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~

Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac

    Hello again, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog, the fastest growing NASCAR diecast blog in the world!~ With last weeks post, we now have over 75,000 views and counting!~ Many thanks goes out to everyone who stops by the blog, and shares the posts on social media with their friends!~ We couldn't have grown so fast without the support of each and every one of you, and I'm extremely thankful for all of the support you've shown!~

    In today's post, we're going back to the start of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup season, where we'll take a look back on Rick Wilson's time in the famed STP Pontiac, formerly driven for so many years by the King of NASCAR himself, Mr. Richard Petty~ As most of us know, at this point in his career, Petty was running in the back of the pack during most races.. some of that may have been his age, but another large part of it was due to the outdated equipment Petty's team had~ Wilson's time in the car was dubbed a bust, but in my opinion, a large part of the lack of success in the car wasn't due to him, but mainly the car itself~ Anyway, let's get into this one, shall we?~

                             Wilson and Petty with the newly numbered car, at a... rhino farm?~

    After his retirement from the sport following the end of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season, many in the sports world wondered who was going to be replacing the King of NASCAR in the famous STP Pontiac~ I don't think there was a single one of them who thought he'd pick Rick Wilson, from Bartow, Florida... but to the shock of well, pretty much everyone.. that's exactly what he did~ And being the self praising guy he always will be, he also stated that the #43 would not be on the track anymore, and the car would be renumbered 44~

    Petty was wanting the number retired, but NASCAR said no way~ That's why following this season, he was forced to mark the return of the 43 to the track~ NASCAR stated that teams can hang on to a number for one season, but must use it the following season, or surrender it to NASCAR~ The whole Rick Wilson in the STP thing was weird enough, but the number thing was the icing on the weirdo cake~

    With the driver announcement out of the way, the team headed to Florida for the Daytona 500~ After starting from 14th, Wilson finished 8th in his Gatorade 125 Qualifier, netting him a 15th place starting spot for the 500~ He never was a factor during the race, although he did lead a lap while the leaders were making green flag pit stops~ He eventually was involved in a crash with Bobby Hamilton, who was driving the pink #68 Country Time car.. Racing Champions made a diecast of this car as well, which was in a PVC case~ I believe it was limited to 5,000 pieces~

    With his car totally trashed, Wilson ended up finishing the race in 34th place~ This race was famous for its "Dale & Dale Show" ending, with Dale Jarrett beating out Dale Earnhardt for the victory~ Ned Jarrett was there being annoying, and I didn't like it.. because I was an Earnhardt fan~ I didn't like this 500 at all, because after Wilson went out, I was pulling for Cope, who led 30 laps, but faded at the end, finishing 29th.. then I was pulling for Earnhardt, and boring ol' Dale Jarrett won~ Blah~ One cool thing that happened was that Hut Stricklin finished 4th, driving the #27 McDonald's Ford, for Junior Johnson~

                                                 Wilson on track in the #44 STP Pontiac~

    The series next rolled into Rockingham, North Carolina, for the "GM Goodwrench 500", where Wilson qualified 15th, and Mark Martin won the pole in the #6 Valvoline Ford~ Wilson struggled to make up ground in the race, and ended up finishing in 17th place, three laps off the pace of race winner Rusty Wallace, and the famed #2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac~ Dale Earnhardt was 3rd, followed by Ernie Irvan in the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet, Alan Kulwicki, and Mark Martin finished out the top 5~




    Following the Rockingham race, Wilson went on a streak of five races (Richmond, Atlanta, Darlington, Bristol, and North Wilkesboro) without cracking the top 20~ His best qualifying effort during that span was an 18th at Richmond, for the "Pontiac Excitement 400"~ After seven races, the team found themselves 30th in the points standings~ The next race on the schedule was the Hanes 500, at Martinsville, Virginia, and Wilson qualified 20th, and finished 17th, tying his season high at the time~

    Rick qualified a season high of 4th for the "Winston 500" @ Talladega, while Dale Earnhardt claimed the pole position~ Wilson never was a factor in the race, and finished 16th, one lap off the pace of race winner, Ernie Irvan, who was driving the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet, for Wilson's former team, Morgan-McClure Motorsports~ Jimmy Spencer had a heck of a run in the #12 Meineke Mufflers Ford, with a second place finish, followed by Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, and Joe Ruttman finished out the top 5, driving the #20 Fina Lube Ford for Dick Moroso~

                                             Wilson poses in front of the #44 STP Pontiac~

    Rick qualified 20th for the "Save Mart Supermarkets 300K" @ Sonoma, and ended up having his best race of the season, finishing in 8th place, in what would be his only top 10 finish for the team~ The race was won by Geoff Bodine, driving the #15 Motorcraft Ford, followed by Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Kyle Petty~ The next race on the schedule was the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte~   

    Wilson used his momentum from the Sonoma race to qualify the car in 9th place for the race, but he blew the engine seventy laps shy of the checkers, resulting in a 32nd place finish~ He qualified 5th for the "Budweiser 500" @ Dover, a track he had won at in the BGN series~ Although he finished the race 5 laps down, he still managed to post an 11th place finish~ Dale Earnhardt won the race, in the #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet~

    The #44 STP team picked up a 12th place finish in the "Champions Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, then finished 34th in the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Michigan, due to an oil leak~ Wilson qualified 9th for the "Pepsi 400" @ Daytona, and finished in 11th place~ This race marked the final time that Wilson finished a race on the lead lap for the remainder of the season~

                                               Rick Wilson #44 STP Photograph - Signed~

    Rick qualified 10th for the "Die Hard 500" @ Talladega, but faded away to 23rd by the drop of the checkered flag~ In the final 14 races of the season, he would only crack into the top 20 one time, with a 20th place finish in the "Slick 50 500" @ Phoenix~ A lot of these struggles had to do with the pit crew, and the equipment.. but people were starting to wonder if perhaps Richard Petty made a mistake in his choice of predecessor~

    Wilson had a strong car for the "Bud 500" @ Bristol, qualifying in the 6th position, but was involved in a crash midway through the race, and had to settle for a 28th place finish, in what was easily a top 10, maybe even top 5 car~ Mark Martin went on to win the race, followed by Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, and Rick Mast, who picked up a rare, and well deserved top 5 finish~

    Moving on to the "SplitFire Spark Plug 500" @ Dover, Wilson qualified in the 6th position, and was looking strong early on, but was involved in a crash, when he lost control of the vehicle, and slammed into the wall on the driver's side~ Wilson was injured in the wreck, and would be replace by Jimmy Hensley for the Goody's 500" @ Martinsville~ Hensley finished dead last in the car, following a crash, and Wilson was back the following week to finish out the season~

                                                 Wilson in the cockpit of the #44 STP Pontiac~

    Wilson finished out the season with the lone top 10 finish @ Sonoma, and 1 lap led in the Daytona 500~ He finished the season 28th in the championship points standings, and had an average start of 20.3, and an average finish of 24.0~ He ran three races during the 1997, as well as posting a DNQ @ Texas, and attempted to make two races (Talladega, Daytona) in 1998 for Larry Hedrick, but was unsuccessful in both attempts~ 1998 was also the final time Wilson made an appearance in any of the top 3 NASCAR ranks~

    At the end of the season, Petty replaced Wilson with Wally Dallenbach, who was canned mid-season in favor of John Andretti~ It wouldn't be until Bobby Hamilton drove the car during the 1996 that Petty would get his first win since his retirement as a driver~ Wilson bought up some orange groves, and a farm, and lived in Florida to this day~

    He won the 2010 "Scotts EZ Seed Shootout" @ Bristol, driving the #75 Food Country Chevrolet~
This was the race that Larry Pearson and Charlie Glotzbach got injured in when Person's car collided with Glotzbach's, causing severe injury to both drivers, and ending this type of race for good~ Wilson then drove in a X-1R Pro Cup race, driving the #18 Food Country Chevrolet for Charlie Henderson in the "American Freedom Spectacular 200" @ Bristol, where he started 20th, and finished 19th~ This proved to be the final race of his career, to this point~



    I would have liked to see what would have happened to Rick's career if he had stayed with the Kodak team a few more seasons~ That team was smokin' hot with Ernie Irvan, and Sterling Marlin, and I think they would have been just as hot with Rick in the car, if he wouldn't have left them~ I really liked him when he drove for Food Country, so I always pulled for him throughout his career, and I'm proud to call myself a Rick Wilson fan~

                                             Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac - Standard Issue~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

                                     Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac - PVC Issue~ 1 of 5,000~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    Since I have both versions, I went ahead and posted both the standard, and PVC versions of this car~ I also have the 1/24 in both standard, and bank versions, but didn't include them in the post~ As you may have noticed, there are a few differences between the two versions~ The PVC version is lacking the darker red inside the circle around the numbers on the roof, as is also a darker blue than the standard version, as well as having a lighter color of orange~

    The PVC version also has different contingencies when compared to the standard issue~ My version of the standard issue has a misprint on the driver's side front tire, as it was stamped twice, so that's a little added bonus~ The card features Wilson, along with Petty, and the #44 STP Pontiac, at what appears to be a rhino farm~ I'm actually a pretty big fan of this card, because it seems like such an odd place to do a photo shoot~

    I'm giving the Standard version of this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, while the PVC version gets a B+~ I like the darker blue of the PVC version, and the extra contingencies, but the standard issue just looks more like what the car did in real life, so it gets extra bonus points over its PVC counterpart~ I love both versions, and Rick Wilson is awesome in my book!~ Now, let's get on to the bonus car~

                               Butch Miller #75 Roddenbery's Peanut Butter Oldsmobile~

    This is a fantasy car that could have been a reality for the 1992 BGN season, had it not been for a major flub by Food Country USA/Henderson Motorsports owner, Charlie Henderson~ Henderson had a meeting with Roddenbery's about a sponsorship deal with the team, and little did Henderson know, but Mr. Roddenbery himself was the man who showed up for the meeting~

    Charlie rattled off "Roddenbery's?~ What kind of name is that for a food company?~ It sounds like Rottenbery's~ It should be called Rottenbery's"~ It was at that time that Mr. Roddenbery introduced himself, and walked out of the meeting, eventually giving his sponsorship dollars to Steve Grissom's team, and Henderson was forced to continue sponsoring the car out of his own pocket~

    Thank you all for stopping in for this 104th edition of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ Please click the "Follow" button up at the top of the page, on the right hand side, and share this blog post on any social media sites you're a part of~ Each share is greatly appreciated!~ Below are some Rick Wilson clips, enjoy them, and I'll see ya' next time, here on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

                                    Rick Wilson wins the 2010 Saturday Night Showdown - Bristol~

                                              Wilson/Hamilton crash - 1993 Daytona 500~

                                            Wilson crash - 1993 SplitFire Spark Plug 500~

                                         1989 Pepsi 400 - Multi car crash~ Wilson involved~

Steve Grissom #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ Today's post is going to be on the #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile, driven by Steve Grissom during his impressive 1990 BGN season~ This diecast was only produced in promo form, and was never part of Racing Champions' standard issues~

    I don't currently own the car, and it is pretty hard to come by~ A version of the car was "misplaced", and put into the 1990-1992 packaging, for some reason with a Bobby Allison card~ These are also pretty rare, and don't usually come up for sale that often~ A loose version of the car recently came up for bid on Ebay, but a friend of mine was bidding on it, so I didn't compete with him~ That's what got me wanting to do a post on this car, so here it is~

                                            Grissom poses with the car @ Charlotte - 1990~

    Grissom started the 1990 BGN season with a new sponsor, "Big Mama Meat Snacks"~ This would be the only season he ran this sponsorship, but it proved to be one of his best~ I would go as far as to say that it was his best season, even though he won the championship in 1993~ Things looked good in the season opener @ Daytona, with Grissom qualifying 8th for the event, but the good times were short lived, as he was involved in the huge pile up on lap 13, knocking him out of competition, resulting in a 33rd place finish~

    Steve's first decent run in the car came four races later, in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory~ He qualified 15th, but was able to pick up his first top 10 of the season, with an 8th place finish~ His next accomplishment came a couple of races later, in the U-Can-Rent 200 @ Lanier, where he picked up his first top 5 of the season, with a 5th place run~ Chuck Bown led all 200 laps of the event, dominating on his way to the checkered flag, driving the #63 Nescafe Classic Pontiac~ This is about the time Grissom's season started building momentum~

    In the Roses Stores 200 @ South Boston, Grissom qualified 4th, and finished in 3rd place, behind Jeff Burton, and race winner, Chuck Bown~ He qualified 7th for the Pontiac 300 @ Nazareth, and strong all day, leading 99 laps on his way to a 5th place finish~ On to Hickory, for the Granger Select 200, Grissom qualified 4th, before settling for a 7th place finish in the end~ The race was won by Chuck Bown, who had won 3 of the last 4 races~

                                        Grissom on track in the #31 Big Mama Oldsmobile~

    Following his brief success, he was met with a stint of bad finishes in the next three events~ He finished 27th in the Champion 300 @ Charlotte, 21st in the Budweiser 200 @ Dover, and 22nd in the Roses Stores 200 @ Rougemont, and fell from 9th, to 11th in the Series points standings~ Steve then started picking up momentum again, and was well on his way to his first career BGN victory~

    After qualifying 6th for the Firecracker 200 @ Volusia County, Grissom managed to stay up front all race long, and finished in 4th place~ He finished 11th in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 200 @ Myrtle Beach, and 8th in the True Value Oxford 250 @ Oxford, and then had a hiccup in the Budweiser 300 @ Loudon, where he qualified 29th, and finished 23rd, after battling his way to the lead, where he led for 24 laps~ 78 drivers attempted to make the field for the event, and the race was won by Tommy Ellis, in what was his final BGN victory~




    Grissom qualified 2nd for the Coors 200 @ South Boston, and Jimmy Hensley won the pole for the event, in the #25 Crown/Fast Fare Oldsmobile~ Hensley led the first 17 laps, and was passed by Grissom, who led the next 41 laps, before being passed by Chuck Bown~ Bown led the next 115 laps of the race, before he was passed by Tommy Houston, who went on to win in the #6 Rose's Stores Buick~ Grissom finished in 5th place, and was in 8th place in the Series points standings~

                                            Steve Grissom and the #31 @ Charlotte - 1990~

    The next race on the schedule was the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin, and Grissom made his name in the sport with style, by winning the pole, leading 150 of the 200 laps, and winning the race, picking up the first win of his BGN career~ Chuck Bown was pretty much the only competition of the night, leading 34 laps, and finishing in second place~


    The bad news for the competition was that the Grissom team was just getting started~ The next race was the Kroger 200 @ IRP, and Grissom qualified 17th for the event~ He quickly worked his way to the front, and led for 77 laps, on his way to back to back BGN series victories~ Ernie Irvan finished 2nd, driving the #75 U-Can-Rent Oldsmobile, owned by Charlie Henderson~

    Grissom started 31st for the Jay Johnson 250 @ Bristol, and was able to work his way to the lead, which he held for 6 laps, before fading away to finish in 3rd place~ The race was won by Rick Mast, in the #22 Raven Boats Buick, and this was the first of 3 BGN wins for Mast during the 1990 season~ The 1990 season also marked the final time Mast would win in the series~




                                              Steve Grissom custom Racing Champions card~

    In the Autolite 200 @ Richmond, Grissom started from 4th, and worked his way to the lead, where he stayed for 82 laps, before being passed by Rick Mast for the win~ Michael Waltrip also had a good race in the #30 All-Pro Auto Parts Pontiac, as he led for 78 laps, before finishing in 3rd place~ Grissom then went on to finish 7th in the Ames/Splitfire 200 @ Dover, in a race won by Harry Gant, driving Ed Whitaker's #7 Skoal Buick~

    Steve then had a string of three bad races in a row, and he would fall from 3rd, to as low as 5th in the Series points standings~ He finished 21st @ Martinsville, in the Zerex 150, 32nd in the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte, and 26th in the NE Chevy 250 @ Loudon~ With two races remaining in the season, Grissom was going to make sure to end his time with Big Mama Meat Snacks with a bang~

    He qualified 32nd for the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, but like the true race he was, he blazed his way up to the lead, leading the final four laps of the race, before taking the checkered flag~ Mark Martin dominated the day in the #1 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford, but gambled on old tires following a late caution~ He was quickly gobbled up by Grissom, who had fresh tires, and ended up finishing in 4th place~ This race was also the first official BGN start by a guy named Jeff Gordon~ He crashed out~ :P

   Grissom qualified 4th for the season finale "Winston Classic" @ Martinsville, while Chuck Bown won the pole~ The race was dominated by Kenny Wallace, who was driving the #36 Cox Treated Lumber Pontiac~ He led for 107 laps, but ran out of gas with three laps to go, handing the lead over to Grissom, who led the final 3 laps (his only laps led during the race) on his way to the checkered flag~ He ended the season 3rd in points, with 1 pole, 4 wins, 11 top 5's, and 15 top 10's, having led a career high of 486 laps throughout the year~

                                  Steve Grissom #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Even though this diecast is usually pretty poor quality, I'm a big fan of this car~ I really don't understand why Big Mama didn't stay with the team following their success, but I'm guessing it was a financial decision~ I dolled this car up for the post, it's actually pretty ratty looking, even for the early Racing Champions days~

    I'm going to give this car a D+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, because it's flawed all to pieces, pretty much every one of them that I've seen look like rejects~ I do like the car, and would love one for my collection, but I'm going to have to find a decent version before I invest any money into it~ I'm pretty sure from pictures that I've seen that the little pig logo is just a sticker, and it tends to yellow over time, and peel up, which is why I hated cars with sticker logos~

   Another reason for the low score, is this car never came with a card~ I had to custom make the one shown, and I do love that card, I just wish it originally came with the car~ Whenever I get this car, I'm taking it out of the promo package, and getting the card printed for it, and putting it in a 1990 standard issue package~ I just think it will look so much better like that~

                             **Bonus car** DIY Food Country Matchbox Convoy custom set~

    No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, I just posted a Matchbox set on the Racing Champions blog~ I got bored yesterday, and just decided to Photoshop this up, just out of curiosity, and I liked it so much, I just had to share it with y'all here on the blog~ I'm now in the process of having this set custom made, but I'd say it will be a year or so before the finished product arrives~ I'll be sure to post pictures when that time comes~

    I've always loved these old Matchbox Convoy sets, and I always wondered why Bill Elliott's Convoy set came with a truck, instead of a van, or extra car~ I think this set looks amazing, although I got the color a bit off on the car.. it all started out as solid white diecasts, so I had to paint it all, and I'm not the greatest at doing that, so that's just the best I could do~ After I got done, I found the van, and added it into the picture after I was done dolling it up~

    Brad Teague and the Food Country team were a huge part of my childhood, and I'll always be dreaming up little Food Country diecasts, probably until the day I die~ They had such awesome paint schemes back in the day, though I wasn't fond of the white car years~ I love the car hauler from this set!~ It's the coolest looking Matchbox hauler I've ever seen, and I just can't wait until it's a reality~

    Thank you all for once again stopping by the blog here!~ I appreciate the emails that you send, and enjoy helping others learn more about Racing Champions diecasts, as well as finding out things that I never knew about them~ Please click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page, and share this post on any social media sites that you're a part of~ Below are some videos from Steve's career, enjoy them, and I'll see ya' next time, here on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

                                             Finish of the 1990 Kroger 200~ Grissom win~

                                          1990 U-Can-Rent 200 - Lanier~ Grissom footage~

                                   1990 Rose's Stores 200 highlights~ Some Grissom footage~

                                                        
                                             1995 Goody's 250 highlights~ Grissom win~

                                       

Randy LaJoie #20 Fina / Lance Snacks Ford

    Welcome back once more to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ With over 1,100 cars in my collection, and every single one of them being on display, I didn't really think I'd be making a post on Randy LaJoie any time soon~ I've got so many cars to choose from now, and I never was a fan of the guy~ However, as I sit here in my chair, I constantly see this car, as it's right behind my computer screens... and I've grown to love the look of the car, as well as the card it comes with~

    So in today's post, I'll be going over LaJoie's time in the #20 Fina/Lance Snacks Ford, owned by Dick Moroso, the father of the late Rob Moroso~ Randy first drove this car 15 races into the 1993 BGN season, in the Fram Filter 500K @ Talladega, and continued to do so until he was tabbed to drive the #22 MBNA Pontiac in the Cup series, for Bill Davis Racing~ Let's take a moment to see what the guy was up to, just a couple years away from winning back to back BGN Series championships~

                                                        Randy LaJoie hero card - 1994~

   As I was saying, LaJoie's first ride in the car was in the Fram Filter 500K @ Talladega, as Joe Ruttman was let go from the team, after 3 races~ Randy took full advantage of the opportunity, starting the race from the third position, and finishing runner up to the man himself, Mr. Dale Earnhardt~ Though he never led a lap in the race, this sure had to be a confidence booster for LaJoie, as well as the entire team~

   The team next raced in the Food City 250 @ Bristol, and LaJoie quickly came down from cloud nine, with a 33rd place qualifying position (in a 34 car field)~ He was caught up in a 6 car accident on lap 52, and then he crashed out on his own a few laps later, ending his day in 32nd place~ Todd Bodine won the race, driving the #34 Fiddle Faddle Chevrolet~

   Up next was the Gatorade 200 @ Darlington, and LaJoie qualified 24th for the event~ As the race was coming to an end, he found himself in second place, but was no match for race winner/Busch whacker Mark Martin~ Still, two runner up finishes in your first three starts with a new team isn't too shabby~ I also forgot to mention this before, but LaJoie was driving Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles at this point~ It wasn't until 1994 that he was driving the Ford, and that was only for his Cup series starts.. the BGN car was a Chevrolet all season long~

                                                   The #20 car on pit road, ready to go~

    LaJoie qualified third for the Autolite 250 @ Richmond, but faded back during the race, and ended up with a 12th place finish~ He finished 12th in the All Pro 200 @ Charlotte, 8th in the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, and ended the season with a 27th place finish in the Slick 50 300 @ Atlanta, after falling victim to ignition issues~ LaJoie would run a full season in the BGN, and 3 races in the Cup series for Moroso in 1994~

    The actual Racing Champions version of this car is from his Cup series starts~ That's the only time he ever drove this car as a Ford~ His first start of the season came in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, where he started 27th, and finished 20th, seven laps off the pace of race winner, Jeff Gordon~ This was Gordon's first career victory, and he was memorably emotional in victory lane~

    Randy was back in the Cup series four races later, for the Slick 50 300 @ Loudon, where he qualified in 19th place~ He again wasn't much of a factor throughout the race, and again finished in 20th place~ He would attempt to qualify for the inaugural Brickyard 400, but failed to make the field~ This would be his final Cup start of the season, while driving for Moroso~ He made one final start in T.W. Taylor's #02 Children's Miracle Network Ford, in the Hooters 500 @ Atlanta, where he finished in 19th place~

                                              LaJoie would find success in the BGN series~

    I don't have the space left to write about LaJoie's full 1994 BGN season, so I'm just gonna give you the highlights~  He started 8th in the season opener @ Daytona, and even led four laps, but his engine gave way on lap 87, resulting in a 28th place finish~ He started 23rd in the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, but battled his way to the front, eventually leading fourteen laps, and finishing in 4th place~

   After a 24th place starting position for the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta, he was able to do much better in the race, where he finished in 7th place~ LaJoie couldn't seem to qualify good in the car, but he was able to find his way to the front by the end of the race~ He qualified 31st for the Miller 500 @ Martinsville, but found his way up to 4th by the drop of the checkered flag~ Moving on to the Mark III Vans 200 @ Darlington, LaJoie had an all around solid weekend, as he qualified 9th, and finished in the 3rd spot~

   Randy qualified 21st for the Sundrop 400 @ Hickory, and finished runner up to Ricky Craven, who dominated the event in his #2 Dupont Refinishes Chevrolet~ Following the conclusion of this race, LaJoie found himself leading the BGN points standings for the first time in his career~ It wouldn't last for long, and he would soon go on a downward spiral that would continue throughout the 1994 season~

                                           LaJoie drove this car in the Cup series in 1995~

   When I say he started tanking, I mean.. the Hickory race was the seventh race of the season, and LaJoie would only have two more top 10's for the remainder of the entire season~ One of the few bright spots of the year was when won the pole for the Gatorade 200 @ Darlington, but he ended up finishing 27th for the event~

   He finished 6th in the Split Fire 200 @ Dover, after starting from the 17th position, in a race won by Johnny Benson Jr.~ LaJoie would later win back to back BGN series championships in the #74 car that Benson was driving~ LaJoie's final top 10 of the season came in the season finale AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, where he finished in 9th place~ He finished the season with 1 pole, 4 top 5's, and 7 top 10's, while finishing 16th in the final points standings, a career high at that point~

   Randy left the team at the end of the 1994 season to drive full time for Bill Davis Racing in the Cup series, driving the #22 MBNA Pontiac~ He was fired midway through the season, in favor of a trio of drivers, which consisted of Ward Burton, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and Jimmy Hensley~ He would go back to the BGN series and win back to back championships, driving the #74 Fina Chevrolet for Bill Baumgardner~

                                             Randy LaJoie #20 Fina / Lance Snacks Ford~

Click pics to enlarge~

   See what I mean about this car?~ It's pretty awesome looking~ Every little secondary sponsor is there, and this thing is fully loaded!~ In case the secondary sponsors are too small to read, they are Blue Bird Ice Cream, Bull & Hannah's Meat Snacks, Kool-Aid, and Moroso~ I can't tell what they thing is on the side post, but it is some kind of bottle, perhaps a bottle of water~

   I'm easily giving this car an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ It's an awesome car, and it's also sad to think that this would have been Rob Moroso's Busch whacker machine, or would they have hired someone else to drive it, and develop into a two car Cup team eventually?~ I guess we'll never know the answer to that, since Rob and Dick are both dead now~ 

   Thanks for stopping by the blog again!~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "follow" button at the top of the page here, on the right hand side~ Below is the bonus car for this post, along with some videos of Randy LaJoie throughout his career~ Enjoy, and I'll see ya' next time, right here at the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

         **Bonus car** Jeff McClure #27 Showcase Racing Collectibles/Race For Life Oldsmobile~

McClure drove this car during his only Winston Cup start, in the 1992 Champion Spark Plug 400 @ Michigan~ He started 39th, and finished in 31st, in a race won by the legendary Harry Gant~ A Matchbox version of this car was made, and so I copied the logos from it, and put them on this Racing Champions body in Photoshop~ 

                                                   Randy Lajoie 1984 Daytona flip/crash~

                               1999 NAPA Auto Parts 300~ Lajoie win~ Filmed with a potato~

                                                     Randy LaJoie - My first 500~

                                                    Randy LaJoie flips - Talladega 1995~

   

  

Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet (white)

    Hey there!~ Welcome to 2017, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ Today's post was supposed to be posted hours ago, but I've been having problems with my Photoshop the past few days.. it won't let me grab and move objects like it's supposed to do~ Something is wrong with my mouse also, and my favorite coffee cup, that I've had since 2000, died today~ I dropped it, and it went into a bunch of pieces... I almost died~

   I managed to survive through it all though... and even though the mouse and Photoshop didn't want to cooperate, I was at least able to get the stuff I needed done somewhat close to New Years Day~ Today's post is going to be on the #42 Peak Antifreeze Chevrolet, driven by Kyle Petty in the 1989 Coca-Cola 600~ Why was he driving a Chevrolet that day?~ Let's have a look at the ol' NASCAR history books, shall we?~

                         The pics for the Chevy version sucked, so these are all Pontiac versions~

   
    Kyle Petty drove the full 1989 season (minus two DNQ's) for former Cup owner, Felix Sabates, with the exception of the Coca-Cola 600~ For that race, Petty brought his #42, along with sponsor, Peak Antifreeze, to Rick Hendricks team~ Some have speculated that this was for the movie "Days of Thunder", but I'm not really sure of the exact reason~ I've tried to find out why, but only read speculations, and never found out for 100% what the reason was~ If you know the answer, let me know in the comment section below~

   The race was held on Sunday, May 28th, 1989, and Alan Kulwicki won the pole for the event, in his #7 Zerex Ford, and Mark Martin was on the outside of row number one, in the #6 Stroh's Light Ford~ Kyle Petty qualified 33rd in the 42 car field, and seven cars failed to make the show, including H.B. Bailey, Delma Cowart, Jim Bown, Phil Barkdoll, and Rodney Combs~

   There were several surprise faces in the race, with Butch Miller making one of his rare Cup appearances in the #51 Fruit of the Loom Chevrolet, qualifying 28th~ Two Australian drivers made the field, with Allan Grice qualifying 32nd in the Foster's Lager/Bob Jane T-Marts Pontiac in what would be his final Cup series start, and Terry Byres, who qualified 35th in the #06 Byres Racing Chevrolet~

   Ben Hess qualified 30th in the #40 Hess Racing Oldsmobile, in one of his career high nine starts in 1989~ Some 1989 Racing Champions card backs have Ben's name on them, so a Ben Hess car was at some point supposed to be made... I've often wondered if one or more of them exists?~ I'd love to have one of them~ Every time I drive by a HESS brand gas station, it always make me think of Ben Hess~ Former BGN regular Tracy Leslie also made his Cup series debut in this race, starting 29th in A.J. Foyt's #14 Copenhagen Oldsmobile~

                                  Coach Ditka uses Peak antifreeze, and Chris Farley did too~

    Mark Martin passed Kulwicki for the lead on lap 6, and led the next 53 laps of the race~ During this time, the only driver to drop out of the race was Butch Miller, who dropped out after wheel bearing issues~ Following green flag pit stops, Harry Gant took control of the lead, driving the #33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile to the front, and remaining there for the next 49 laps~

   Gant lost the lead when the caution came out for Jimmy Means, when the engine of his #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac expired~ Rusty Wallace came out with the lead and led for the next 10 laps, before getting passed by Kulwicki, whose car was just coming into its prime~ During this time, on lap 148, there would be one huge obstacle out of the way, as Harry Gant's engine would blow up, ending his chance at victory lane~ He finished in 40th place~

   Rick Wilson, who had qualified 5th in the #4 Kodak Film Oldsmobile, finally made his way to the front of the pack on lap 165, where he remained for 15 laps, before fading away to finish 35th in the event~  Dale Earnhardt finally found his way to the lead on lap 221, but blew up while leading two laps later, resulting in a 38th place finish~ Jim Sauter, who was driving the #31 Slender You Figure Salons Pontiac, was the next casualty due to a blown engine, and he finished the race in 37th place~

                                                        Kyle being cocky in the fire suit~

   As would be expected in a 600 mile event, several cars were dropping out with blown engines~ Australian Allan Grice was the next to catch the blown engine bug, retiring from the race on lap 294, and finishing in 34th place~ Davey Allison followed him just four laps later, and Morgan Shepherd just five laps following Davey~

   Three laps following Morgan's blow up, Rusty Wallace's motor bit the dust, and he would finish in 31st~ Greg Sacks was involved in a crash on lap 320, and his Crisco Pontiac was done for the day, finishing in 30th place~ During all of these engines being blown up, Alan Kulwicki had been leading the entire time~ But this was a long race, and only the strongest cars will survive, regardless of the strength of the driver~

   I have actually written a blog post about this race already, when I did the Dale Jarrett #29 Hardee's/Ghostbusters II Pontiac, so I hope I'm changing it up a bit, and making it fun for those who have already read that post~ If you haven't, check it out, it's an amazing looking car~ Anyway, back to the race.. Jarrett finished 28th, with you guessed it... a blown engine~ Michael Waltrip was the next to "blow" on lap 333, finishing 27th~

                                          Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antifreeze  Pontiac hero card~

   Our good friend Alan Kulwicki, was the next one to go, blowing up with less than 30 laps remaining, resulting in a 23rd place finish~ Tracy Leslie, who was making his Cup debut, finished in 25th, after retiring from the race due to crank issues~ Ben Hess was running at the end of the race, albeit 12 laps down.. but he still finished in 20th place, which was amazing for him~

   Richard Petty finished in 19th place, followed by Chad Little, driving the #90 Cheerwine/Pugh Oil Co. Ford, owned by Junie Donlavey~ I never knew about this car, until I was doing research for that Dale Jarrett post I mentioned earlier, and it's an awesome looking car~ I may try and make a Photoshop custom of it some day~ Anyway, Kyle ended up finishing in 17th place, 8 laps off of the leader's pace~

   Some other drivers I'd like to mention are Dave Marcis, who hung on till the end to take the flag in 16th place, Derrike Cope, who brought the #10 Purolator Pontiac home in the 12th spot, Rick Mast, who finished 11th in the #66 Banquet Frozen Foods Chevrolet, Neil Bonnett, who led for 53 laps before fading back to 7th place, and Brett Bodine, who drove Bud Moore's #15 Motorcraft Ford to an 8th place finish~

  Darrell Waltrip too the lead from Kulwicki right before the #7 lost its engine, and he never looked back, leading the remaining 80 laps of competition uncontested~ This race was following the infamous 1989 Winston, where Rusty Wallace crashed Darrell hard on the last lap for the win~ The fans despised him, and started cheering for Darrell~ I'm sure this victory was Darrell's crown jewel of the 1989 season, in which he won 6 races~

                                Kyle Petty #42 Peak Antrfreeze Chevrolet - White version~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

   Well, this is considered to be one of the "Holy Grails" of Racing Champions 1/64's~ It's a kind of boring car, compared to my personal favorite from Series 1, Morgan Shepherd's #15 Motorcraft Ford.. but it's pretty classy too~ Its colors are sleek, and sharp, but all these things combined, it doesn't resemble the car he drove in the 600 as well as it could have~

   First off, the blue on the front of the car goes back way further on the real car, almost covering the entire hood~ Also, the numbers on the side of the real car were reddish orange, whereas these are white with blue trim~ The real car said "Uniden" on the side, right beside of the numbers, at the bottom corner, whereas this one simply says "Peak" in white with blue trim~

   I had been looking for this car for a while, but never really thinking I'd actually find one~ Currently, there isn't a single one of them on Ebay.. not even in the sold section~ I would have been comfortable buying one for 50 bucks, but I've seen them go for over 100 before~ That's too much for me, and luckily, I got this one for 3 bucks, new in the package, at a flea market in Sevierville, Tn.~ I about died when I saw it, and then I almost did die when the guy said it was 3 bucks~

   I seen another one at a flea market in Bristol once, it wasn't in the package, but they only wanted a dollar for it... and for some stupid reason, I didn't buy it~ I just wasn't thinking at the time, and now some kid probably bought it and threw it in some dumb river somewhere~ Well, I'm talking so much, I'm gonna add the bonus car now, then I'll grade this car below it~

                                   **Bonus car** Diggity Dave #10 Upper 10 Oldsmobile~

   So, as far as the Petty car goes, I'm gonna give it a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale~ If it was just a bit more accurate, it would easily get an A~ It's a bit pricey unless you find them out in the wild, at your local flea markets, or thrift stores, but if you can get one at a decent price, it's definitely worth adding to your collection~

   I hope some of you remember Upper 10 soda~ It was so much better tasting than 7up is now, and Sierra Mist tastes like it has dirt in it... yes, I've ate dirt~ Upper 10 is supposedly still made outside of the U.S., but that doesn't help me out any~ It tasted so crisp, and clean.. I would just love to taste it again before I die~ Maybe one day I'll be in Spain or whatever weird country they sell it in now, and I'll get to drink it again.... Ha!.. No way!~

  When I first came up with the Upper 10 car, I didn't like it.. but then it started to grow on me, now I love it~ It's one of my favorite customs that I've made~ I give it an A-, because the shading on the 10 on the side could have been a little darker~ Other than that, it's an awesome car, made even more awesome by my choice of turning it into an Oldsmobile~ I loved them dang thangs~

   Thanks for stopping by the blog this year!~ I hope you all have a great New Years day, and I'm sorry I'm a day late on this post.. stuff happened~ Please share this post on any social media site you're on, and click the "follow" button at the top of the page, on the right~ You'll get an email the moment I post a new blog~ Have a suggestion for a car or driver, or did I miss anything in this post?~ Leave me a comment down below~ Below here are some videos, but there aren't any videos for this race, so probably some random Kyle Petty videos~ Thanks again for stopping by, and I'll be around soon with a new post~ :)

                             1989 Winston Cup 1~ These are about 20 minutes each, but worth it~

                                                             1989 Winston Cup 2~

                                                              1989 Winston Cup 3~

                                                             1989 Winston Cup 4~