1991 Mello Yello 500 Pontiac event car

    Hello once more, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecasts blog~ In today's post, I'm going to be discussing the 1991 running of the "Mello Yello 500", which took place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 6th, 1991~ Racing Champions made a track/event car for this race, and to my knowledge this was the second time they made a track/event car, with the first being the 1991 "Heinz Southern 500" Pontiac~

    Although this one is technically the second track/event car produced, I'm still leaning towards this was the first one ever made, and Racing Champions just produced the "Heinz Southern 500" car to beat RCCA out of a good idea~ At any rate.. this is one of the first, if not the first one ever made, so let's not waste anymore time worrying about that.. and let's just find out what happened during the 1991 Mello Yello 500~

                                                       Custom Racing Champions card~

    Coming into the weekend of the 1991 running of the "Mello Yello 500" @ Charlotte, Richard Petty made it official, and announced that he would not be returning after the 1992 Winston Cup season~  A replacement driver wasn't named, but Petty assured fans that he wouldn't be stepping away from NASCAR competition, just from competing himself~

    It was hard for the NASCAR world to talk about much else following that announcement, and Mark Martin's pole position played second fiddle to the King's retirement announcement~ Davey Allison qualified alongside of Martin in the #28 Texaco Havoline Ford, followed by Alan Kulwicki in the #7 Hooters Ford~ With the first three positions being held by Fords, other teams knew they had a hard road ahead of them if they were gonna leave out of Charlotte Motor Speedway with a trophy~

   Nine drivers failed to make the 41 car field, with veterans such as Buddy Baker, and Larry Pearson, as well as Jeff Purvis, Mike Potter, Delma Cowart, Jim Sauter, Randy Baker (Buddy's son), Robbie Faggart, and Tracy Leslie all being sent home early~ Brad Teague make the field in the un-sponsored #99 Ralph Ball Chevrolet, and picked up Pearson's Kellogg's Corn Flakes sponsorship following his failed qualifying attempt~

                       Bobby Hillin's #53 Longhorn Steaks Chevy had problems before the start~

    Before the drop of the green flag, Bobby Hillin's #53 Longhorn Steaks Chevy stalled on pit road~ The team was able to fix whatever problem the car was having, and he was sent out with the rest of the field for the start of the race~ Mark Martin's #6 Folgers Ford roared ahead of the field, but the caution flag waved for the first time after only one lap of competition, due to a crash involving Darrell Waltrip, and Dave Marcis~

    During the caution flag, Dorsey Schroeder brought the #66 TropArtic Pontiac behind the wall due to a blown head gasket, and his race was over, resulting in a 41st place finish~ When the racing resumed, it lasted only eight laps before Mike Skinner's #13 Glidden Paints Chevrolet spun out, and brought out the second caution of the day~ An oil line had busted on Skinner's car, and his day was done, with a 40th place finish~

   When the green flag dropped for the third time of the day, it lasted for only one lap before Richard Petty and Sterling Marlin were sent spinning, bringing out the third caution in only 18 laps~ Both cars were able to continue on, and up to this point, and the race didn't have its next victim until Gary Balough's #27 Terminal Trucking Pontiac dropped out of competition on lap 42 with a broken camshaft~ At this point of the race, Mark Martin had led every lap of the event, and looked very strong as the race continued~

                                               Mike Skinner's #13 Glidden Paints Chevrolet~

    Well, if you're a superstitious kind of person... you can easily see why Mike Skinner didn't last long in the race, with a green car and the #13~ I've tried a couple times to make a custom of this car, but it just never works out right.. anyway, back to the race~ Kenny Schrader took the #25 Kodiak Chevrolet behind the wall after 59 laps with piston issues, and following that, the race went pretty smooth for a change, and so they were off on a 110 lap green flag run~

    The yellow finally came out on lap 130, due to a crash involving Ernie Irvan and Kerry Teague~ Teague got loose coming out of turn 4 when Dave Marcis went by him on the outside, causing him to lose control of the #95 Texaco & Powerup Oldsmobile~ Irvan was collected when he was told by his spotter to go high, and he decided to go low... he then smashed the entire right side of the #4 Kodak Chevrolet into Teague's car~

    Teague's day was done, resulting in a 37th place finish, but Irvan's crew went to work on the Kodak machine in hopes of salvaging some valuable championship points~ The team eventually got the car repaired, but Irvan was over 50 laps down by that point~ NASCAR wouldn't allow his car back on the track with just a roll cage on the right side, so the team strapped their pit sign to the side of the car, and sent Irvan back onto the track~ The funniest thing about this is that they put the sign on upside down, so Irvan's car looked pretty absurd to say the least~

                                                       I told ya' it was pretty absurd~ :P

    As the race was under caution for the Teague/Irvan crash, Hut Stricklin's #12 Raybestos Brakes Buick blew a piston, which put an end to his day, and he finished 36th~ When the race resumed, Mark Martin picked up where he left off, and was blowing the field away~ He was on his way to a fairly easy victory when his engine blew on lap 212, ending his day with nothing but a 35th place finish to show for it~

   Dale Earnhardt inherited the lead following Martin's demise, and the race continued on caution free for 22 laps until a five car accident involving Ricky Rudd, Derrike Cope, Morgan Shepherd, Jimmy Hensley, and Dave Marcis brought out the fifth caution of the day~ This was the only race during the 1991 season where Ricky Rudd failed to finish in the top 20~ Dave Marcis finished 34th following his second wreck of the day, with Cope finishing 33rd, and Rudd finished 32nd~

   Greg Sacks was the next victim of the race, when his engine blew in the #47 Kanawha Insurance Oldsmobile, resulting in a 31st place finish~ Ernie Irvan finished 30th in his dead Kodak Chevrolet, followed by Bobby Hamilton, who had a tremendous run going in the #68 Country Time Oldsmobile before his engine blew~ Morgan Shepherd would limp home in 28th place after being involved in the five car accident from earlier in the event~

                                 D.W. and Brad Teague's #99 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet~

   The final caution came out when Stanley Smith and Jimmy Hensley spun out~ Smith's day was done after running a decent race all day long, and Hensley continued after being involved in his second accident of the day~ Smith would finish 22nd, while Hensley finished in 20th~ Dale Earnhardt's engine blew after 302 laps, ending his day with a 25th place finish~

   Davey Allison took over the lead following Earnhardt's exit from the event, and it looked like it was gonna be a battle between Allison, Harry Gant, and Alan Kulwicki for the victory~ All three drivers made pit stops nearing the end of the race, but Geoff Bodine and the #11 Budweiser Ford team decided to stay out and gamble on fuel for the win~

   Jimmy Means and Jimmy Spencer both dropped out of the race within minutes of each other, and both were for ignition problems~ Means finished 24th, while Spencer came home 23rd~ Brad Teague finished 21st in the #99 Kellogg's Corn Flakes Chevrolet, in what turned out to be his only Cup start of the year following DNQ's in the Daytona 500, as well as the Coca-Cola 600~

                                       Another torn up Bob Whitcomb Purolator Chevrolet~

    Wally Dallenbach was able to get a decent finish out of Junie Donlavey's #90 Motorsports Sportswear Ford, finishing 19th for the underfunded team~ Rick Wilson had a quiet, yet productive run in the Stavola Brothers #8 Snickers Buick, finishing 17th without ever being shown on television that day~ He was like a Snickers ghost~

    Joe Ruttman brought the #75 Dinner Bell Oldsmobile home in 16th for RahMoc Enterprises, and Kyle Petty picked up a top 15 finish in the #42 Mello Yello Pontiac with his 15th place showing~ Ted Musgrave was shown quite a bit during the race coverage, as he drove the #55 Jasper Engines Pontiac to a 14th place finish~

   Rick Mast's day was equally quiet to Wilson's, but Mast was able to crawl all the way up to a 13th place finish in the #1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile, owned by Richard Jackson~ Richard Petty pulled out a great finish in the famed #43 STP Pontiac after announcing that he would retire following the 1992 Winston Cup season, picking up a 12th place finish despite being involved in the third caution of the day~ Bill Elliott finished 11th in the #9 Coors Light Ford, after starting from the 9th position~

                                Kulwicki's team makes adjustments during a mid race pit stop~

   About as surprising as the King's 12th place finish was Chad Little's 10th place showing in the #19 Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce Ford, owned by his father, Chuck Little~ Chuck's career as a NASCAR owner was a little bit odd in the fact that Chuck's first time as an owner in the Cup series came in the 1975 season, with himself as the driver, in what turned out to be his only Winston Cup start~ He qualified 19th for the "Winston Western 500" @ Riverside, and finished 28th after blowing the engine only 35 laps into the event~    

   He wouldn't own a Cup series team again until the 1990 season, when his son Chad needed a ride~ He owned Chad's Cup team for two season, and folded following the 1991 season~ This race was the only top 10 the team ever got, though Chad did have several great runs in the car during the '91 season, not to mention he had one of the coolest looking paint schemes of all time!~ At any rate, I'm sure his top 10 in this race felt like a win for the family owned team~

  Darrell Waltrip must have been drinking whatever Richard Petty was drinking, because he was able to wheel the #17 Western Auto Chevrolet back to a 9th place finish, following his lap 2 incident with Dave Marcis~ Brett Bodine finished 8th in the #26 Quaker State Buick, owned by Kenny Bernstein, and he was followed by Michael Waltrip, who finished 7th in the #30 Pennzoil Pontiac, owned by Chuck Rider, who passed away on July 10th, 2005~

                              Morgan Shepherd heads for pit road following  the lap 234 crash~

   Terry Labonte miraculously finished 6th in the lame duck Billy Hagan owned #94 Sunoco Oldsmobile~ Hagan's team hadn't been competitive in some time, and the team would only manage four more top 10 finishes before folding following the 1994 season~ Billy Hagan passed away on November 16th, 2007, and I honestly didn't know that until I was doing research for this post~

   Sterling Marlin must have made the drink that Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip were drinking, and I guess he drank a little more of it than they did, because he brought the #22 Maxwell House Ford home in 5th place, following his crash with Richard Petty earlier in the event~ Junior Johnson must have been a happy man that day, but you wouldn't have known it if he was... he wasn't much on emotions, especially back then... he's mellowed out a little more as he got older~

 "Handsome" Harry Gant did everything he could to get Leo Jackson's #33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile to the front of the pack, but he never was able to keep up with the raw power the Ford teams had, but still pulled off a 4th place finish, one of two Oldsmobiles in the top 10, with Labonte being the other~ Michael Waltrip was the only Pontiac in the top 10, Brett Bodine was the lone Buick, and Darrell Waltrip's battered #17 was the only Chevrolet to achieve top 10 status~ The rest were Fords, and this race kicked off a streak of 9 straight wins for the blue oval teams~

                                      I'd also prefer Richard Petty over Ty Detmer for QB~

   Alan Kulwicki drove the #7 Hooters Ford to a safe, clean, 3rd place finish, although thanks to Bodine's fuel strategy, he was one lap down~ Davey Allison was the only driver left on the lead lap besides Bodine, but he was too far behind to catch up, and the caution flag he so desperately needed never came, so he was forced to settle for the runner-up spot~

  Geoff Bodine's team was caught cheating before the "Coca-Cola 600", so people were still a little bit mad at him and Junior Johnson.. but that just fueled Johnson to come back and prove his point, and that's exactly what they did~ Some have speculated that the team had illegal stuff on it that day, Larry McReynolds went totally bonkers, saying he could prove that the tank was illegal, but when it was all said and done, Geoff Bodine won the 1991 "Mello Yello 500"~

  Though he probably would have still lost, Ricky Rudd's poor finish in this race helped to seal the 1991 Winston Cup championship over to Dale Earnhardt, in what was his fifth championship, and second back to back championship of his career~ This was final win during Bodine's tenure with Junior Johnson, as he would be replaced by Bill Elliott at the end of the season~ He picked up the Bud Moore #15 Motorcraft ride after Morgan Shepherd left to drive for the Wood Brothers, following Dale Jarrett's departure for Joe Gibbs Racing~      

                                                 1991 Mello Yello 500 Pontiac event car~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    So here we have what I'm calling the very first Racing Champions track/event car~ Like I said in the "Heinz Southern 500" post, RCCA had ordered this car to promote the "Mello Yello 500", and it's my theory that Racing Champions realized this was a good idea, and so they came up with the "Heinz Southern 500" car since it was a few races before the "Mello Yello 500"~

   This proved to be a lucrative business move, as track/event cars are still being made to this day, and it all started with this one~ This car originally came with a set of earplugs that said RCCA on the case, and didn't come with a card, stand or standard packaging~ I made the card in Photoshop and stuck it in the picture~

   As far as rarity goes, this car isn't impossible to find, but it's getting harder to get it with the original earplugs~ It's a historic car, being the first of its kind, but it's not that special looks wise~ I like the huge Mello Yello 500 logo on the side, and the silver rims~ The race was much more exciting than the car, but the historical nature of the car makes up for its unappealing color~ I would have preferred a green car, with yellow and white trim~ I give this car a C+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, because it didn't come with a card, and it's pretty bland, and on that note, let's check out the bonus car for this post~

                                                   Diggity Dave #84 White Castle Ford~

    I've got several of these Diggity Dave "fantasy" cars, so I have to put them in the posts from time to time, though I've got a lot of awesome real cars made up to post~ I've just got to balance it out from time to time~ Anyway, this time I'm in the #84 White Castle Ford~ I've only been to a White Castle one time, and that's when I was playing music still, and was in Columbus Ohio for a show at Bernie's Distillery~

   The morning after the show, we went to White Castle for breakfast, which turned out to be a bad idea~ I had gotten drunk at the show the night before, and locked my keys in the car..  so we busted the driver side window out like a bunch of dummies~ So we're driving in near winter with a busted out window, and I didn't have a valid license at the time~ I used an old Elvis Presley shirt tucked into the door to shield the wind from coming in, which was illegal as heck, but I was young~

   Anyway, the whole way back.. all three of us were having to stop and use the bathroom every 20 minutes~ haha~ The White Castle food hated us... I think you've gotta build up a tolerance for it, because we were all basically dying~ We survived obviously, and so I made this car~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog, I hope you enjoyed this post, and I'll be back soon with another one~ Please share this post, and click the follow button at the top of the page here~ Below are some random NASCAR videos because there weren't any videos from the 1991 Mello Yello 500, except for the full race~

                                             Darrell Waltrip doesn't like Geoff Bodine~

                                                           NASCAR pit road drama~

                                                    Buffet Benny~ North Wilkesboro~

    
                                     Rain stories with Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett, and B.P.~

  

                                                                 

Neil Bonnett #31 Mom 'n' Pops Chevrolet

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ In today's post, I'm going to be looking back on the final two Cup starts of Neil Bonnett's career, specifically his next to last race, where he drove the #31 Mom 'n' Pops/Goodwrench Chevrolet~  I've been thinking about Neil a lot here lately, and yes, I've already did a post on him in the past.. but I just felt like it was time to bring him up again for some reason~

   When I look at this car, I'm filled with lots of different emotions.. some are happy, while others are sad.. and others times I just wonder what it would have been like had he not got back in the drivers seat.. all the great commentary we lost, and all the great family time the Bonnett family lost~ We all lost Neil together, and together we can help keep his memory alive for years to come~

                                               Neil was thrilled to be back in a Cup car~

    Neil Bonnett had been out of racing since his crash in the 1990 "TranSouth 500" @ Darlington~ In 1992, he started doing some testing for Richard Childress, which fueled Bonnett's fiery passion for racing~ He started talking to Earnhardt about how he was wanting to get back to driving again, and Earnhardt convinced Richard Childress to give Bonnett the car Dale won the Pepsi 400 in, and let him drive it at Talladega~

    When word got out that Bonnett was gonna be racing at Talladega, fans snatched up tickets, and millions tuned  in to see the return of the man from Alabama make his return to the highest form of NASCAR~ I remember the first time I saw Bonnett's car on television, how I thought it looked even cooler than Earnhardt's car did~ That big red Mom 'n' Pops logo just popped on tv~ Bonnett's son David attempted to make the field for the BGN race, but his engine blew in qualifying, and he failed to make the field~

                                                  Bonnett awaits his qualifying session~

 
    The 1993 "Die Hard 500" was just completely filled with NASCAR history before it even started~ Buddy Baker was attempting a one off deal with Rick Hendrick in the developmental #46 DuPont Chevrolet, and as the story goes, certain drivers didn't feel comfortable racing around Buddy, due to recent blood clots in his brain at the time~

    It has been said that Baker was then blackballed by NASCAR officials when his car was impounded, and adjustments were made to the cowl~ These adjustments made the car two seconds slower than he was in practice, thus assuring Baker wouldn't make the field for the event~ The other drivers who failed to make the race were Rich Bickle, Bobby Hamilton, Clay Young, and Kerry Teague (no relation to Brad Teague)~

   When qualifying was over, Bonnett found himself rolling off from the 20th position, while his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt qualified in 11th~ The pole position was awarded to "Awesome" Bill Elliott, and the #11 Budweiser Ford, with Ernie Irvan and the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet on the outside of row number one~   

                                          Neil awaits the start of the 1993 "Die Hard 500"~

    This was the first race at Talladega since the death of Davey Allison, and for some weird reason, Robert Yates put Robby Gordon in the #28 Havoline/Our Teammate Forever Ford~ As fate would have it, Gordon would bring out the first caution of the day, putting him out of the race with a last place finish~ I feel like Davey was smiling that day~ Robby Gordon doesn't deserve to drive Davey's car at Talladega, and it was like Davey put a stop to it himself~

    The next caution happened on lap 70, and it was a massive, vicious crash that sent Johnny Horton and the #32 Active Chevrolet over the wall, and out of the race track in tremendous fashion~ Rick Mast, Loy Allen, Kenny Wallace, Stanley Smith, and Ritchie Petty were also caught up in the incident, with Smith getting the worst of it~

    As track workers were checking on Horton, it appeared obvious that something was wrong with Smith~ He appeared on raw footage of the race completely soaked in blood, as a tire from one of the other cars came through and hit him in the face, while it was still attached to the car~ Smith had sustained a basilar skull fracture in the accident, and spent many months in recovery~ This is the same kind of skull fracture that would later kill Bonnett, as well as Earnhardt, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and several others before safety measures were improved~

                                                   Ted Musgrave ruined it for everyone~

    Bonnett was battling with Ted Musgrave, and Jimmy Hensley on lap 132 when Musgrave gave Bonnett a tap coming out of the turn, sending him slamming into the wall and catch fence~ Hensley was caught up in the accident, as well as Loy Allen, who was making his second career Cup start~ Bonnett's car was totaled, and he finished what would be the last full race of his Cup career in 34th place~

    After a lengthy delay to repair the catch fence, racing resumed.. and man, what a battle it was!~ I've probably watched this race over 100 times in my life, and it's just a wild race from the start, and all the way down to the finish~ It ended up being a six car battle for the win, and eventually a five car battle when Bobby Labonte's #22 Maxwell House Ford ran out of gas~

    In the end, Dale Earnhardt prevailed over Ernie Irvan by just a couple of inches~ They ran the remaining 49 laps under green, and battled like maniacs the entire way to the checkered flag~ No need for "green white checkered" overtime crap.. these guys knew how to race, and they proved it in this wild race at Talladega~ Mark Martin finished third, followed by Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett~

                                                     Neil's final race~ Atlanta - 1993~

 
    Neil's final Cup race was ran as a favor to his ol' buddy Dale Earnhardt, to help him secure his sixth Winston Cup championship~ Ten drivers would fail to qualify for the 42 car field, but Neil wouldn't be one of them, as he had secured a 35th place starting spot with his qualifying run~ A few notable drivers who failed to make the show include Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmy Means, Bob Schacht, John Andretti, Norm Benning, and P.J. Jones~

    Earnhardt qualified 19th, and had to finish 34th or better to win the championship, and Rusty Wallace pretty much had to win the race to have a chance~ When the race went green, Bonnett did as he had been told, and pulled in after three laps  with "engine" issues~ Earnhardt held on for a 10th place finish, and even though Rusty Wallace won the race, still had enough points to secure his sixth Winston Cup Championship~

    Rusty was followed to the checkered flag by Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Dick Trickle~ Neil's three lap run was good enough for last place, in what would be the final race of his career~ But not before he gave it another go at the start of the 1994 season, driving the #51 Country Time Chevrolet~

                                                   Neil with Donnie and Bobby Allison~

    Neil never got to make a start in the #51 Country Time Chevrolet, as he passed away after being involved in a practice crash just nine days before the start of the 1994 "Daytona 500"~ I could have written quite a bit more about Bonnett, and the 1993 "DieHard 500", but it's all been written about much better than I could do.. and I just wanted to go over the basics with everyone again with this post~

    Bonnett's career was full of highs and lows, just the same as all the other drivers, but he had a unique personality.. a very likeable personality that current drivers lack~ I miss that the most about Neil, and drivers like him~ They were genuinely nice guys... smart guys, who had wonderful personalities~ I could sit and listen to Neil talk for hours about racing, and never get tired of it~ He just had a way of talking that regular guys like me admired, and could relate to~

   I find myself watching old episodes of "Winners" all the time~ That show can't be replicated because Neil made it what it was... he was that show~ You could duplicate the show, but you just can't duplicate Neil Bonnett's personality that we all admired and enjoyed over the years~ Neil's memory will live on as long as I'm alive, and hopefully for many years after that~

                                                 Neil Bonnett #31 Mom 'n' Pops Chevrolet~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    This car was released in the 1993 Premier set, and had a limited release of 10,000 pieces~ As with all Premier cars, I'm not a fan of the gold stand, and gold trim on the card~ I'm also not a fan of the fat tires the Premiers had, or the clear windows~ Some people prefer the clear windows to the standard black ones, but they started out with the blacked windows, so that's what I prefer~

    Other than that, Racing Champions captured the beauty of Neil's real car pretty flawlessly~ Every little detail is there in 1/64 scale form, just the way his car was back in 1993 @ Talladega~ The card features Neil grinning from ear to ear in front of the car, and you sure can tell how happy he was to be back at the track as a driver~

    I give this car a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, with points taken off for being a Premier car instead of a standard issue~ The current price of this one isn't much cheaper than its 1/24 scale counterpart, with the cheapest 1/64 version currently on Ebay going for 33 bucks, whereas the 1/24 version can be found for $39.00 after shipping~ The main problem with these Bonnett #31 cars is that people aren't offering them for sale, thus the high price point when they do~

   I'm not saying that's an issue all the time.. I lucked up and found mine at the flea market for a couple bucks, but that's not normal.. so be happy if it happens to you~ Usually you find a bunch of commons, but moments like finding a Bonnett Mom 'n' Pops car for a couple bucks are what the hunt is all about!~ I have nearly 1,400 diecasts now, and I'd guess that less than 50 of them were bought on Ebay~

  Ebay takes the fun out of going and finding them on your own, and I personally only use it for cars that I know I don't have a chance of finding locally, or whenever I see one going for so cheap that I just can't pass it up~ I recently bought a Sterling Marlin #40 Prilosec OTC Dodge Action 1/64 from Ebay, but only because I got it for $1.75 free shipping~ I would never have found such an odd promo for that price, so I picked it up~ You can overspend on these little hunks of metal and memories... and that doesn't have to be the case~ Before I ramble your eyes out of your head.. let's just move on to the bonus car for this post~

                                                    Diggity Dave #14 Dekalb Corn Ford~

    Well, here's this ol' thang~ I've got a hat that has the Dekalb corn logo on it, and so I made this car out of boredom one day~ As with the previous post, I have other cars that I'd like to post now, but I've got several requested cars I've still got to post, and a lot of these "Diggity Dave" fantasy cars that I've got done up already... so I'm trying to get that stuff out of the way a little bit first~

    Obviously I never raced this car, but if I did... I don't think I would have won any races~ Dekalb Corn sounds like a sponsorship Derrike Cope would have, and I don't think his sponsorship deals are worth too much, so best case scenario.. let's just say for pretend that I got a danged top 5 somehow at Bristol, let's just blame it on Danica crashing a bunch of people, knocking them out of the race.. and I survived through it to finish 3rd, behind Morgan Shepherd in the #21 Citgo Ford, and Derrike Cope in the #12 Mane n' Tail Shampoo Ford~ See.. in fantasy world, anything is possible~ So congratulations on your 3rd Winston Cup victory, Derrike!~ :)

    Ok, back into reality world... as of this post, the blog now has over 100,000 views, so I want to thank everyone that has visited during these past couple of years for that accomplishment~ I've enjoyed doing these posts, and hope you've enjoyed reading them~ Please share this post on social media, and click the follow button at the top of the page here~ Below I've included some clips from throughout Bonnett's career, and until next time, always remember... You can't roller skate in a buffalo herd!~ :P

                                                               1983 Daytona 125 win~

                                            Neil wins the 1980 Talladega 500~ Amazing!~

                                                           1993 Die Hard 400 crash~

                                               Inside Winston Cup Racing tribute to Neil~

                                                                               

Clifford Allison #12 Sports Image Chevrolet

    Hey there NASCAR diecast fans!~ It's time for another installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog!~ In this post, I'm going to be looking back on the career of Clifford Allison, the youngest son of NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, and the brother of Davey Allison~ Clifford's time in the sport was short lived, so he isn't as well known as his father or older brother, but to those who knew him, Clifford Allison was a wild, funny, unpredictable character, and another link in the NASCAR chain that was the Alabama Gang~

    Clifford's death on August 13th, 1992 was the first racing fatality in the Busch Grand National series since its inception in 1982, and it was later determined that a bolt holding the seat down malfunctioned, making the crash worse than it would have been, resulting in a basal skull fracture, and instant death for the 27 year old driver from Hueytown, Alabama~

                                      Clifford celebrates his 9th birthday with Bobby~ 1973~

    Ten years after the above photo was taken, Clifford Allison started his racing career~ He began in the Street Stock division, and went on to drive in the All-Pro Series, the IMSA Sports Car Series, and the ARCA series, before running his first BGN race in 1990~

    Allison was originally scheduled to compete for Rookie of the Year honors during the 1990 BGN season, driving Frank Cicci's #34 Gwaltney Meats Buick, but was released after only seven races due to poor performance~ In his first BGN start, Clifford finished 13th in the "Goody's 300" @ Daytona, following a 42nd place qualifying effort~

    He then failed to qualify for the "Pontiac 200" @ Richmond, and crashed out of the "Goodwrench 200" @ Rockingham, finishing in 29th place~ He finished 25th in the "Miller Classic" @ Martinsville, then failed to qualify for the "Mountain Dew 400" @ Hickory~ Allison finished 17th in the "Pontiac 200" @ Darlington, and 25th in the "Budweiser 250" @ Bristol~ Following the Bristol race, he was replaced for the remainder of the season by Jack Sprague~

                                               Clifford chatting with Butch Miller~ 1992~

    After failing to qualify for the 1991 "Goody's 300" @ Daytona, Allison ran a total of three races for Clint Folsom's #23 Seal-Tech Buick team~ He qualified 35th for the "Goodwrench 200" @ Rockingham, and finished in 28th place~ After starting from 26th for the "Pontiac 200" @ Darlington, he was able to work his way up to finish 14th~

    Clifford rolled off 29th for the "Budweiser 250" @ Bristol, and held his own throughout the entirety of the race, with a respectable 6th place finish, which was a career best for him in the BGN series~ Bobby Labonte won the race in the #44 Penrose Pickled Sausage Oldsmobile, followed by David Green, Dale Earnhardt, Jimmy Spencer, and Ed Berrier~

   Allison also ran two All-Pro races during 1991, finishing 25th in the "Birmingham 250" @ Birmingham, Alabama, and 34th in the "Snowball Derby" @ Pensacola, Florida~ He also made time during the 1991 season to run 1 ARCA race, finishing 7th in the "Motorcraft Fast Lube ARCA 500K" @ Atlanta, driving the #12 Raybestos Brakes Buick for his father's team~

                                               Headshot of Clifford Allison~ 1989 ARCA~

    Cliff had some pretty good success during the 1992 ARCA Series, where he ran a total of 7 races~ He qualified 16th for the "Daytona ARCA 200", and came home in 5th place,  picking up his first top 5 of the season in the first race of the year~ He then nearly grabbed the pole for the "Slick 50 ARCA 500K" @ College Station, but had to settle for the outside pole position~ He led for 32 laps, but was beat out in the end by Eddie Bierschwale and the #23 SplitFire Spark Plugs Oldsmobile team~

    Allison finished 10th in the "Poulan Pro 500K" @ Talladega, and 9th in the "Champion Batteries 150" @ Pocono, before he started picking up momentum~ After starting 11th for the "GM Goodwrench 200" @ Michigan, he went on to finish runner up to Michigan's own, Bob Keselowski~ Loy Allen Jr. was 3rd, followed by Jim Sauter, and Bill Venturini finished out the top 5~

    Moving on to the "ServiStar 150" @ Pocono, Allison started from the 4th position, and while he didn't lead any laps, held on to finish runner up to Bob Keselowski yet again~ His final start in the ARCA series came in the 1992 "Mello Yello 350K" @ Topeka, Kansas~ After starting from the 12th spot, Allison fell back during the race to finish in 27th place~ A funny side note on this race... Frog Hall finished in 6th place~ Go Frog!~ :)

                                               Clifford and Bobby talkin' car stuff~ 1992~

    Clifford started the 1992 BGN season with the intention of running the majority of the schedule for Barry Owen~ This was a tactic Bobby Allison was using so that Clifford wouldn't tear up all of his own cars while gaining his BGN experience~ Bobby fully intended to have Clifford driving for him as early as the 1993 season, but unfortunately that day never came for the elder Allison~ For those of you who aren't familiar with Barry Owen, this team eventually became the #9 FDP Brakes car that Mike Wallace won three races in during the 1994 BGN season~

    In his first race with the team, Allison started 35th in the 1992 "Goody's 300" @ Daytona~ He lasted only 87 laps due to an engine failure, and finished in 29th place~ The team would alternate between the numbers 9 and 91 throughout the season, and had various sponsorships, which consisted of: Mac Tools (1 race), Owen Racing (4 races), Holiday Inn Atlanta (1 race), High Point Bedding (6 races), Sports Image (1 race), and QVC (1 race, but was the sponsor for his Michigan car as well)~

    Allison finished 17th in the "Goodwrench 200" @ Rockingham, and 16th in the "Hardee's 200" @ Richmond, and was involved in a lap 3 crash in the "Atlanta 300", which involved 12 cars~ His day was done, and he came home in 36th place~ Jeff Gordon went on to win the race, in what was the first BGN victory of his career~ Clifford finished 17th in the "Miller 500" @ Martinsville, and 24th in the "Mark III Vans 200" @ Darlington~

                                       Allison in front of the #12 @ Daytona~ ARCA 1992~

    In his only BGN start with sponsor "Sports Image", Allison started 21st for the "Budweiser 250" @ Bristol, and finished in 15th place, which was at this point his season best~ He then finished 24th in the "Nestle 300" @ Lanier, and followed that up with a 13th place finish in the "Pontiac 200" @ Nazareth~

    He back stepped in the "Champion 300" @ Charlotte after qualifying 21st, blowing an engine on lap 139, ending his day prematurely, in the 26th position, though he did lead 4 laps during the race~ Allison had the best run of the season in the "Goodwrench 200" @ Dover, where he rolled off 23rd, and held on to a 9th place finish, in what would turn out to be the final top 10 of his career~

    Cliff went on to finish 20th in the "Fay's 150" @ Watkins Glen, and followed that up with a 37th place showing in the "Budweiser 300" @ Loudon, following a lap 94 crash involving Jimmy Spencer~ He qualified 30th for the "Fram Filter 500K" @ Talladega, and came home on the lead lap, in 17th place~ This would be the final time Clifford Allison would finish a NASCAR BGN race~

                                Bobby at the garage with Clifford, Davey, and the family dog~

    Next up on the schedule was the "Detroit Gasket 200" @ Michigan.. a track that Allison had finished runner up at in the ARCA series, and he was confident going into the race week that he would have a strong run~ He rolled out for the first practice session and put down a strong lap, and pulled into the garage to have some minor adjustments made to the car before he went out and tried it again~

   On his way out of the garage, he looked at Bobby Allison and said "We're gonna get 'em, Dad~" Those were the final words Clifford ever said to his father~ As he was making his way around the track, his car spun out in turn four, hitting the wall with the left rear of the car first, followed by the car being pancaked on the driver's side~ Allison was killed instantly, although there were attempts to save his life~

   To this day, Bobby Allison still has flashbacks of the wreck, and sees his son there in the car, lifeless~ Eleven months to the day that Clifford died, Bobby only surviving son Davey was killed in a helicopter crash on his way to Talladega to watch Neil Bonnett's son David during a practice session~ Seven months after Davey's death, Neil Bonnett passed away following a practice crash at Daytona~ In the blink of an eye, the Alabama Gang was virtually gone~ I can't imagine what that was like for Bobby, who was going through his own battles following his career ending, nearly fatal 1988 crash at Pocono~

                                              Clifford Allison #12 Sports Image Chevrolet~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

    Well, I'll start this off by saying that in the post here, I'm calling this car a Buick, based off of his stats in the 1992 ARCA series, where he ran this sponsor during 4 races, and notched 2 runner up finishes, whereas he only drove it once in the 1992 BGN series, at Bristol, where he finished 15th~ His BGN car was an Oldsmobile for that race, so that's why I'm calling it a Buick~

    Now, supposedly this is the car that Clifford was driving at Michigan, but to my knowledge, the only thing that's right about that is that it's a Chevrolet, which is what he was driving that day~ What I'm second guessing is the sponsor.. because I was always under the assumption that he was driving a QVC sponsored car that day~ I could be wrong, and the car would make more sense.. but I've never seen any evidence to prove otherwise~

    This car is 1 of 10,000, so it isn't extremely rare, but can be difficult to find at times~ I would price this car in the 12 dollar range, so if you can get it below that, you're getting a pretty decent deal~ This car was also made in a Premier version, as well as 1/24 scale~ I've never seen a 1/43 version, but I've been shocked before, so you never know~

    I'm going to give this car a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It's a nice looking car, I'm a fan of minimalist paint schemes.. but the card leaves me wanting more~ Clifford photos are hard to come by, and I would have preferred a full photo card, showing Clifford standing beside of the car, or just a shot of the car, and a little pic of Clifford in a small square on the card... anything but this~ I'm just not a fan of this card~ Let's move on to the bonus car for this post~

                                          Diggity Dave #11 McCormick Spices Oldsmobile~

    I used Rick Mast's #1 Majik Markets Oldsmobile for this one, and it didn't turn out too bad, though I could have did a little better~ I like McCormick spices, and use them all the time, so why not a McCormick race car?~ I think it looks pretty awesome~ If it was on a real car, it would look way better~ I'd be intimidated by this thing on the track!~ :P

    I hope you enjoyed this installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog, and learned about or rekindled memories about Clifford and his family~ I didn't think I'd have time to get a post out this quickly, but it rained last night and some today, and I was able to make time to get this one done thankfully~ It may be a while till the next one though, but if you click the "follow" button on the top right hand side of this page, you will get notified whenever I make a new post.. that way you don't have to keep coming back to check if I've done anything~

   Please share this post on your Facebook, Twitter, etc.~ It really helps get the message out to people who are interested in the hobby/sport~ Below are some random videos, since there's pretty much nothing on Clifford out there~ Included is a review of the Premier version of the Allison car, recorded by  my new friend on YouTube "WimmerTV"~ Check out his videos, and subscribe to his channel for more diecast reviews~ You'll dig it~ Thanks again, and I'll see y'all next time that I do~ :)

                                                 Bobby talking about Davey and Clifford~

                                             WimmerTV reviews Clifford Allison diecast~

                                         Davey, Clifford, Red Farmer, and others at the river~

                                              A moment at the shop with Davey Allison~

Jimmy Spencer #57 Heinz Pontiac

    Hello again, and welcome to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ I hope you didn't get too wild on Saint Patrick's day, and if you did, go get yourself a tall glass of V8 juice with a splash of Tabasco, and come on back here and we'll talk about Jimmy Spencer's time in the #57 Heinz Pontiac, owned by troubled former Cup owner, Rod Osterlund~

    Following the real estate crash of the late 70's - early 80's, Osterlund, who was a big real estate man had lost tons of money~ So much that he had to sell his team to probably the worst Cup series owner ever, J.D. Stacy, just to stay afloat~ The worst part of that deal was that Dale Earnhardt (who was driving for Osterlund at the time) had just won his first of seven Winston Cup Championships~

    Osterlund would return to the series in 1989, following an eight year absence, first with Hut Stricklin, then Spencer, followed  by a three race stint with Jim Bown, and ending with a one off Daytona 500 start for Buddy Baker~ So let's get into this post, and find out how Jimmy Spencer fared in the #57 Heinz Pontiac~

                                            Spencer hanging out in the garage area - 1990~

    Following a partial Cup season driving for Buddy Baker in 1989, Jimmy Spencer signed on to be the driver of Rod Osterlund's #57 Heinz Pontiac, that had been driven the year before by Hut Stricklin, who was fired~ Spencer started 17th in his 125 mile qualifier, and finished in 3rd, netting him a 6th place starting position for the 1990 Daytona 500~

    Spencer found himself leading for the first time in the Cup series when he only took two tires in the pits, and got out in front of Dale Earnhardt~ He led a total of four laps before being gobbled up by the field, and wound up finishing in 15th place~ Derrike Cope ended up winning the race due to Dale Earnhardt cutting a tire down on the final lap~ Terry Labonte finished second, followed by Bill Elliott, Rudd, and Earnhardt ended up finishing in the 5th position~

    Jimmy qualified 21st for the "Pontiac Excitement 400", with Ricky Rudd on the pole~ At the drop of the green flag, Spencer was able to bash his way up through the field to finish in 9th place, scoring his first top 10 with the Osterlund team~ The race was won by Mark Martin, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, and Dick Trickle, who ran a great race in the Cale Yarborough owned #66 TropArtic Pontiac~

                                                  Spencer on track in the #57 Heinz Pontiac~

    Spencer again had qualifying troubles for the "GM Goodwrench 500" @ Rockingham, where he rolled off 26th, but just like the Richmond race, he was able to claw his way up to finish in 8th, which ended up being his season best finish~ The race was won by Kyle Petty, who completely dominated the event, leading 433 of the 492 laps~ Geoff Bodine finished second, followed by Ken Schrader, Sterling Marlin, and Rusty Wallace~

     Jimmy had a strong car for the "Motorcraft Quality Parts 500" @ Atlanta, tying his season best qualifying position with a 6th place effort~ He wasn't able to do much in the race, but held on to finish in 15th, three laps off the pace of race winner Dale Earnhardt, who led 216 of the 328 laps to take the checkered flag~ Morgan Shepherd was runner up, followed by Ernie Irvan, Ken Schrader, and Mark Martin~

    The team then had a string of bad races, with finishes of 25th (TranSouth 500 - Darlington), 18th (Valleydale Meats 500 - Bristol), and 20th (First Union 400 - North Wilkesboro)~ This was followed up with an 11th place finish in the "Hanes Activewear 500" @ Martinsville, after starting from 21st~ Following this race, the team is in for nasty weather.. I'm talkin' Gilligan's Island style weather!~ Have Mercy!~

                                               Spencer was no match for the Intimidator~

    Spencer qualified 12th for the "Winston 500" @ Talladega, but a blown engine turned his Heinz Ketchup Pontiac into rotten tomatoes, relegating him to a 32nd place finish~ Following this race, he wouldn't qualify higher than 21st for the rest of the season, and would only finish in the top 15 one more time~ Like I said, it gets bad.. it gets really bad~ After qualifying 26th for the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte, he ended up 21st, six laps of the pace of race winner, Rusty Wallace~

    In the "Budweiser 500" @ Dover, Jimmy couldn't keep his dumb foot off of the gas again, blowing another engine, and finishing in 32nd place~ In the "Banquet Frozen Foods 300" @ Sonoma, Spencer qualified 40th, and still managed to finish three laps down, even though it was a road course~ He finished in 27th place~

    Jimmy rolled off from the 23rd position for the "Miller Genuine Draft 500" @ Pocono, and crashed out before lap 200, finishing in 30th place~ In the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Michigan, he started 21st, and finished in 20th, in what must have seemed like a win for the team, following the horrid finishes they'd been having at the time~

                               A track worker checks on Spencer following a crash @ Pocono~

    Spencer rolled off 33rd for the "Pepsi 400" @ Daytona, and though he finished three laps down, still managed a 15th place run~ In the "AC Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, he finished 19th, after starting from the 29th position~ After starting 31st for the "DieHard 500" @ Talladega, he was only able to move up a few positions  during the race, finishing in 24th place~

    Jimmy followed this up with a 29th place finish in the "Budweiser at the Glen" @ Watkins Glen, following another blown engine~ He then finished 25th in the "Champions Spark Plug 400" @ Michigan, and managed to crack the top 20 in the "Busch 500" @ Bristol, with an 18th place run~

    Due to his association with the Heinz Company, Spencer had high hopes for the "Heinz Southern 500" @ Darlington, but that was soured when he finished 23rd, seven laps off the pace of race winner, Dale Earnhardt~ Next up was the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Richmond, but Spencer was again hampered with an ill handling car, which resulted in a 27th place finish~




                                  Spencer leads his first Cup series laps in the Daytona 500~

    Jimmy qualified 30th for the "Peak AntiFreeze 500" @ Dover, and finished the race twelve laps down to race winner, Bill Elliott, who crushed the field, leading 364 of the 500 laps~ Elliott was followed by Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, and Michael Waltrip finished out the top 5~




    In the "Goody's 500" @ Martinsville, Spencer qualified 29th, and finished in 18th place, twelve laps behind race winner, Geoff Bodine~ Up next was the "Tyson Holly Farms 400" @ North Wilkesboro, where after starting from 31st, he was able to move up only a few positions to finish in 23rd place~ Mark Martin won the race, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Brett Bodine, Bill Elliott, and Ken Schrader~

     Spencer qualified 34th for the "Mello Yello 500" @ Charlotte, but was involved in crash early on, which took him out of competition, and relegated him to finish last in the 41 car field~ The race was won by Davey Allison, followed by Morgan Shepherd, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Petty, and Alan Kulwicki~

                                          Custom Jimmy Spencer Racing Champions card~

    Following the Mello Yello 500 @ Charlotte, Spencer was fired from the Osterlund team, and replaced with Jim Bown, who drove the remaining three races left in the season, and did even worse than Spencer did, with finishes of  27th, 28th, and 39th~

    Spencer's time in the Osterlund car consisted of 26 races, with 2 top 10's, and 10 laps led~ He earned $219,775 in race winnings, and finished 24th in the points standings, with an average start of 26.3, and an average finish of 21.7~ He would go on to drive Travis Carter's #98 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet during the 1991 Cup season, posting 1 top 5, and 6 top 10's~

    The Osterlund team went on to field Buddy Baker's #88 Marines Pontiac for the 1991 Daytona 500, where Baker qualified 16th, but suffered a blown engine just 35 laps in, resulting in a 37th place finish~ Osterlund then sold his team off, and went back to making tons of money in the real estate business out west~ And that's all she wrote, folks~

                                                   Jimmy Spencer #57 Heinz Pontiac~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

    I can tell you one thing for sure.. this car is a lot more appealing than that boring 1990 season Spencer had~ This Heinz car was one of my favorites back then, and it still dazzles me today~ Heinz has the best ketchup in my opinion, and although I'm not a fan of Teresa Heinz-Kerry, I can't knock her ketchup, it rules~

    As with almost all of my custom cars, this one is a Photoshop custom, and not a real diecast~ I sure wish it was real though, because it's pretty amazing~ I'm gonna give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, with a couple points taken off due to it's just a custom~ After I thought I was done with this one, I had to go back and add the Heinz 57 logo, and I also added the gold rims to match the original car~

    Jimmy Spencer was a raging bull on the track, and that gained him a few fans, but it also cost him a few as well~ Personally, I always liked the guy, and his first Cup win was super awesome!~ I still have the newspaper article from when he won, and I look at it from time to time, and then re-watch the race on YouTube~ Those were some exciting times in NASCAR, and I yearn for them to return~
           
                                **BONUS CAR** Diggity Dave #16 Chocolate Soldier Buick~

    This is another one of my Photoshop customs, and it's sponsored by one of my all time favorite drinks, Chocolate Soldier~ Chocolate Soldier was basically like Yoo-Hoo, but much better~ It has been discontinued for several years now, but I can still taste its awesomeness to this very day~

    When I was a kid, we would have races to see who could chug a Chocolate Soldier the fastest~ I would usually win, although the winner didn't get anything for winning, but it's always good to be first at something, even if it is chugging Chocolate Soldiers~

    Thanks again to everyone who visits the blog!~ Please share this post with your friends on social media, and click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ Below I have included some clips from Spencer's career, enjoy them, and I'll see you next time, right here on the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ :)

                                   Spencer pitches a fit on Wally Dallenbach~ Dover - 1996~

                                    Spencer pitches a fit on Kurt Busch, then belts him one~

                                                      All of Spencer's Cup wins~ 3 total~

                            Spencer being awesome and telling the truth about current drivers~