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.~

  

                                                                 

Joe Bessey #9 Auto Palace / AC-Delco Pontiac

    Hello, and welcome once more to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ In today's post, I'm going to be taking us back to the 1992 BGN season, where we'll relive Joe Bessey's time in the #9 Auto Palace/AC-Delco Pontiac~ This was a beautiful car, and one of my personal favorites of the time period~

    Bessey competed in nine events during the 1992 BGN campaign, as well as having one DNQ for the "All Pro 300" @ Charlotte~ He entered six races driving his own car, two for Dennis Shoemaker in the #64 Pontiac, and one for (I'm assuming) Ed Whitaker in the #7 Pontiac~ I say assuming because that's the number Ed ran back then, and I could never find who the owner of that car was when Bessey drove it~ Now before I tell the whole story in the intro, let's get this show on the road~

                                                     Bessey heading towards pit road~

    Joe's first start in the Auto Palace/AC-Delco Pontiac came in the 1992 BGN season opening "Goody's 300" @ Daytona~ The Busch North regular qualified 14th for the event, which is pretty danged impressive, considering 10 drivers failed to make the 44 car field, including Harry Gant, Tommy Ellis, and Terry Labonte~

    Michael Waltrip put Chuck Rider's #30 Pennzoil Pontiac on the pole, with "Front Row" Joe Nemechek on the outside of row number one, driving the #87 Texas Pete/Lozito's Chevrolet~ From the start of the race, down to the checkered flag, this race was cram packed full of action, as well as bad crashes~ Canadian driver Randy MacDonald's #01 GM Auto Parts Pro Shop Pontiac was involved in a crash early on, and his car caught on fire~ Later in the race, the same would happen to Joe Nemechek, who nearly lost his life due to the severity of his fiery crash~

    As the race was nearing its conclusion, Butch Miller's #75 Food Country USA Oldsmobile lost an engine, sending Miller spinning into the grass, and bringing out the final caution of the day~ As the race got back underway, it was a six car battle for the victory, with Dale Earnhardt coming out victorious, followed by Ernie Irvan, Ward Burton (his first Daytona start!~), Jimmy Spencer, Robert Pressley, and Rick Mast, who finished 6th in the #0 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile~ Bessey was involved in a crash on lap 66, which also involved Shawna Robinson, and the damage was too much to repair, knocking him out of the race, with a 35th place finish~   

                                      Bessey seemed to be around Shawna a lot back in '92~

    Bessey was back for the next race on the schedule, the "Goodwrench 200" @ Rockingham, and this is the race where he ran the #7 Pontiac~ Clifford Allison was in the #9 car, and since he qualified higher than Bessey, who was a Busch North driver, he was awarded the #9 for the race, but I don't understand why Bessey then went with the #7~

    In other races where this was the case, he ran the #91 car, and #91 wasn't entered in this race.. so I'm confused as heck about his number choice for this event~ When I started writing this post, I thought maybe for some reason he was in an Ed Whitaker car for this one, but now I'm thinking that wasn't the case.. for the simple reason that Whitaker didn't run Pontiacs.. he mainly ran Buicks around this time~ So I've come to the conclusion that this #7 car was owned by Quint Boisvert, who owned a #7 car during the 1992 season, with Curtis Markham making at least two starts in the #7 Skoal Bandit Pontiac~

    The pole was won by Jeff Gordon, driving the #1 Baby Ruth Ford (his second career BGN pole), and there were no DNQ's for this event~ Bessey qualified 28th, but ran well, led for 25 laps, and avoided accidents throughout the night, narrowly missing his first career top 10, with an 11th place finish~ Ward Burton fought off Mark Martin to win the event in the #27 Gwaltney's Big 8's Buick~ A 1/64 diecast was produced by "Trackside Collection" of Ward's winning car, with a production run of 20,000 pieces~ Davey Allison finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt, and Kenny Wallace~

                                                      Bessey getting serviced in the pits~

    It must have bothered the heck out of Bessey that he didn't get that top 10 finish at Rockingham, because he was back the following week for the "Hardee's 200" @ Richmond, where he qualified 26th~ Jeff Gordon won the pole again, and Chuck Bown started alongside him on the front row~ As the race got underway, Bown passed Gordon before he could lead a lap~ He would lead the first 47 laps, before Bobby Labonte took over in the #44 Slim Jim Chevrolet~

    Labonte led the next 61 laps, before being passed by Harry Gant in the #7 Mac Tools Buick~ Gant led the remaining 92 laps of the event on his way to victory~ Kenny Wallace was second in the Rusty Wallace owned #36 Dirt Devil Pontiac, followed by Bobby Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, and Joe Nemechek, who never missed a race following his fiery crash at Daytona~ Nemechek would go on to win the 1992 BGN championship by season's end~

    Bessey (who was driving the #91 car due to qualifying lower than Clifford Allison) ran a strong race all day long, and it paid off in the long run, as he would score his first BGN career top 10 with a 10th place finish~ This would also be his season best finish during the 1992 BGN season~ Following the race, Bessey found himself 11th in the BGN point standings~

                                                       Bessey battles at New Hampshire~

    Bessey and team then followed the series to Atlanta, for the "Atlanta 300", where he was back in the #9 car thanks to beating Clifford Allison out in his qualifying session, where he qualified 33rd, while Allison rolled off from the 36th position, driving the #91 Holiday Inn Atlanta Oldsmobile~ Jeff Gordon won his third pole in a row, and Tracy Leslie turned some heads as well, putting the #72 Detroit Gasket Oldsmobile on the outside of row number one~

    The race had only gotten underway when a large twelve car pileup happened, putting several big name drivers out of the event, including Ernie Irvan, Tom Peck, Ward Burton, Darrell Waltrip, Chuck Bown, Clifford Allison, and Shawna Robinson~ Bessey was also involved in the accident, but was able to continue on, though he was several laps down due to repairs~ He ended up finishing 23rd, thanks in part to so many cars being crashed out of the event~ This was also the only time during the season that Bessey drove an Oldsmobile~ I would imagine this is because he crashed his car during practice, and leased a car from someone else before the start of the race~

    Jeff Gordon had the dominant car pretty much all day long, and easily went on to win his first career BGN race~ Rick Hendrick was there watching in the suites that day, and Gordon's win caught the eye of the famed owner, who went on to sign Gordon at the dismay of the Ford Motor Company~ Harry Gant came home in second place, followed by Hut Stricklin, Davey Allison, and Morgan Shepherd~ Dave Mader III also had a great run, finishing 6th in what would be his final career top 10, as well as the final race of his NASCAR career~ (He attempted to qualify for the Charlotte race in 1995, but DNQ'd)~

                                                        Promo shot of Bessy's #9 Pontiac~

    I don't know this for sure, but after Bessey crashed the Oldsmobile that I figured was leased to him because he totaled perhaps the only car he had, he started driving the #64 Pontiac for Dennis Shoemaker, and I think it was just because he didn't have a car, but still had his sponsorship, which was transferred over to the Shoemaker cars~

   Bessey ran two races for Shoemaker in the #64 Auto Palace/AC-Delco Pontiac ("Pontiac 200" - Nazareth, "Goodwrench 200" - Dover~), with a best finish of 24th in the Nazareth race~ He blew an engine in both events, but was able to save up enough money to purchase another car for his own team, and returned to driving his own cars for the remainder of the season~

    Following the Atlanta race, Bessey found himself 12th in the BGN point standings, but following his seven race absence, he dropped all the way down to 30th~ By the time he had finished his two race stint with Shoemaker, he fell two more spots to 32nd~ He would run three more events during the 1992 BGN season, two of those three were at Loudon, N.H., in what was considered his "home track", even though he was from Maine~
 
                                                    Bessey gets spun out by Jeff Gordon~

    Back in his own #9 Pontiac, Bessey qualified 10th for the "Budweiser 300" @ Loudon, with Kenny Wallace winning the pole in the #36 Dirt Devil Pontiac~ Bobby Labonte was alongside Wallace on the outside of row number one, and 46 drivers started the race, with no known DNQ's~

    Jimmy Spencer had a heck of a car, driving the #20 Daily's 1st Ade Oldsmobile, but he was involved in a crash with Clifford Allison which ended his day less that 100 laps into the event~ Hut Stricklin also had a fast machine, leading 71 laps in the #92 Stanley Tools Oldsmobile before ignition problems ended his day prematurely~

    Todd Bodine looked like the car to beat nearing the checkered flag, but he ran out of gas with five laps remaining, and wound up finishing in 6th place~ The lead was then passed to Jeff Burton, who led the remaining five laps to win the event~ Robert Pressley was second, followed by Bobby Labonte, Tom Peck, and Curtis Markham, who earned his best career finish with his 5th place run~ Bessey's car was damaged throughout the race, resulting in a 21st place finish~

                                                          Bessey's #9 at New Hampshire~

    Five races later, the BGN series was back at Loudon for round two, and Bessey made his first start since the last Loudon race~ He qualified 16th for the event, while Ernie Irvan claimed the pole position in the #4 Kodak Oldsmobile, with Chuck Bown on the outside of row number one in the #63 Nescafe/Nestea Pontiac~

   Ernie was in a league of his own until his engine gave out, then it was a battle between Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Burton~ Burton finally faded away, but Joe Nemechek came up and started battling with Earnhardt, finally taking the lead with 43 laps remaining~ Nemechek and Earnhardt put on one heck of a show, in what was easily one of the top 3 greatest finishes ever at Loudon, but in the end, it was Nemechek who came out victorious, after battling side by side with Earnhardt on the final lap to take the win~

   Bessey was involved in a spin that also involved Mike Stefanik, who had the same sponsor as Bessey, though I doubt they were teammates~ The spin dropped Bessey to a 17th place finish, while Stefanik finished 15th~ Todd Bodine finished third, and was followed by Jeff Gordon, and Ken Schrader~ Dick McCabe had a nice 12th place finish in the #0 Fisher Snow Plows Buick~

                                                       More battlin' at New Hampshire~

    Bessey ran his final face of the 1992 BGN season in the "AC-Delco 200" @ Rockingham, where he rolled off from the 15th position~ Jeff Gordon won the pole, and Ward Burton was on the outside of the front row~ For some reason, Bessey drove the #93 for this event~ Mike Wallace drove the #9 car, but he qualified below Bessey, so Bessey should have had the #9.. and why he didn't use the #91 is beyond me~

   Mark Martin crushed the field all day long, leading 140 of 197 laps on his way to the checkered flag~ He beat out pole winner Jeff Gordon, who was followed by Todd Bodine, Darrell Waltrip (this was Darrell's final BGN top 5), and Harry Gant~ Bessey finished where he rolled off, in 15th place, three laps off the pace of the race winner~

   Bessey ended his 1992 BGN season with 9 starts, with 1 top 10, 50 laps led, with an average start of 19.0, and an average finish of 20.2~ He earned a total of $32,618 on the season, and finished 42nd in the final point standings~ Bessey would go on to earn one career win in the BGN series when he won the 1997 "MBNA 200" @ Dover~ He ran basically the entire 1993 BGN series schedule driving the #97 Auto Palace/ AC Delco Pontiac/Chevrolet/Oldsmobile, and a few races with "Delco Battery" in 1994, before losing the Delco sponsorship~

                                           Joe Bessey #9 Auto Palace/AC-Delco Pontiac~

                                               What's with all of this extra information?~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    I don't usually add a photo of the back of the cards, because they're usually all the same.. the driver's name, date of birth, and residence, as well as their signature, and that's about it~ But just look at Bessey's card!~ I'm surprised it doesn't list his favorite color, and favorite food~ They listed so many details that there was no more room to put his signature at the bottom of the card~ I don't know of another Racing Champions card that has this much information on the back, especially from the 1992 set or before~

   The car itself is a real beauty, and one of my favorites~ I've also got his #97 Delco car in 1/43 scale, and I think I like it better than this one~ The blue rims are just an added bonus, though his car did have them in real life~ It's nice to see them on a Racing Champions car~ With the exception of a few minor details, this car is the spitting image of his 1992 BGN car, and I'd give it a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale, mostly due to the dumb picture they used for the card~ What an awful card this thing is!~ I'm sure even Bessey himself would agree with me on that~

   Though the card sucks, I really enjoy having this car in my collection~ It's a very noticeable car when displayed along with the rest of the 1991-92 set, and it's easily one of the top 10 best looking cars from those sets~ Once I can get a little bit of extra money saved up, I'm gonna get someone to make me some custom Racing Champions cards for the drivers who had dumb cards~ It's just not fair to have an awesome car, and some boring looking card~ Let's move on now and take a look at the bonus car for this post~

                                                     Rick Mast #2 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac~

    Here we have the Rick Mast #2 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac, driven by Mast in the 1990 "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte~ Mast only drove this Alka-Seltzer sponsored Pontiac once, due to the fact that it wasn't his sponsorship to begin with~ Jimmy Means' #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac failed to make the field for the event, so he passed his sponsorship over to the Ulrich team, which was sponsorless at the time~

    Mast qualified 36th for the event, and blew up a little past the halfway point, resulting in a 31st place finish~ Rusty Wallace totally destroyed the field all night, leading 306 of the 400 lap endurance race, on his way to victory lane~ Bill Elliott finished second, followed by Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip, and Ernie Irvan, who drove the #2 Ulrich Ponitac during the 1989 season, with sponsorship from Kroger~ 

    This is a pretty awesome car, and to tell you the truth, I was unaware of it until the other day~ Whenever someone finds my blog through Google search, etc., the blogger site shows me what the keywords were in their searches~ The other day I noticed someone found my blog by typing "Rick Mast #2 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac".. and it intrigued me~ So I found a picture of the car, and got to work on making a Racing Champions car featuring Rick in the Alka-Seltzer car~ So it's all thanks to some unknown race fan that this one was made~ It would be cool if that person eventually sees this picture, and realizes it was made because of their search~

    Thank you all for visiting the blog once more~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "Follow" button at the top right hand side of this page~ Below are some videos featuring Bessey throughout his career, and some other stuff since there isn't much on the guy.. enjoy them, and until my next post, please... stay alive, don't drink and drive!~

                                               Top 5 Joe Bessey crashes~ *FriskyNixon*

                                                      Bessey's only BGN career victory~

                                               Rick Mast hard crash~ 1994 Watkins Glen~

                                                 The Revs - Go or Blow~ Old racing song~

          
     
   
   
                                                                  

   


   
    
  

    
   


    

Max Dumesny #5 Crane Cams / Landrigan's Earthmoving Pontiac

    Hello again, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ Today's post is going to be a special "Australian" post, where we'll be looking back on Max Dumesny's time in the #5 Crane Cams/Landrigan's Earthmoving Pontiac, which he drove his rookie season in the Australian NASCAR series~

    Now, I must start off by saying that I am very upset with the Australians for their extremely poor record keeping of the Australian NASCAR series~ I researched until my eyes started bleeding, and still came up with pretty much nothing informational about the stats of the series~ So in the famous words of Dave Marcis, I'll have to do the best with what I got on this one~

                                                            Dumesny heads for the pits~

    The idea of bringing NASCAR to Australia was first brought up by four time Australian Touring Car champion, Bob Jane~ He personally invested $54,000,000 to build the Calder Park Thunderdome, which he modeled after Charlotte Motor Speedway~ They broke ground for the track in 1986, with hopes of running the first race in 1987~

    With the completion of the Calder Park Thunderdome extensions in 1987, the much delayed debut NASCAR race finally happened near the end of the year, with the first major event, the "Goodyear NASCAR 500" running on February 28, 1988~

    Initially Cup drivers such as Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Michael Waltrip, Dave Marcis and Kyle Petty visited the Thunderdome but they lost interest over time, so big name "guest" drivers were lured from circuit racing to help sweeten the pot~ Star touring car drivers Allan Grice and Dick Johnson were both early supporters of the concept, with both traveling to America to race in the Cup Series, although they had little success~

                              Dumesny also had brief sponsorship from Pizza Hut, shown here~

    I forgot to mention this before I got started, so I guess now is a good time to mention that his last name is pronounced "dumbs-knee" for those who didn't know~ For the longest time, I was calling him "Max Doom-ez-knee"~ As with many American drivers, Max got his start on dirt tracks, and is a muli-time champion spanning all sorts of racing divisions, though Sprintcars were his specialty, with 7 championships~

    Dumesny married his wife Melinda (who is also a Sprintcar driver) in 1986, and they have four children, all of whom are now racers themselves~ Max just turned 58 on July 12th, and is still winning races and track titles, in a career that has spanned more than 35 years~ In 2015, the Speedway Racing Association of Victoria granted "Life Membership" to Dumesny, and allocated his racing number "V5" to only be used by a Dumesny~

    Max finished runner up in the Championship standings in his rookie campaign in the Australian NASCAR series~ I don't know if he won any races, because I couldn't find any stats for that season~ I did find where he was runner up, and that he drove this Pontiac~ The following season, the team switched to Oldsmobiles, and Dumesny won the championship~

                                                           Dumesny blows an engine~

    Dumesny won 3 races during the 1992-93 Australian NASCAR season, as well as winning his only championship in the series~ Two years later, he again finished runner up in the points battle, before focusing more on his Sprintcar career~ The series folded in 2001, due to the growing popularity of the V8 Supercar series~

    I really don't know what else to say about Dumesny's time in the Australian NASCAR series~ Records weren't properly kept, and if they were, they're not anywhere on the internet~ I guess Australian's just didn't really care for NASCAR, so no one cared to save any records, or preserve them on the internet for others to view~

    I was able to find a couple of races, and took some nice screenshots of his cars, but I have nothing to write about other than what I've already written, so there's no point in adding the other pictures~ If anyone is interested in them, just email me @ buttermilkjug@yahoo.com, and I'll send them to you~ I feel kind of horrible about this post, but it's out of my control.. it's the Australians fault~ I tried everything I could think of to find those stats, but kept coming up empty~ Shame on you, the Australians.. shame right on you~

                             Max Dumesny #5 Crane Cams/Landrigan's Earthmoving Pontiac~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    It's a shame I couldn't find those stats to do a proper post on Dumesny, because I really like this car~ Yeah, it's a little basic... but it's pretty noticeable on the track (from the races I saw), and it's also pretty noticeable in your Racing Champions collection~ It stands out a lot since many people in America have never even heard of Max Dumesny, let alone seen his Racing Champions diecast~

    If you enlarge the pictures, you can see the "Thunderdome" contingency on the car~ Racing Champions also made a Thunderdome car for their 1992 Track/Event car set, which is one of the harder ones to obtain, along with the pink/blue Dover Downs car~ You pretty much just have to order it from Ebay, because it's basically impossible to find, at least where I'm from~ I did luck out and find this Dumesny car at my local flea market~ It was in the dollar bin, and I grabbed it out as fast as I could~

   The card for this one isn't the best, but it's better than some~ I would have preferred a shot of Dumesny standing in a field with the car~ I'd give this car a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale for that very reason~ I enjoy having this car in my collection even if I couldn't find all the information I wanted to find for it~ It's a little piece of NASCAR history, albeit a totally forgotten piece thanks to the greedy butt Australians~ Let's just move on to the bonus car for this post~

                                            Robbie Stanley #62 Linville Racing Chevrolet~

    Robbie Stanley was an extremely talented USAC Sprint Car driver who dominated the series during the early 1990's, winning three straight titles from 1991-1993~  He was a native of Indiana, born on November 16th, 1967~

    After failing to obtain sponsorship for his BGN car, Stanley decided to try for a fourth USAC championship~ It was a decision that sadly cost him his life, as he was killed during an accident at Winchester Speedway on May 26th, 1994~

    This isn't the best job I've done on a custom~ I'm not very pleased with the numbers, but it was the best I could do with what I had to work with~ This car was requested by a member of a diecast forum that I am for some reason no longer allowed to reply on~ Hopefully he sees that it finally made it onto the blog~ Below are some videos on Dumesny and Stanley, enjoy them.. and please share this post with your friends on social media~ :)

                                                      Very short Dumesny interview~

                           Dumesny wins the 1989-90 World Series Sprintcar Championship~

                                                  Very short Melinda Dumesny interview~

             
                                                Robbie Stanley tribute from Dave Despain~

   

    

   
   

Mike Olsen #61 Little Trees Pontiac

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

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

                                                           One of many Olsen postcards~ 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                                Yet another postcard~ 

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

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

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

                                                   He really liked making these postcards~

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

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

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

                                          Olsen battles with the #75 car of Doug Heveron~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                 Mike Olsen #61 Little Trees Pontiac~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                                                           Mike Olsen interview~
                                

                                       Kelly Denton basically murders Ken Schrader~
                                

              

                                                      1995 Winston 500~ Big one~    
                                

                                                      Buffet Benny's - Bristol~