Steve Grissom #31 Roddenbery's Foods Oldsmobile

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ Today's post took me forever to put together, because I couldn't find many pictures of this car~ The car we're gonna be looking at today is the #31 Roddenbery's Foods Oldsmobile, driven in parts of the 1991, and 1992 BGN seasons by Steve Grissom~ Steve drove a white version of the car during the 1991 season, and switched to the maroon version for 1992~ Since the white version of the car was never made, I'm gonna be discussing both seasons in this post~

    With 4 wins during the 1991 season, driving the #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile, it was a little odd seeing Grissom's team show up to the season opener in Daytona sponsorless~ The team, which was owned by Steve's father, Wayne, ran the first 6 races of the season before picking up a partial season deal with Roddenbery's Quality Foods~ Roddenbery's, who was new to the sport, ended up sponsoring Grissom's car for 17 races during the 1991 season~ Now let's get into how he did in the car~

                                           Grissom on track in the white Roddenbery's car~

    After 6 races, Grissom was able to pick up 2 top 10's (Miller Classic @ Martinsville - 6th, Spring 200 @ Volusia County - 9th), and drove his first race for Roddenbery's in the Pontiac 200 @ Darlington~ He qualified in 16th, but was in a lap 24 crash which also took out Rich Burgess, and Jack Sprague~ Grissom's day was done, and he finished in 37th place~ His next race with the sponsor came 2 races later, in the Nestle 200 @ Lanier, where he started and finished in 26th place, due to a blown engine~

    He then ran in the Carquest 300 @ South Boston, where he picked up his only pole award of the season~ After leading the first 88 laps, he lost the lead to Chuck Bown, and never led again, finishing in 5th place, one lap off the pace of eventual race winner Jeff Burton (his only win at his home track)~ This race is also remembered for the death of driver Gary Neice, who had a heart attack during the race, and crashed into the wall~

    Grissom finished 20th in the Champion 300 @ Charlotte, and then picked up another top 10, with an 8th place showing in the Budweiser 200 @ Dover~ He finished 12th in the Roses Stores 300 @ Rougemont, and then notched another top 5 in the Granger Select 400 @ Hickory, with a 5th place effort~ He would better that the following week, in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 250 @ Myrtle Beach, as he led 9 laps, and came home with a 3rd place finish~

                                            Nice promo shot of the white Roddenbery's car~

    Following his 3rd place finish @ Myrtle Beach, Grissom ran the next 3 races with Channellock sponsorship, with finishes of 9th @ Watkins Glen, 9th @ Oxford, and 3rd @ Loudon~ He returned to the Roddenbery's car for the Coors Light 300 @ South Boston, where he qualifed in 14th, and drove to the front at just the right time~ Kenny Wallace led the majority of the race, but Grissom passed him with 50 to go, and led the way to the checkered flag, for his only win of the season~

    In the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin, Grissom picked up a 6th place finish, and finished 4th in the Texas Pete 300 @ Rougemont~ That was the last decent finish he had during the season, and he finished it out with 1 pole, 1 win, 7 top 5's, and 13 top 10's, while finishing 10th in the final points standings~ For the start of the 1992 season, Grissom would again split the season with the Roddenbery's and Channellock Tools~

                                         Grissom's car changed colors for the 1992 season~

    Grissom ran a total of 15 races with the Roddenbery's sponsorship in 1992, including the season opening Goody's 300 @ Daytona~ He rolled off 16th in the 44 car field, and brought the car home safely, in the 10th position~ The following week, NASCAR was @ Rockingham, for the Goodwrench 200, and Grissom finished 7th in this race~ He next raced the Roddenbery's car @ Atlanta, in the Atlanta 300, where he finished 17th~

    He next ran the car @ Darlington, in the Mark III Vans 200, where he started in 16th, and battled his way to a 6th place finish~ This was followed up by a poor showing in the Budweiser 250 @ Bristol, where he started 24th, and finished in 21st place, at a track he normally ran well at~ In the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin,  Grissom's car was sponsored by both Channellock, and Roddenbery's, in what was the first, and last pairing of the two sponsors~ He started in 15th, before climbing his way up to a 4th place finish~

    That 4th place finish proved to be the highest finishing position of the season for Grissom, while driving the Roddenbery's colors~  It was looking like 1992 just wasn't going to ever go his way, and it really didn't~ In his next race in the Roddenbery's car (Champion 300 @ Charlotte), he finished 29th, following a crash on lap 111~ And that's about how the whole season went for Grissom... rarely any hits, and tons of misses~

                                                   Both of these cars were real beauties~

    In the Goodwrench 200 @ Dover, Grissom started dead last in the 27 car field, but managed to scrape out a 12th place finish~ Robert Pressley won the race, and Clifford Allison picked up his final top 10, finishing in the 9th spot~ Butch Miller also had a nice run in the Charlie Henderson owned, #75 Food Country USA Oldsmobile, with a 7th place finish~

    The next stop on the circuit was @ Rougemont, for the Roses Stores 300~ Grissom started the race in 18th, and was never able to move up to the front, finishing in 20th place following a blown engine~ This race was the first ever race for former Atlanta Falcons football coach, Jerry Glanville, who finished 22nd, following a crash, and was won by Robert Pressley, who won the previous week as well~

    Grissom next raced the car in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 200 @ Myrtle Beach, where he rolled off in 6th, and after leading 32 laps, fell back, and finished in 11th place~ Jimmy Spencer won the race, driving for Rob Moroso's father, in the car that Rob used to race~ It was a very emotional victory lane, with Spencer coming back from 3 laps down to take the checkered flag~

                                                            All good things come to an end~

    The Roddenbery's car was back on the track @ Talladega, for the Fram Filter 500K, where Grissom qualified a disappointing 26th, and came home in 16th, at least all in one piece~ He finished 13th in the Texas Pete 300 @ Rougemont, and 11th in the Food City 250 @ Bristol, where he was running strong, until his engine gave up~ Butch Miller and Rick Wilson were both driving Food Country USA sponsored cars, and both finished in the top 10, in a rare "icing on the cake" moment for the Charlie Henderson owned team~

    Grissom started from the 13th spot in the Autolite 200 @ Richmond, but an oil leak put him out of the race by lap 66, resulting in a 31st place finish~ He next ran the car in the Winston Classic @ Martinsville, in what would be his final time driving for Roddenbery's~ He started 32nd in the 32 car field, and worked his way up to 11th by the end of the race~ Bobby Labonte won the race, and Butch Miller finished 3rd, in the Food Country USA Oldsmobile~

   Steve finished the season with 1 pole, 1 win, 2 top 5's, and 7 top 10's, while finishing 12th in the final points standings~ This was his worst season in three years, but he would make up for it the following season, by winning the series championship, driving the #31 Channellock Chevrolet~ Roddenbery's Foods was sold to Dean Foods in 1993, thus ending its tenure in NASCAR permanantly~ Now let's take a peek at this beautiful hot rod~

                                        Steve Grissom #31 Roddenbery's Foods Oldsmobile~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    I want to start out by saying that I wouldn't have this car if it wasn't for my good friend Jeff Glover, who was kind enough to send it to me as a gift~ I'm very appreciative for it~ Also, as with the Ken Schrader car I posted yesterday, this one has a Photoshop custom card, and didn't originally come with a card~ It comes in a promo package, by Racing Champions, and has details about Grissom and the team on the back~

   Now that all the information is out of the way... I really, really love this car!~ I've never been a fan of the color maroon, but it for some reason looks great on a NASCAR car~ As I've mentioned in my Butch Miller Food Coutnry post, my Dad was a grocery store supervisor for many years, so I remember Roddenbery's products vividly, which adds a lot to my appeal of the car, personally~

    The striping around the bottom of the car is also a very nice touch~ Watching this car at the track was awesome~ It looked even better in person, and I wish I could see one restored~ Some of my favorite BGN races from Bristol were of Jimmy Spencer and Steve Grissom battling it out for the win~ Those guys could flat out run like a wildchild at Bristol, and it was a pleasure to get to see them so many times~ I give this car an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ While I am sad it didn't come with a card, or stand.. the packaging on the front and back of this one easily makes up for that, as far as I'm concerned~

    Steve was always one of my underdog heroes, like Ken Schrader was~ I know it gets said a lot, and people get tired of hear it, but he's one of them people that didn't get a good ride in the Cup series~ Heck, he got a top 10 in a Petty car in 2002.. that's pretty amazing~ Something happened to Grissom after 1997, and I think it was his crash in Atlanta~ He just never was the same, no matter what series he raced in after that crash~ It's a shame, because I witnessed that he was an amazing driver, countless times at Bristol~ Anyway, thanks for stopping by the blog again~ Below are some old Grissom videos~ :)

                                                         The 1997 crash @ Atlanta~

                                                     Steve Grissom with Mean Gene~

                                                Steve Grissom leading at Hickory 1992~

                                             Steve Grissom crash - 1994 Coca-Cola 600~

                                                                              


   

Ken Schrader #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet

    Welcome back to another installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ In today's post, I'm gonna be reminiscing about the 1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington~ This particular race was the only time that Ken Schrader drove the #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet~ He ran a total of 9 BGN races during the 1993 season, with sponsorship from AC Delco for the other races~

    The 1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington was held on Saturday, September 4th~ 43 drivers attempted to make the 42 car field, with Eddie Sharp being the only driver to be sent home, in his #24 Thackston Racing Ford~ For reasons unknown to me, Schrader entered the race in his self-owned #52 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Morema Inc.~ He qualified 7th for the event, with Ricky Craven taking the pole, in his #99 DuPont Chevrolet~

                                 Schrader often participated in BGN races throughout the 90's~

                                                            Click picture to enlarge~

   Ward Burton started on the outside of row number one, and came up with the lead on the first lap~ He led the first 12 laps of the race, but was never a factor for the remainder of the event, finishing in 23rd place, 3 laps down~ A lap 3 crash ended the days of Roy Payne in the #27 Agency Rent-A-Car Chevrolet, and Richard Lasater in the High Point Bedding Chevrolet~ On lap 13, Burton was passed by the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford, driven by Mark Martin~ Martin held that lead until lap 41, when he was passed by our man Ken, who held the lead for 3 laps, giving it up to Harry Gant's #7 French's Mustard Chevrolet on lap 44~

    Dale Earnhardt, who started in 21st place, had been making his way through the field in his #3 Goodwrench Chevrolet, when his transmission gave out, on lap 36, ending his day far too early~ On lap 47, Jimmy Spencer, driving the #10 Kimberly Clark Chevrolet, suffered a blown engine, and was out of the race~ He would finish in 40th place~ On the 55th lap of the race, Bill Elliott would take his #11 Budweiser Ford behind the wall with ignition problems, ending his day, and finishing 38th~

                        He was also known to run a few ARCA races~ Shown here in his #58 car~

                                                           Click picture to enlarge~

    On lap 63, Gant was passed by Michael Waltrip's #30 Pennzoil Pontiac, who led for 1 lap, before handing the lead over to Joe Nemechek's #87 Dentyne Chevrolet~ On lap 86, Rick Wilson's #75 Food Country Chevrolet was tagged in the read by the #2 Hardee's Chevrolet of Ward Burton, which sent him into the wall, ending his day~ He was running in 5th place at the time of the crash~ Three laps later, Jim Bown was punted into the wall in his #98 Pugh Oil Chevrolet, putting him out of the race in 36th~

    Harry Gant regained the lead for 4 laps after the caution, but was passed by the #31 Channellock Chevrolet of Steve Grissom, who led the next 15 laps~ In a matter of 15 laps, the cars of Michael Waltrip, Jack Sprague, and Harry Gant all suffered blown engines, as well as Tommy Houston who had overheating issues~ On lap 142, the #59 Alliance Training Centers Chevrolet of Robert Pressley also suffered from engine troubles, and he would finish in the 28th position~

                       Schrader was respected in the garage~  Shown here with Davey Allison~

                                                         Click picture to enlarge~

    Mark Martin took the lead for the final time on lap 111, leading the remaining 37 laps on his way to victory lane~ His win marked the first for Ford in the BGN series @ Darlington~  He led a race high 65 laps, and was followed to the checkered flag by the #20 Fina Lube Chevrolet of Randy LaJoie, who came home runner-up, Chad Little finished 3rd in the #23 Bayer Select Ford, Joe Nemechek finished in 4th, and Steve Grissom came home in the 5th position~

    As for Ken, he brought the #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet home in the 13th spot~ Tracy Leslie had a solid run, finishing in 6th, and Rick Mast picked up a top 10, finishing 10th in the #0 Skoal Classic Chevrolet~ I wish I knew the reason behind the one time sponsorship with Morema Inc. for this race, but I just don't~ I couldn't even find a picture of the actual car~ The only way it can be seen is by watching the actual race, which I will include down below~ At this point, lets move on to the diecast version of this awesome car~

                                                Ken Schrader #52 Morema Inc. Chevrolet~

                                                            Click pictures to enlarge~                               

                   
    I guess to some, this would be a pretty plain car~ I've never been a fan of a white paint scheme, but this one looks pretty sharp~ Ken has a great signature, which looks nice on the hood~ I'm not really sure what Morema Inc. is/was, but I do know the first weekend of September is Labor Day, so maybe that had something to do with the sponsorship for that race~

   Ken Schrader was always one of my underdog favorites~ I can't remember how many time I thought he was gonna win the Daytona 500, but it was a lot~ I get happy when he runs the truck race @ Eldora, and I hope he continues to do so for a while~ It was awesome watching him win the pole a couple years back, and I hope to watch him do it again someday~

   I give this car an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, due to the fact that they even made it~ It was limited to 5,000 made, so there are some out there~ I suggest buying it, if it isn't already in your collection, because it's got its own little piece of history to tell, and it's a great car~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog again~ Below are some random NASCAR videos, as well as the full 1993 Gatorade 200 race that this car ran in~ Please share this post on any social media site you may be a part of, and I'll see ya' next time on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~ :)

                                              1993 Gatorade 200 @ Darlington (full race)~

                                                    1993 BGN Bad Johnny Benson crash~

                                              Gene Glover/Dale Jarrett bad crash - 1980~

                                              End of 1992 Goodwrench 200~ Ward win~

   

Dick Trickle #64 Schneider National Chevrolet

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ I'll have to ask you to excuse my absence, it's hard to find time to get these posts done, now that I've got a second child~ I had a little free time today, and already had these pictures done a while ago, and for that reason, today's post is on Dick Trickle's #64 Schneider National Chevrolet, from the 1998 BGN season~

    I still have some request to get to that I haven't forgotten about, but I've gotta get some spare time to take the pictures, and do some editing to them~ Following the end of the 1997 BGN season, where Trickle won his first career BGN race, he lost his Dura-Lube sponsorship, and replaced them with Schneider National~ He was driving for Dennis Shoemaker, in what ended up being his final season with the team~

                                                           Dick Trickle T-shirt design~

    Trickle's first race with his newly sponsored Chevrolet came in the 1998 season opening NAPA Auto Parts 300 @ Daytona, where he qualified in 15 place, but never was a factor in the event, and finished in 23rd, one lap off the pace of eventual race winner, "Front Row" Joe Nemechek, who led an outstanding 105 of the 120 laps~

    Dick's first top 10 of the season came three races later, in the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 320 @ Nashville, where he started in 22nd, and worked his way up to a 9th place finish~ He followed that up with his first top 5 of the season, with a 3rd place finish in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 @ Darlington~ After five events, Trickle found himself 7th in the BGN points standings, despite also running a full Cup season in Junie Donlavey's #90 Heilig-Meyers Ford~

    He qualified poorly in the Moore's Snacks 250 @ Bristol, with a 28th place starting spot, but was able to claw his way up to a 13th place finishing position, and was still in 7th place in the BGN points standings~ He then failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 300 @ Fort Worth Texas, along with seven other drivers~ This race is notable for being the first BGN win of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s career, as well as having some pretty scary crashes, and driver injuries~ It was also the first, and only career top 5 for Idaho driver, Jeff Krogh, whose career was cut tragically short @ Milwaukee in 1999~

                                          Trickle crashing with Dale Jr. @ Daytona~ 1998~

    "Tricky" Dick was back the following week for the Galaxy Food Centers 300 @ Hickory, where he qualified nicely, in 9th spot, but wasn't able to make up any ground in the race, and finished in the 11th position~  He picked up another top 5 the next week, in the Touchstone Energy 300 @ Talladega, where he started in the 16th position, led for 37 laps, and finished in 5th place, behind Buckshot Jones, Mike McLaughlin, Phil Parsons, and race winner "Front Row" Joe Nemechek~

     Trickle finished 13th in the Gumout Long Life Formula 200 @ Loudon, and 12th in the First Union 200 @ Nazareth~ He finished 20th in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 @ Charlotte, but still remained 7th in the BGN points standings~ He qualified 4th in the MBNA Platinum 200 @ Dover, but didn't have the power he needed to stay there, resulting in a 12th place finish~ Dick qualified 10th in the Hardee's 250 @ Richmond, and drove the car to an 8th place finish~ After the race, he had climbed to a season high of 5th in the BGN points standings, but bad luck was coming his way~

    After starting in 7th place, a blown engine in the DieHard 250 @ the Milwaukee Mile resulted in a 41st place finish~ After skipping the Myrtle Beach race due to his Cup schedule, he next raced in the Kentwood Home & Car Audio 300 @ Fontana, where again he had engines woes, which resulted in a 39th place finish~ He finished 11th in the Pepsi 200 Presented by DeVilbiss @ Michigan, before finishing a disappointing 29th in the Food City 250 @ Bristol~ By this point, he had fallen to 21st in the BGN points standings, and also skipping the races @ South Boston, and IRP~

                                                                Trickle tames Darlington~

    Dick's season came to a climax in the Dura-Lube 200 Presented by Bi-Lo @ Darlington, where he qualified in 4th place, and had his way with the "Lady in Black", leading 24 laps, on his way to his only victory of the season, as well as the last in his BGN career~ He followed his win up with an 8th place finish in the Autolite Platinum 250 @ Richmond, in what would be his final top 10 of the season~

     Trickle qualified 5th in the MBNA Gold 200 @ Dover, but was involved in a lap 1 crash, which also claimed Dale Jarrett, which resulted in a 42nd place finish~ He then went to Charlotte, for the All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300, where he started the race in the 4th spot, but had engine problems, and finished in 34th place~ He won the pole for the Stihl 300 @ Atlanta, but the car had radiator issues, which resulted in a 38th place finishing position~

     In his final race with the team, which was also the final race of the season, the Jiffy Lube Miami 300 @ Homestead, Trickle qualifed 32nd, and was involved in a solo crash on lap 2, which knocked him out of the race, with a 43rd place finish~ He ended the 1998 BGN season with  1 pole position, 1 win, 3 top 5's, and 6 top 10's, while leading 70 laps, and finishing 22nd in the BGN final points standings~ He ran a total of 23 of the scheduled 31 events~ Trickle would leave the team at the end of the season, and run the next 2 BGN seasons driving the #5 Schneider National Chevrolet for Jimmy Spencer~

                                          Dick Trickle #64 Schneider National Chevrolet~

                                                               Click Pics to enlarge~

    I was always a big fan of this paint scheme~ I'm also a fan of the orange Schneider trucks that you see driving on the interstate (although my favorites are the Werner trucks)~ I pretty much like any orange race car, the Tide car, the Yellow #1 car, even Carl Long's #13 car~ Trickle was always a fan favorite, as well as a favorite of mine~ When he drove this car, he was 56 years old, and still getting the job done, and winning a race here and there~

    As I've said in previous posts, I'm not a fan of these later model Racing Champions cars~ They are very cheap, and the tires are horrible looking~ They don't weigh near as much as an older version does, and the interior looks plain, and just not good~ I liked them better with blacked out windows~ I also don't really like the green door post on this car~ That's how it looked on the real version, I just never liked it, and didn't understand why it was there~

    I'm gonna give this car a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale, mainly due to the card being pretty much plain, and also because I'm just not a fan of these later editions~ Dick Trickle was a heck of a race car driver, and I'm glad I got to see him race many times~ He was a real fun guy, and had a heart of gold, as well as a personality that could light up the sky, and I'll miss him~ Below are some videos that span throughout his career~ Enjoy them, and as always, thanks for stopping by the blog~ Please remember to share this post on any for of social media out there, and have a happy Fall, y'all~

                                                   Rusty Wallace statement on Trickle~

                                                Funny NAPA commercial featuring Dick~

                                                                Dick's Darlington win~

                           Dick's 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year speech~ 48 years old~