This is a blog about NASCAR Racing Champions 1/64 scale die-cast cars, along with the history of the cars and drivers~ Most of the posts are based on the Winston Cup, and Busch Grand National era~ To contact the blog owner, email me at: buttermilkjug@yahoo.com
Tom Peck's NASCAR career may not have been very memorable, but to dirt track fans, especially in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, he was amazing~ In his over 20 year dirt racing career, he amassed 250 victories, and 13 track titles on local tracks~ His BGN career, spanned 9 years, and 171 races, and accounted for 0 wins, 0 poles, and 52 top 10's~
Peck drove the #89 Plessinger Racing/Hagerstown Speedway Pontiac in the 2 Charlotte races in 1984, finishing 27th and 37th~ In 1988, Peck was back for 6 BGN races, driving the newly numbered 96 car~ The first 2 races, he ran Chevrolet's, sponsored by Hagerstown Speedway.. the following race @ Darlington, he switched to Oldsmobile~ For the remainder of the season, Peck was sponsored by Thomas Chevrolet~
Pics of this car are slim pickins~
For the 1989 season, Peck would run 28 races, with 2 top 5's, and 7 top 10's, while finishing 10th in the final points standings~ During the next 3 seasons, Peck continued to run the full BGN schedule, where he accumulated another 8 top 5's, and 41 top 10's~
His best season came in 1990, where he finished 5th in the final points standings~ He ran 11 races in 1994, and 3 more in 1995~ His final race was the All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300 @ Charlotte, where he finished 24th in the #67 Spartan Motors Chevrolet~ He attempted, but failed to qualify for the Homestead race~
In 1996, @ the Meridian Advantage 200 in Nazareth, Peck filled in for regular driver Dick Trickle in the #63 Dura Lube Chevrolet during qualifying, due to Trickle being in Charlotte for the 1996 Winston Select Cup race~ He qualified the car 29th, and was replaced by Trickle for the race~ He walked away from NASCAR, and has never competed since~
Tom Peck # 96 Thomas Racing Oldsmobile~
Click pics to enlarge~
I'm a fan of this color race car in general~ Dave Marcis's # 71 Big Apple Market Chevrolet is the exact same color, and both of them just really pop on a shelf or display~ The "Thomas" on the hood, refers to car owner Mark Thomas~ Although the bottom pic is a bit blurry, you can still see that Peck has a pretty cool signature, so that's an added bonus, especially for such a plain car~ On April 4th 2014, Tom was inducted into the Fulton County All-Sports Hall of Fame~
Reflecting back on his career, Peck said “I gave it up~ I was old enough, and things weren’t where they needed to
be~ I’m proud of it, and I don’t regret it~” “When I decided I
was done, I was done~ There were no maybes or looking back”~
He is also the uncle of current racer, Todd Peck~ Sadly, there isn't much video footage of Peck on the internet, but I did find this clip, which just so happens to also show my personal favorite team, the #75 Food Country car, driven at the time by Doug Heveron from New York~ In the video, they talk to Tom about why he's currently not racing~ Enjoy~
Heveron crash/Peck speaks~
Peck crash @ Volusia~ (This race was the first start, as well as the only top 10 of Neil Bonnett's son David, who finished 9th~)
J.D. McDuffie never won a Cup event, but he was a staple in the NASCAR garage~ Considered a "blue collared" racer, that fans could relate to~ His career, spanning 653 races in 28 seasons, resulted in 0 wins, 106 top 10's, and 1 pole (1978 Delaware 500)~ J.D. was tragically killed in the 1991 running of the Budweiser at The Glen, in Watkins Glen New York~ He held the record for last place finishes with 32, until 2014, with his first coming in the 1963 Pickens 200 @ Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, South Carolina, during the first lap~
Bad luck seemed to always follow McDuffie~ Before the 1988 Daytona 500 qualifying race, a fan stole his fireproof gloves~ As a result, J.D. received second and third degree burns in an accident, when he chose to race without them~ But the worst of his luck would come in the 1991 Bud at the Glen~ On the way to the race track, his car hauler had brake failure~
J.D. put a pop-rivet in the brake line, and arrived safely at the track on August 8th, 1991~ He managed to make the field, which to him, was already a victory.. considering he had failed to qualify for 10 races that season already~
RIP J.D. McDuffie~
On the night of August 10th, J.D. competed in and won a "celebrity" race @ Shangri-La Speedway in nearby Owego, New York~ The race involved J.D. and the crew members for Dale Earnhardt~ A crew member for McDuffie, Marty Burke recalls "It was a lot of fun for J.D. He was given a car and there was no
question he was the class of the field~ He pulled out into the lead and
tried to keep the rest of the field close so they could put on a good
show for the fans~ He knew that he was the class of the field, he was
more happy for us than he was for himself.”~
On the morning of August 11th 1991, J.D. and crew celebrated during breakfast, Burke recalls
“Sunday morning we all went to breakfast and J.D. bought with the money
he got night before~ When J.D. was with me, Mike Demers or Gerry Glenn,
we took care of all the expenses. . .J.D. grabbed the breakfast check
and said, ‘Winners Buy’ and that really stuck in my mind all these
years~ As humble as J.D. was (and he truly was a humble man) that morning he
was beaming with pride, not because he won the race, but because he
wanted to buy us breakfast~”
Marty Burke has continued to carry on the legacy of J.D. McDuffie~ In
1991, he licensed the likeness of J.D.’s #70 - complete with Burke’s
Classic Trophies logos - to die cast manufacturer Racing Champions,
arranging it so the profits would go toward helping J.D.’s widow Jean
raise their grandson~
J.D. McDuffie #70 Son's Auto Supply/Classic Trophies/Rumple Pontiac~
Click picks to enlarge~
Racing Champions did a perfect job on this car~ I haven't seen a version of J.D.'s car that had any defects at all, really~ All the paint is smooth, smear free~ It's nice to have a die-cast of this car, to remember the legacy of a good, hard working, regular guy~ And I would also like to thank Marty Burke for making it possible~ As a kid, I always pulled for J.D. whenever I'd see him~ He was just a down to earth, hard working guy~ He may not have had the funds to run up front, but he enjoyed every minute of racing and being at the race track tinkering on his car~
Racing has lost guys like that over the years.. and that's sad~ I guess what I miss most about NASCAR is the little guys~ I got to watch the end of an era, and I'll always remember the drivers that helped make NASCAR what it is today, I only wish NASCAR would remember them too~
On the fifth lap of the Bud at the Glen, something broke on J.D.'s car, leaving him without brakes and a missing tire~ His car slammed into the #52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac, driven by Jimmy Means, and both cars went off the track~ Means was able to slow his car down, but McDuffie, with no brakes, slammed into a guardrail upside down, and landed atop of the Means car~ Jimmie got out and rushed over to assist, but quickly turned away and signaled frantically for paramedics~
As the paramedics arrived, it was obvious that J.D. had been killed instantly, due to massive head injuries~ The race was red flagged for almost 2 hours to repair the guardrail and remove J.D.'s car~ The car was lifted to a flatbed, and covered with a tarp~
That was the last time we'd ever see J.D.'s #70 on the track~ Ernie Irvan went on to win the race, and dedicated it to McDuffie, saying " After all I’ve been through, this is a great victory, but winning is
tempered by J.D.’s death. I dedicate this victory to him~ Every time we
went through the turn where he crashed, I thought about him. I’ve known
what it is like to struggle in this sport without a sponsor just like he
did, and I’ll always remember him"~
After his death, the fifth turn was modified to make it safer~ His wife, Ima Jean unsuccessfully sued Watkins Glen for $4.25 million, claiming the barrier McDuffie hit was unsafe~ The judge ruled that J.D. was familiar enough with the track to be aware of the dangers and that mechanical failure caused the accident~Below are a few videos on McDuffie~
In 1991, Team Ireland was formed by Irishman Martin Birrane~ The team made their debut in the 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500 @ Pocono, fielding the #53 Ireland Chevrolet with Indy Car star John Paul Jr. at the wheel~ Paul never adjusted to the heavier NASCAR cars, and was replaced after 2 races by Bobby Hillin Jr., for a planned 15 race schedule in 1992~
The team changed to #31, and used cars and engines supplied by Richard Childress Racing~ Hillin competed in 10 races with the team in 1992, with a best finish of 13th in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte~ Due to lack of sponsorship, and being unable to pay a fine levied by NASCAR for illegal use of cylinder heads in the Mello Yello 500, Birrane chose to close up shop, and leave the sport~
As this team only ran 14 races during it's NASCAR tenure, there isn't much to write about.. Hillin did have a decent career, and I'll talk about him more later, as I have 3 or 4 more Hillin cars to review~
Bobby Hillin Jr. #31 Team Ireland Chevrolet~
Click pics to enlarge~
They did a great job with this car, with the exception of the absence of the side and rear decals~ Very shiny clear coat, and bright green lettering~ I wouldn't necessarily call this a "rare" car, but it is probably the most rare of the Hillin cars~ Along with this car, a car hauler of the team was produced by Matchbox~ I can't find any footage of this actual car, but I am gonna post a couple Hillin videos down below~ Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by~
