Ernie Irvan #36 Skittles Wildberry Pontiac

    During the early 1990's, Ernie Irvan had transformed himself into a legitimate championship contender~ That would all change on August 20th 1994, when he was involved in a horrible accident during practice for the GM Goodwrench 400 @ Michigan~ Irvan was running practice laps when his right front tire went out, sending Irvan's car into the turn two wall at over 170 mph~ Emergency workers frantically worked to extricate Ernie from the car, and he was airlifted to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan~

    Diagnosed with critical brain and lung injuries, Irvan was given only a 10% chance to make it through the night~ Ernie clung to life, and by early September, he was listed in "fair" condition, and was removed from ventilator support~ A few weeks later, he was transferred to the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation~ A few weeks after the transfer, Ernie appeared and addressed fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway before the start of the UAW-GM 500~

    On September 16th 1995, Irvan was clear for competition by NASCAR~ His first attempt at qualifying came in a CTS race @ Martinsville, but qualifying was rained out, and the field was set by points standings~  The following weekend at North Wilksboro,  Irvan qualified his truck on the front row~ Six laps into the race, Irvan passed pole sitter Mike Skinner for the lead~

    He lead another 23 laps before mechanical problems sidelined him~  On October 1st @ North Wilksboro, Irvan made his return to the Cup Series~ Since Dale Jarrett had taken over the seat of the #28 car, Ernie instead ran the #88, also sponsored by Texaco~ After starting 7th, Irvan quickly moved up and took the lead on lap 125~ He led 31 laps, and finished in 6th~

                                                       Irvan crashing the Wildberry car~

    Irvan was back in the #28 for the start of the 1996 season, and Jarrett, as his teammate, piloted the #88 ride~ The season started off well, with Irvan qualifying on the front row of the Daytona 500, along side Dale Earnhardt~ During Speedweeks, Irvan captured his first victory since the Michigan crash, winning the 125 mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500~

    Irvan followed that up by winning the pole for the spring race at Talladega, and scored victories @ New Hampshire and Richmond~ Irvan's final Cup victory was an emotional one, coming @ Michigan, the track that nearly cost him his life 3 years earlier~ He finished 14th in the points standings, but was released at the end of the season~

    For the 1998 season, Irvan teamed up with MB2 Motorsports to drive the #36 Skittles Pontiac~ During the year he scored 11 top 10's, and earned 3 poles, despite missing the final 3 races while recovering from injuries sustained from a crash @ Talladega in October~ He finished the season winless, and 19th in the points standings~

    His son, Jared, was born on February 9th 1998~ The 1999 season saw a sponsor change for Irvan, with M&M's now on board~ Exactly 5 years after his near fatal accident, at the same track, Irvan crashed his own #84 Federated Auro Parts Pontiac in a practice session for the BGN race~

    He was again airlifted from the track, and diagnosed with a mild head injury, and a bruised lung~ Two weeks later, on September 3rd, 1999, Irvan, surrounded by his wife and two children, tearfully announced his retirement from driving in a press conference @ Darlington~ The reasoning for the retirement was to prevent future accidents, and that he had a family to take care of~

                                              Ernie Irvan #36 Skittles Wildberry Pontiac~

                                                            Click pics to enlarge~

               

    As a Racing Champions fan, I've got a few problems with this car~ I'm more of a fan of the early RC cars, the "cruder" ones~ Although the car is very nice looking, as far as the paint goes.. I'm a little upset with the way the tires look, and the window net is not appealing, imo~ These newer RC cars look a little strange sitting beside the older versions~ I do however love the pink car, and pretty much any pink car ever made~ I remember Patty Moise ran a pink car in the Busch Series back when I was young, and I got a piece of the sheet metal off her car after a Bristol race once~ It has since been lost, sadly~

    The card isn't that appealing either~ Gone are the days of having the drivers face on the card, as well as having the driver info and autograph on the back of the card~ These cars are also much lighter than the earlier versions of Racing Champions~ All in all though, it's a nice looking car, probably one of the best paint schemes Irvan ever had~ Much better than the original red Skittles car~

    In March of 2000, Ernie's house caught on fire, destroying all of his trophies~ NASCAR presented him with replicas of the lost trophies~ He now crew chiefs for his son Jared~ Irvan ended his Cup career with 15 wins, 124 top 10's, and 22 poles during 12 years, and 313 races~ I purposely didn't get into the beginning of his career, due to the fact that I still have some more Irvan cars to review~ If you would like to contact me, you can do so by email @ buttermilkjug@yahoo.com~ Below are some videos on his career~ Enjoy, and as always, thanks for stopping by~

                                                      1994 GM Goodwrench 400 Intro~

                                                         All of Ernie's Cup wins~

                                                         1991 Diehard 500 apology~

                                                1996 UAW-GM Quality 500 Hard Crash~

                                                    TNT Pre-race segment on Irvan~

                   

Larry Pearson #16 Chattanooga Chew Buick

    Larry Pearson is the son of NASCAR legend David Pearson, so you can imagine the excitement when it was announced in 1986 that Larry was moving up to the Cup Series for a team owned by his father, and crew chiefed by his brother Ricky~

    The original plan was for David to drive the first few races to get the team going, and then hand it over to Larry, but that never came about, as David was suffering from neck and back pains in the car~

    Larry's first Cup race would come in the 1986 Daytona 500, where he started 23rd, and finished 40th due to engine problems~ He next raced 25 races later in the Oakwood Homes 500 @ Charlotte, where he qualified 22nd, and finished 12th~

    The following season, Pearson ran 4 races, with his best again coming @ Charlotte in the Oakwood Homes 500, where he rolled off 33rd, and finished in 6th, earning him his first career top 10, 1 lap down~ He also managed to lead a lap during the race~

    He would fail to finish in the other 3 races~ (First Union 400 @ North Wilksboro - Rear end, Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte - Crash, Atlanta Journal 500 @ Atlanta - Crash)~ He ran 2 races in 1988, finishing 41st in Charlotte, and 21st in Atlanta~
                                                    Pearson's Buick behind the scenes~

    The 1989 season was the first, and only time that Larry competed in every race~ The team switched from Chevrolet's to Buick's, as Larry competed for Rookie of the Year honors, which he lost to Dick Trickle~

    He finished the season 23rd in points, having collected the final top 10's of his Cup racing career in the Pontiac Excitement 400 @ Richmond (6th), and the Miller High Life 500 @ Pocono (9th)~ Following the end of the season, Pearson lost his Chattanooga Chew sponsorship~

    He ran 19 races during the next 2 seasons, but it was clear that Pearson's Cup days were nearing an end~ His final Cup start came in the Hardee's 500 @ Atlanta, driving for Larry Hedrick's #41 Kellog's Corn Flakes Chevrolet, where he qualified 33rd, and finished 14th~  He attempted to qualify for 2 races (Daytona 500, Brickyard 400) in 1997, driving for Bud Moore, but failed to make the field for either event~

                                             Larry Pearson #16 Chattanooga Chew Buick~

                                                           Click pics to enlarge~

                                                      

    *UPDATE* ***The car you see now was created on Photoshop by me, on July 9th 2016~ So overlook what I said in the post below about it looking like an un-sponsored car~ I fixed that problem~***

     Larry's Racing Champions car basically looks like an un-sponsored car~ This is due to the fact that Racing Champions wasn't allowed to produce cars with alcohol or tobacco related sponsors~ To get around this, they would just produce the cars without the sponsors, or sometimes would use the team name on the car instead, for example, Rusty Wallace's car would say "Penske Racing" on it instead of Miller Genuine Draft~

    Speaking of Wallace, his #27 MGD car was produced by Racing Champions, causing an uproar by many parents, who felt it was wrong to have these cars for sale in the toy stores having beer sponsors on them~

    The car, being an early model Racing Champions Buick, isn't without its flaws~ If you click the pics to make them larger, you can see a lot of cracking in the paint.. this was common in early RC cars, especially with the Buick's and Oldsmobile's~ I've seen where some people order decals and put them on the car, and I must say, they look much nicer~ I still enjoy the car the way it is though~ I've seen some Larry Pearson cars that have his name in cursive, while some have just regular lettering, as this one has~ In all, Pearson ran 37 Cup races with this car~

    If you're not too familiar with Larry's career, you may be feeling a little bad about him, after reading this far.. but don't feel too bad~ Larry had a very successful BGN career that included 2 series Championships (1986,1987), and collected 15 wins, 129 top 10's, and 11 poles in 259 starts during his 16 year career~ His first win came in 1984 in the Bobby Isaac Memorial 200 @ Hickory, and his final win came in the 1995 Carolina Pride/Red Dog 250 @ Myrtle Beach~ Larry made his final BGN start in 1999's Textilease Medique 300 @ South Boston~

In 2010, I was at the Bristol race track watching one of my all time favorite drivers, Rick Wilson, win a Legends race~ With 5 laps to go, Pearson spun and hit the wall in turn 2, as he was sliding down the track, he was t-boned by Charlie Glotzbach in the drivers side at full speed~ Pearson was knocked uncontentious, and many feared the worst for him~

     The red flag was immediately displayed, and Pearson was cut out of the car and flown to  Bristol Regional Medical Center~ He suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured right hand, and a compound fracture to his left ankle which required surgery to repair~ Two days later, he was released from the Bristol hospital, and transported to the Carolina's Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition~ Below are a few videos from that race and from Pearson's career~ Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by~

                                        2010 Scott's Bristol Legends Showdown (full race)~

                                                     1991 Winston 500 Pearson crash~

                                                  1995 BGN Homestead Pearson crash~

                                                        Clip of 2010 Legends crash~

   

Bobby Hamilton #68 Country Time Oldsmobile

    Bobby Hamilton's BGN career started off in 1988 @ Charlotte in the 1988 All-Pro 300, where he qualified his #16 Hamilton Racing Chevrolet in 30th, and finished 14th~  His Cup series debut came about in a strange way, when he was asked to drive one of the "movie cars" for the 1990 film Days of Thunder~ Hamilton drove the #51 Exxon Chevrolet, owned by Rick Hendrick, in the 1989 Autoworks 500 @ Phoenix, where he qualified 5th, and finished 32nd due to engine failure~

    Bobby ran 3 races in 1990, the second of those races (Mello Yello 500 @ Charlotte) being his first race in the Country Time #68 car, which at that time was a Pontiac, where he started in 8th, but finished 39th due to a crash on lap 102~ The owner of the Country Time car was Mark Smith, who named the team Tri-Star Motorsports~ In 1991, the team switched to Oldsmobile's, as Bobby ran for and won Rookie of the Year honors, beating out Ted Musgrave, and finishing the season out with 4 top 10's~

     Halfway through the 1992 season, the team switched to Ford's~ Bobby finished the season with a couple of top 10's @ Dover and Phoenix~ He ran 8 races for the team in 1993, before being released~ Following his release, Hamilton drove 1 race for Brad Atkins in the Budweiser 500 @ Dover, driving the #38 Holgate Toys Ford, netting him his only top 10 of the season, with an 8th place running~ He attempted 2 more races with the team, (Charlotte and Talladega) but failed to qualify, and parted ways with the team~ He ran 6 more races that season in Dick Moroso's #20 Fina Lube Ford, with a best finish of 19th in the Pepsi 400 @ Daytona~

                                                   Bobby Hamilton #68 custom hero card~

    The following 1994 season seemed to start out on the right foot, with Hamilton set to drive the #40 Kendall Motor Oil Pontiac owned by former Cup veteran Dick Brook and Felix Sabates, and Crew chiefed by Jeff Hammond, but it proved to be a fruitless season for the team, with Hamilton only posting 1 top 10 (Bristol) all season, along with failing to qualify for the Michigan race~ Bobby parted ways with the team at the end of the season and signed with Petty Motorsports to drive the famous #43 STP Pontiac for "The King" Richard Petty~

    Hamilton had a breakthrough season, netting 10 top 10's, and 4 top 5's, while finishing 14th in the points standings~ The next season was even better, with Bobby giving Petty Motorsports their first victory since the King's win in the 1984 Firecracker 400, by winning the Dura Lube 500 @ Phoenix~ He also had 2 poles (Martinsville, Michigan), and finished a career best 9th in the points standings~


    In 1997, Hamilton would pick up another win, this time in the AC Delco 400 @ Rockingham, while capturing poles @ Pocono and Phoenix, and netting 6 top 5's and 8 top 10's~ In 1998 he signed on to race for the #4 Kodak Max Film Chevrolet, fielded by Morgan-McClure, and won an emotional race @ Martinsville in the Goody's 500, from the pole~  The the final win of his Cup career came in the 2001 Talladega 500, the first super speedway race ran since the death of Dale Earnhardt two months earlier~ A physically and mentally exhausted Hamilton slumped to the ground after exiting his car, and was given oxygen from a tank before giving his post-race victory lane interview, while sitting on the ground, leaning against the drivers door~

                                           Bobby Hamilton #68 Country Time Oldsmobile~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

     I always enjoyed seeing this race car during its time on the track~ In addition to Hamilton.. Greg Sacks, Dorsey Schroeder and Loy Allen Jr. also ran this car during the 1993 season~ The bright yellow of the car shines like the sun, and looks quite nice among the rest of your collection, no matter how big or small~ Country Time was spending mega bucks back then on advertising~ You almost couldn't turn on the television without seeing one of their commercials.. or go to the store without seeing a Bobby Hamilton cardboard cut-out promoting the stuff~ I have to say it worked though, I probably drank more Country Time Lemonade back then during those 3 years, than I have in the entire rest of my life~

    Bobby's Cup career resulted in 371 races ran over 15 years, with 4 wins, 67 top 10's and 5 poles~  After his Cup Career days were mostly behind him, Bobby found success in the Truck Series, where he won the Series Championship in 2004~ In 102 races, spanning 11 years in the Truck Series, he had 10 wins, with 54 top 10's and 5 poles~ Sadly, Bobby passed away on January 7th, 2007 after a short battle with head and neck cancer~ His son, Bobby Hamilton Jr., also had a brief career in NASCAR, where he won 5 races, had 63 top 10's and 4 poles in 253 races in the BGN series~ Below are some videos featuring parts of Bobby's career~ Enjoy, and thanks for reading~

             **Bonus car** Bobby's pink #68 Country Time car from the 1993 Daytona 500~ Custom~

                                                  Bobby's first Cup race (full race)~

                                                          All of Bobby's Cup wins~

                                                             Hamilton/Parsons tribute~

                                                Involved in crash in the Country Time car~

                                        1987 Bobby wins LMSC 50 lap feature race (#16 car)~