ending his day only 62 laps into the event due to overheating issues, which resulted in a last place finish~Although his day ended early, at least he had a car to bring back to the shop that wasn't damaged, other than the overheating problems~

                                                   He really liked making these postcards~

    The next event Olsen entered was at his home track of Loudon, for the "United States Cellular 200", where he rolled off from the 33rd starting position~ Randy LaJoie was again on the pole in the #74 Fina Chevrolet, as qualifying was rained out for the event~ The Grubb Brothers finally made their BGN debuts together driving the #82 and #83 Chevrolets~ 

    Todd Bodine and Jeff Fuller led the biggest portion of the race, but both drivers faded in the closing laps~ "Magic" Mike McLaughlin pushed Jeff Fuller out of the way to take the lead with three laps remaining, and barely beat out Steve Park for the victory, in what was a wild finish to say the least~ Todd Bodine, who led a majority of the race wound up finishing in 6th place~ 

    McLaughlin and Park were followed to the checkered flag by Jeff Fuller, Elton Sawyer, and Phil Parsons~ Pole winner Randy LaJoie wound up finishing in 7th place in a car that seemed like it just wasn't there from the get go~ Olsen blew the engine in the #61 Little Trees Pontiac with 20 laps remaining, which resulted in a 29th place finish, in what easily could have been a top 20 effort~

                                          Olsen battles with the #75 car of Doug Heveron~

    Olsen and the team were back at the track the following week in Nazareth for the "Core States Advantage 200", where Olsen qualified 32nd in the small 35 car field~ Elliott Sadler was on the pole in the #29 Phillips 66 Chevrolet, and I must add that I hated that car~ Why is the Phillips 66 car #29?~ It would have been an awesome looking car if it were #66, but the #29 just throws everything off for me, and I don't enjoy it one little crumb~ 

    Steve Park was pretty dominant in the first half of the race, but started having engine trouble midway through the event~ His motor finally gave out with 30 laps remaining, which basically handed the win to Elliott Sadler, in what would be his first career BGN victory~ Todd Bodine tried his hardest to get by Sadler in the closing laps, but his best just wasn't good enough, and Sadler was able to make it to the line first~ 

    Sadler was followed by Bodine, Randy LaJoie, Jeff Green, and Dale Shaw, who picked up his first career top 5 in the event~ He would go on to capture two more top 5 finishes, all in the 1997 season~ Olsen finished the race in 25th place, 8 laps off the pace of the race winner~ His car didn't have any speed, and it seemed like it was like this every week~ He could keep the cars clean for the most part, but he just didn't have the speed to be competitive with the front runners of the series~ 

                                        Olsen steers clear of leader Todd Bodine (yellow car)~

    The final race Olsen made in the 1997 BGN season came in the "Autolite Platinum 250" @ Richmond, where he qualified in the 37th position~ Michael Waltrip won the pole in the #21 Band-Aid Ford, and fifteen drivers failed to make the field for the event, including the Grubb brothers, the Krogh brothers, Ron Barfield, Scott Lagasse, and Lyndon Amick amongst others~ 

   Fellow Virginian Jeff Burton had a very strong car all day, leading for a total of 89 laps, but Steve Park's team worked on his car throughout the day, making it better with each pit stop~ By the closing laps of the race, it was clear that Park wasn't going to go home without the win, which would sadly be the final win of his BGN career~ 

    In the first laps of the race, Joe Bessey was taken out by Dale Shaw - in retaliation, Bessey threw his helmet at Bessey's car, and the helmet actually ended up on Shaw's lap~ Shaw threw the helmet back onto the track during the caution~ When asked about the incident, Bessey said he thought Shaw might need a bigger helmet, so he was just trying to offer him his helmet~

 

    Park was followed to the stripe by Randy LaJoie, Jeff Burton, Dick Trickle, and Buckshot Jones~ Olsen finished the event four laps down, in the 29th position~ This would be his final start in the 1997 season, though he did have three DNQ's throughout the year as well~ ("Goodwrench Service 200" @ Rockingham, "Coca-Cola 300" @ Fort Worth, and the "AC-Delco 200" @ Rockingham")~

                           Olsen narrowly misses a crashing Toshio Suzuki in his BGN debut~

    Olsen attempted to make three races during the 1998 BGN season, but was only successful in the "First Union 200" @ Nazareth, where he started from the 39th position, and came home four laps down in 25th~ The two events he DNQ'd in were the "Gumout Long Life Formula 200" @ Loudon, and the "Hardee's 250" @ Richmond~ 

    He attempted to make two races for the 1999 BGN season, making the field for the "Lysol 200" @ Watkins Glen, where he rolled off from the 43rd starting position, and surprisingly worked his way up to finish in 18th place in the #81 Little Trees Chevrolet~ (Tony Roper was using the #61 for this event)~

    His DNQ came in the "First Union 200" @ Nazareth, where he was one of seven other drivers who failed to make the field~ The 2000 BGN season would mark Olsen's final season in the BGN series~ By this point, the car had a yellow paint scheme, instead of the usual white one~ This would be the scheme Olsen would use for the remainder of his time with the Little Trees sponsorship~ 

                           Postcard celebrating 10 years with Little Trees~ Also shows the yellow car~

    Olsen qualified dead last for the "Busch 200" @ Loudon, while Tim Fedewa won the pole~ This was the race where Adam Petty died from a practice crash~ Fedewa won the event, followed by Jeff Green, Jason Keller, Todd Bodine, and Hank Parker, Jr.~ Olsen finished in 26th place, three laps off the pace of Fedewa~ 

    Mike then qualified 42nd for the "Lysol 200" @ Watkins Glen, with Canadian Ron Fellows on the pole~ There were two Little Trees cars in this race, with Butch Leitzinger driving the #30 Little Trees car as well~ Leitzinger would go on to finish runner up to pole/race winner Fellows~ Leitzinger was followed by Kevin Harvick, Todd Bodine, and "Magic" Mike McLaughlin~ This was the race where Jimmie Johnson had his hard crash in the #92 Alltel car~ Olsen finished thirty laps down, in 42nd place~

    His final BGN start came in the "Econo Lodge 200" @ Nazareth, where he started 42nd in the #61N Little Trees Chevrolet~ The "N" was to signify that Olsen was a Busch North driver~ Jeff Green was on the pole in the #10 Nestle NesQuik Chevrolet, but when the race got underway, it was all Ron Hornaday - who took the #3 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet to victory lane after leading 104 of 200 laps~ 

    Hornaday was followed by Elton Sawyer, Jason Keller, Jeff Green, and Kyle Petty, who was driving Adam's car following his death at Loudon~ Olsen finished the final race of his BGN career in 27th place, two laps off the pace of race winner, Hornaday~ He would continue to race in lower tier series events, but this was the end of his top tier NASCAR career~ 

                                                 Mike Olsen #61 Little Trees Pontiac~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Although Olsen ran the Little Trees cars for over 10 years, this diecast was modeled after his first BGN start, as it was the only time he ran a Pontiac in the BGN series~ He did run a Little Trees Pontiac from 1996-1999 in the Busch North series, but that's not what this car was modeled after~ I loved when Racing Champions would make obscure one off cars like this~ It didn't happen a lot, but it happened more than you'd figure it would~ 

    The car itself is rather bland~ I could have came up with a better design than this one when I was 12~ I mean, it's not horrible.. but it's not really that good either~ It's just a run of the mill paint scheme, and that's a shame~ The Little Trees car could have looked way better than this, even back then when paint schemes weren't the best~ This car came in a clear plastic bag originally, with no stand or card~ I made the card on Photoshop, and put it in a standard Racing Champions package~ I used the older stand for it, because I'm not a fan of the solid black stands.. I prefer the chrome look~ 

    I'm going to give this one a C+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, due to it not coming with a card or stand, and the car is just kind of boring in my opinion~ It's a cool car to have for your collection, but it's just nothing special to look at really~ If you can pick this car up for under 10 dollars, I'd consider that a good deal~ It doesn't come up for sale much on Ebay, and when it does, someone usually snatches it up really fast - so your best bet is try and find it out in the wild somewhere at a flea market or thrift store~ And now it's time for the bonus car for this post~ 

                                           Kelly Denton #75 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce Ford~ 

    I remember it as if it were a meal ago.. the Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce deal was huge for Henderson Motorsports, and everyone in town was congratulating the team for their newly acquired sponsorship~ The deal was supposed to be a full season sponsorship, in what was going to be Denton's rookie campaign, but rumors started swirling about Big Daddy's sometimes failing to meet their financial obligations~ The team was told that they would receive their first check at Daytona, so they headed to Daytona, with two Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce Ford's in their transporter~ 

    When the team arrived at Daytona, no one from Big Daddy's could be located~ Phone calls were not being returned, and the team was starting to realize that they'd been duped~ Denton is listed as a DNQ for this race, but I'm fairly certain the team just came back home when they realized they'd been shafted~ I honestly don't think they made a qualifying attempt, though my memory could be wrong~ I remember sitting in meetings with Charlie Henderson back then (my Dad was the supervisor of Food Country for 21 years, so I got the inside scoop) and he made it sound like he forced the team to come back home~ 

    Either way, the #75 Big Daddy's car never ran a single event, and the Henderson Motorsports team ran a very limited schedule, making four races, and failing to qualify for another five, not counting the Daytona race~ Denton was back with the team for the 2000 BGN season, running four races with a best finish of 15th in the "Cheez-It 250" @ Bristol~ He was fired at the end of the 2000 season, and ran two more partial BGN seasons before retiring from NASCAR competition at the age of 29~ 

    Thank you all for visiting the blog again!~ Please share this post on social media, and if this is your first time visiting the blog, please click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ Below are some random NASCAR clips, enjoy them - and until next time, Adios amigos~ 

                                                           Mike Olsen interview~
                                

                                       Kelly Denton basically murders Ken Schrader~
                                

              

                                                      1995 Winston 500~ Big one~    
                                

                                                      Buffet Benny's - Bristol~