Dave Marcis #71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet

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

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

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

                                            Marcis reading about Daytona during downtime~

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

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

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

                                              Marcis and Mike Miller pose with the #71 car~

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

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

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

                                       Marcis passes Rick Mast in a Dale Earnhardt loaner~

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

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

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

                                                          Colorized b&w of Marcis~

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

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

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

                                            Dave Marcis #71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

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

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

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

                                   Mike Wallace #7 Piggly Wiggly/Clabber Girl Chevrolet~

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

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

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

                                                     Kyle Petty sings "The Other Guy"~

                                             Winston Cup Photographers segment - 1991~

                                      Dale Earnhardt McDonald's Breakfast commercial - 1991~

                                           1988 Valleydale Meats 500 - Bristol highlights~

                                                       
   

    




   
   

Stevie Reeves #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet

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

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

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

                                                  Custom Stevie Reeves card that I made~

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

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

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

                                   Stevie on track in the original Clabber Girl paint scheme~ 

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

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

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

                                              Reeves chats with Jeff Gordon at PIR - 1992~

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

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

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

                                                  Stevie and Bobby Dotter on track~ 1995~

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

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

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

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

                                   Stevie Reeves #7 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

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

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

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

                                           Shawna Robinson #99 Tombstone Pizza Ford~

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

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

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

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

                                                1991 Martinsville trophy model builder~

                                                 Steve Byrnes and Ned Jarrett bloopers~

                                                  Cale, Ned, and Benny tell rain stories~

                                                J.D. McDuffie 1985 Daytona 500 profile~