Todd Bodine #61 Roush Performance Products Ford

    Hello again Racing Champions fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions 1/64 diecast blog!~ You know, with all these new rules for the upcoming season, I sure am glad that I get to write about the good ol' days~ Don't get me wrong, I'll never turn my back on the sport, and I'll always watch every race that I can, but I'm just not a fan of the way the sport has changed over the past 15 years~

    It seems each season gets more and more ridiculous, yet all we have to do is look to the past to find some great racing~ In today's post, I'm going to be looking back to Todd Bodine's time in the #61 Roush Performance Products Ford, which he drove for five races in the inaugural season of the Truck series~ Todd did amazing in this truck, and I think if he had ran the full season, he would have given Mike Skinner a run for his money~ Let's jump right into this thing, shall we?~

                                                         Bodine @ Mesa Marin - 1995~

    Bodine's first truck race didn't come until the 12th race of the season, in the "Heartland Tailgate 175" @ Topeka, Kansas, which was the first road course event in series history~ Todd qualified 3rd for the event, while Ron Hornaday Jr. won the pole, driving the #16 Papa John's Pizza Chevrolet, owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc.~

    This race was also the only start in the series for legendary car owner, Rick Hendrick, who drove the #25 Budweiser Chevrolet~ During the race, he tangled with teammate Scott Lagasse, and was eventually put out of the race with transmission issues, finishing in 23rd place~ This was also the series debut of Darrell Waltrip, who was filling in for Ken Schrader in the #52 AC Delco Chevrolet~ Waltrip would start the race from the 8th position, and move up a couple spots during the race to finish in 6th~

    Kerry Teague (no relation to Brad Teague) was involved in a brutal crash on the 9th lap of the race, which effectively ended his racing career~ Bodine stayed up front all day long, and while he never led a lap, he ended up with a solid 4th place finish~ Ron Hornaday Jr. led all but two laps of the race, on his way to victory lane~ Joe Ruttman finished in 2nd, followed by Terry Labonte, Bodine, and Mike Skinner finished out the top 5~ Ruttman was able to lead the other 2 laps, picking up 5 bonus points, and giving him the points lead following the race~

                           I had to make all of these pictures, so I'm sorry for the poor quality~

    Todd's next race in the series came in the "Fas Mart Supertruck Shootout" @ Richmond, Va.~
He qualified 13th for the event, while Terry Labonte won the pole in the #5 Dupont Refinishes Chevrolet, which was painted up just like Jeff Gordon's "Rainbow Warrior" car~ This was Labonte's final start in the series, in which he ran 3 races during the 1995 season~

    Geoff Bodine led a large portion (97 laps) of the race, driving the #7 Exide Batteries Ford, and he looked like he had the truck to beat all day long~ Several driver made their series debut in this race including, Rodney Combs Jr., Hermie Sadler, Derrike Cope, Bugs Hairfield, and probably a couple others that I'm forgetting about~

    In the end, Terry Labonte was able to pick up the win, in what turned out to be his only truck series victory~ The race had a wild finish, with the top 4 trucks finishing just one second apart~ Todd ended up finishing in 6th place, and Derrike Cope finished a surprising 7th~ The top 5 consisted of race winner Terry Labonte, followed by Geoff Bodine, Mike Skinner, Joe Ruttman, and Ken Schrader~

                                  Bodine battles with Ernie Irvan (28) and Mike Skinner (3)~

    Todd next raced in the "Goody's 150" @ Martisville, Va., and qualified 26th for the event, his worst qualifying effort of the season~ Eventual series champions Mike Skinner won the pole in the #3 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet~ Ernie Irvan, who had been out of racing for some time following his crash at Michigan, was attempting a comeback starting with this race, though he failed to make the field because qualifying was rained out~

    Geoff Bodine's son, Barry Bodine made his NASCAR debut in this race, driving the #07 Tanya Tucker's Salsa Ford for his Dad~ Geoff was dating Tanya at the time, so what a convenient sponsor for his son's debut~ I'm sure the salsa has been discontinued by now, just as Tanya, Geoff, and Barry's careers~ :P

    Kenny Wallace also made his truck series debut, and he finished 4th in the Red Dog Ford~ Mike Skinner led 134 laps, and looked like the truck to beat, but ol' man Joe Ruttman had other plans, and he went on to win the race in the 1-800-COLLECT Ford~ He became the third driver in series history to win more than one race in a season, along with Hornaday, and Skinner~ Todd Bodine finished in 6th place, and the top 5 finishers consisted of race winner Ruttman, followed by Skinner, Johnny Benson, Kenny Wallace, and Hermie Sadler~

                                        Bodine and Bill Sedgwick in the pits at Mesa Marin~

    Bodine next competed in the "Lowe's 150" at North Wilkesboro, NC., where he qualified in the 9th spot~ Mike Skinner again won the pole in the #3 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet, and Ernie Irvan finally started his NASCAR comeback, qualifying on the outside of the front row in the #28 NAPA/United Brake Systems Ford~

    Geoff Bodine was strong early in the race, but struggled following the halfway break~ He still managed to finished in 3rd place~ Jack Sprague's truck also looked strong for a while, but he eventually faded away to finish in 4th~ This was the series debut of Mike Wallace, who had engine troubles, and finished in 29th place~

    In the end, Mike Bliss picked up his first truck series win, driving the #2 Ultra Custom Wheels Ford~ Bliss passed Jack Sprague with 21 laps to go, and led all the way to the checkered flag~ Ernie Irvan ran strong up until the halfway point, but changes made to his truck didn't work out, and he dropped out due to suspension issues, which resulted in a 30th place finish~ Todd ran a smooth race, and ended up finishing in 7th place~ The top 5 consisted of race winner Bliss, Butch Miller, Geoff Bodine, Jack Sprague, and Ron Hornaday~

                                                           Bodine on the track - 1995~

    Bodine's final race in the #61 truck came in the "Spears Manufacturing 200" @ Mesa Marin~ Now, I watched this race, and the announcers said that Bodine was scheduled to run the next season in the #61 truck, but he never did~ So I'm not sure what happened with that, but he didn't run another truck race until 2004 following this start~

    Bill Sedgwick won the pole in the #75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet, and Bodine qualified alongside of him in the second spot~ Todd led the first lap of the race, which ended up being the only lap he led all season, and although he was strong at first, he quickly fell back, and never was much of a factor in the race~ Surprisingly, this would be his worst finish of the season, and he finished in 8th place~ That's pretty impressive, to say the least~

    Ron Hornaday had the truck to beat all day it seemed, leading 108 of the 200 laps, but he faded at the end, and finished in 15th~ In the end, Mike Skinner won the race in the GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet, followed by Mike Bliss, Ernie Irvan, Jack Sprague, and Joe Ruttman~ The #61 truck never competed again following this race, as Roush fielded the #99 Exide truck following the 1995 season~ I really wish I knew why the Bodine deal fell through, but that's just one of them unsolved mysteries of racing~

                                           Todd Bodine #61 Roush Performance Products Ford~

    I think it's safe to say that Jack Roush wanted the world to know who was sponsoring this truck.. heck, his name is on it in 7 different places~ Even so, it's still not a bad looking truck~ I sort of like the simplistic paint scheme, and it reminds me of the #27 Indianapolis Colts scheme that Rick Wilson's car had during the 1997 Brickyard 400~




    I never did care much for Jack Roush~ I didn't like Mark Martin, because I felt like he was an entitled prick, and Roush would always make stupid driver changes that I didn't agree with~ I really got made when he got rid of Chad Little to make room for Kurt Busch, yet he kept Kevin Lepage, who never did anything in that #16 car~ Little had some great runs in the John Deere car, picking up 1 top 5, and 14 top 10's in 3 1/2 seasons, which is much better than Lepage did~

   Anyway, back to the truck here.. I'm going to give it a C+ on the Racing Champions quality scale~ While it is a pretty exact replica of the real truck, I'm just not a huge fan of it, and the card is absolutely horrible looking~ This truck could have had a much better looking card that this~ Todd never finished outside the top 10 in this truck, and they should have done a better job on the card~ Now, let's take a look at the bonus car~

                                                 Diggity Dave #49 Gold Bond Chevrolet~

    Well, for this one, I used Stanley Smith's #49 Ameritron Batteries Chevrolet, and although they look pretty much identical, I'm gonna have to pat myself on the back, and say that I think this one looks better than the original~ While I do like the Smith car, I just think this Gold Bond car looks better than his Ameritron Batteries car~

    I'm not a fan of foot powders.. because then you've got a bunch of crusty ol' powder all in your shoes~ I do like the Gold Bond logo, though~ When I was a kid, I thought Gold Bond was some kind of magical powder, because I always saw old people with it, and I used to think old people were wizards~ :P I give this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, because I'm not 100% satisfied with the deck lid logo~ It's a little off~

    I'd like to thank you all for stopping by the blog again to get another dose of NASCAR history~ I enjoyed researching this one, because I'm a big fan of the early truck series days~ I was at the very first truck series race that was ran at Bristol, and I was hooked from that day on~ If you're a fan of the blog, please click the follow button at the top right hand side of this page, and share this post on social media~ It helps out a lot, and lets new people find out about the page here~ Below are some clips of the old truck series, as well as some Todd Bodine stuff, though I couldn't find any small clips of this truck~ Have a great weekend, and I hope to see ya' next time on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~ :)

                                               Rick Carelli big crash @ Martinsville 1995~

                                                   Wayne Jacks flip @ Portland - 1995~

                               Finish of the Total Petroleum 200 @ Colorado Speedway - 1995~

                                                             Bodine wins Darlington~

     

1989 Racing Champions / Action Promo Set

    Hello again, and welcome to the 100th installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ I wanted to make this a special post, since it's the 100th one.. so I picked this rare set from 1989, pairing Action, and Racing Champions, in what was the first Racing Champions cars produced~ I do not own these cars, but a friend of mine was kind enough to take some pictures for me, and I was able to make them work~

    I've put in a lot of hours during these 100 blog posts, and I've learned several things along the way that I was never aware of, as well as re-lived some of the memories that I could remember~ There's definitely no shortage in Racing Champions cars, so here's to 100 more posts!~ :) With all of that out of the way, let's get into this special installment of the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~

                              Frank Wagenhals - President and Founder of Action Products Inc.~

    These business cards I show in the post are also courtesy of my friend, Jeff Glover~ This one is of the President/founder, Fred Wagenhals~ Fred is known in the industry as the "Godfather of diecasts"~ He was inducted into the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2010~

   Wagenhals is currently the founder and chairman of Winners Development LLC., a real estate development company~ Wagenhals and Action were in a legal dispute in 1999, and the company was sold to Bruton Smith by 2005~

                                  Fred Miller - Director of Racing at Racing Champions Inc.~

  "Waterbed" Fred Miller may be best known as part of the team behind Raymond Beadle's three consecutive NHRA Funny Car Championships in the Blue Max Mustang~ He was a well respected, and highly regarded mechanic, and he traveled along with Beadle to over 100 events per year, as well as both U.S. Championship tours~

    Miller was Wagenhals' first employee, and was hired to deal with the licensing side of the business~ Miller was with Wagenhals when he made the trip to North Carolina, to attempt to obtain the licensing rights for Dale Earnhardt~ Once there, they boarded Earnhardt's boat on Lake Norman, and Earnhardt didn't hesitate to ask how much he was going to get out of the deal~

    Without thought, Wagenhals blurted out the number 300,000, and Earnhardt happily agreed, but wanted his money up front~ There was one problem.. Wagenhals didn't have the cash~ So he rushed back, sold his house, moved into an apartment, and handed Earnhardt the check a week or so later~

    In an interview about his time with Racing Champions, Miller stated "I was approached by Fred Wagenhals with this idea of putting a car in a blister pack with a trading card, under the name Racing Champions. They were going to sell it wholesale~ It looked like a good opportunity because I was though racing, so I got involved in the licensing of things~" He was later fired by Racing Champions, but quickly scooped up by Action~

                         Tod Wagenhals -  National Accounts Manager at Action Products Inc.~

    Tod is the son of Fred Wagenhals~ He was 24 years old at the time of this business card, and was a National Accounts Manager with the company~ He graduated in 1983 from Arcadia High School, in Phoenix, Arizona~ He is currently the Executive Vice President, and C.O.O. of Winners Development LLC., the real estate development company, owned by his father~

    Local charges were filed against him in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 26th, 2006, and he appeared in the Scottsdale Municipal Court~ I'm not sure of what the charges were, or the outcome of the case, but it did go to a jury trial~ I'm guessing since I can't find much on it, that whatever it was, the charges were dropped~ Tod is currently 52 years old, likes to golf a lot, and he's pretty good at it~

                            Darla Mack - National Accounts Manager for Action Products Inc.~

    Darla Mack (now Darla Mack Perkins) had the same job title as Tod Wagenhals~ I'm sure she did more work than Tod, but was paid a lot less~ Poor 80's women~ :P All jokes aside, Darla's job with the company was to make sure customers were happy, as well as recruit new customers, or potential customers/clients~

    Darla Perkins is currently 55 years old, and lives in Irving, Texas~ She is currently working as a Procurement Specialist at International Power, in the Lubbock/Dallas area~ She is married to John Perkins~ I'm not sure how long she stayed with the company, but I didn't find her name in any of the articles I was finding for this post, so she may not have been around long~

                           Melodee Dean - National Accounts Manager for Action Products Inc.~

    Melodee Dean was also a National Accounts Manager with Action Products Inc.~ She was influential during the Days of Thunder diecast marketing craze~ She is currently 52 years old, and lives in Florida with her husband, Lawrence Dean~

    Dean also runs a not-for-profit called "First Baptist Church of Floral City Inc.", which operates a pet food drop-off & distribution center~ As with Darla Perkins, I'm not sure how long Dean was with the company, but I do think it was longer than Perkins was~

                                                     1989 Action (black Ford) promo card~

                                                             Back of the Action card~

    This is the card that comes with the black car in the set~ As you can see, it's pretty dull, but gosh... it's so rare~ I love this card, based solely on the rarity of it, this whole set in this post is beyond insane rare~ I'm happy to at least know someone who has them~

    On a quality scale, this card gets a D-, because it's just so boring, but on a rarity scale, it's gotta be an A+, so I'd guess that averages the card out to about a C+ overall~

                                          1989 Racing Champions (red Ford) promo card~

    This card, besides the fact of having a cooler logo than Action, is even more boring than the Action one~ This is all it is, nothing on the back, just blank white~ I wish they would have written something on the back... some kind of anything would have been nice~ It's still awesome to see this card, since it's such a rare piece of Racing Champions history~

    This one is getting a D+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, since there wasn't anything written on the back~ Enough with these cards, let's get down to the cars themselves, shall we?~

                                                        1989 Action Promo Black Ford~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

                                           1989 Racing Champions Promo Red Ford~

                                                                  Click pics to enlarge~

    I would consider these to be the rarest of all of the Racing Champions cars ever produced~ I could be wrong about that, but I know they are super hard to find, at least for sale~ I know of 5 people who have them, and only 3 who have both of them, along with their cards they came with~ As far as the business cards go, those 3 guys are the only ones I know who own them~ I'm sure there are lots more out there somewhere, but they're just super hard to come across~

   You just know several of these sets are lying around somewhere, not being cared about.. I'd say some people have them, and don't even know what they are~ But that's the fun of collecting the old Racing Champions stuff... you just never know what you're gonna find, or what the price will be when you do find it~ I've got cars for as low as 25 cents, still in the packaging.. but I've also paid 62 bucks for a single 1/64... so you just never know, and you've always gotta be on the lookout~

    I'd like to again thank my friend Jeff Glover for letting me use these pictures for the blog~ I hope someday I can replace them with pictures of my own set~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog for this special 100th edition post!~ Below is the bonus car for this post, as well as a video of Fred Wagenhals' HOF speech, and some random NASCAR videos~ Stay safe, and I'll see ya' the next time, here on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

                             **Bonus car** Kenny Wallace #36 Cox Treated Lumber Pontiac~

    If Racing Champions came back, and started making retro 1/64's, this is one I'd love to see them make~ I was always a big fan of both Cox schemes, but this green and white scheme was always my personal favorite~

    This car was a bit tricky to make, but I was impressed with the outcome~ I give it an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, because it does have some minor flaws, but from a distance, she's a beaut, Clark... She's a real beaut!~ :)

                                         Frank Wagenhals' Diecast Hall of Fame speech~ 2010~

                                                Waterbed Fred Miller Blue Max preview~

                                                     Dale knew how to sell diecasts~

                                                   Bill Elliott sings "Crazy Racing Man"~

Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet

    Hello Racing Champions fans!~ Well, it doesn't seem like it, but this is my 99th blog post~ Since we're so close to 100, I figured I'd make this one a special post too~ I actually just got this car a few days ago, and I'm pretty excited about it~ What we're going to be looking back on today is the Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet~ Blakley drove this car during the 1994 Goody's Dash Series season, as well as a DNQ in the Busch Grand National division~

    In case some of you may not know, Ramses is a brand of condom~ This car was very controversial in its time, and the team used to hand out samples of the condoms to the fans.. at least for the first race~ They also promoted AIDS education, and safe sex~ At first, Blakley went to Ramses parent company, London International, looking for sponsorship from their manicure implements division, but the Sarasota Florida based company had another idea~ We'll get to that, and more in this edition of the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog~

                                                Racing was one of Sherry's many talents~

    Even before she started her professional racing career, Sherry was a fierce competitor.. competing in softball (shown above), basketball, figure skating, and cheerleading~ She attended Clark High School in Texas, and was the co-captain of the cheerleading squad~

    As a youth, she participated in go-kart racing, and won several events~ With her father backing her, she was able to compete for wins, and even championships in the go-kart ranks... but to move up the chain, you need sponsors to back you, and Blakley soon found this out~

                                                Young Sherry getting coached by her father~

    After spending her early teens in go-karts, Sherry was growing tired beating everyone, and was looking for her next challenge~ She had accomplished all she could in the go-karts, and it was time to make the step up to Late Models~ That whole sponsor thing came into play here for the first time~ She picked up sponsorship from Bud Light, and drove a Pontiac in several Late Model starts~

    She was quite competitive in the Late Model division, and with good looks on her side, she was able to keep the sponsorship dollars rolling in, allowing her to move up the ranks quite steadily~ Before long, she was knocking on the door of the Goody's Dash series~

                                               Magazine insert of Blakley's Bud Light car~

    Sherry was one of the few female TIDA Late Model drivers~ Under the guidance of her father Jack, she quickly learned how to mix it up with many experienced male drivers on the TIDA Southwest Circuit such as Slick Yoemans, John Kelly, Rick Rapp, David Umscheid, Greg Davidson, Jay Watson, and dozens of other well known drivers~

    Along with Bud Light, La Quinta was another one of her earlier sponsors~  Before running Late Models, she raced in the All Pro Super Series, running a five race campaign during the 1988 season~ She would compete the following year in the TIDA Late Models, due to poor records, all I can tell you is that she had a best known finish of 14th in a race at Twin Cities Speedway, in Odessa Texas on April 1st, 1989~ Larry Schild won the event~

                                                      Blakley in the All Pro series days~

    As you can see in the picture above, La Quinta was a sponsor during her All Pro series races~ Texas Pete, Skoal Long Cut, and Gatorade were all series secondary sponsors~ I also found it interesting that she drove an Oldsmobile during this time, though it wasn't uncommon~ I had just seen information of her driving either a Pontiac, or a Chevrolet.. up until researching for this post~

    Blakley ran five races during the 1988 season of the All Pro series~ She had a best finish of 12th twice~ The first time came in the San Antonio 100 @ San Antonio Speedway, and the other was the Hoosier Tire 150 @ Mobile International Speedway, in Irvington, Alabama~

   She ran her first Goody's Dash Series event in the 1991 Cam 2 100 @ Five Flags Speedway, in Pensacola, Florida, where she finished in 15th place~ She made that lone start in the series, and took the entire 1992 off, perhaps to be with her family, but I'm not sure of the exact reason~ She returned in 1993 to run the entire schedule, and was quite impressive, as we'll soon find out~

                                                    Sherry at a promo shoot for Ramses~

    The 1993 Goody's Dash Series season was perhaps her finest moment, as far as racing goes~ She ran the complete schedule, with a best finish of 3rd, in the Goody's Dash 100 @ Florence Motor Speedway, in Timmonsville, South Carolina~

    She finished 4th in the Goody's Dash 125 @ the Nashville Fairgounds Speedway, and finished the season off with a confirmed two top 5's, and ten top 10's, while finishing 8th in the final points standings~ Two of the races during the season don't have confirmed stats, so she could have gotten more top 5's, or top 10's.. but I an confirm the above stats stated above~

                                                             Blakley's Dash Series car~

    I'm not sure why, but there are more stats for the 1993 Dash Series, than there are for the 1994 season~ Five races are missing all of the stats, so I can't give a complete rundown on her season, but here's what I know~ She had two top 10's, with the first being an 8th place finish in the NASCAR Goody's Dash 100 @ Florence Motor Speedway, in Timmonsville, South Carolina, and the final one coming in the Dooly Printing & PSK Radio 300 @ the Motor Mile Speedway, in Radford, Virginia~

   Blakley attempted to make one start in the 1994 BGN series season, in the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte~ She was supposed to run a five race deal with Ramses, however NASCAR didn't like the fact of people handing comdoms out to their fans, so they banned the sponsor from the sport, effectively ending Blakley's BGN career~

    She finished off the season in the Dash Series, with mostly lackluster finishes, and ran the final race of her career in the American General Finance 125 @ Hickory, where she finished in 12th place~ After her racing career ended, she got remarried, and sold cars at her new husbands dealership, in North Carolina~

                                                    Blakley during her ice skating days~

    Sometimes in life, we take things for granted when we shouldn't~ We expect people to be there for us, and then one day, they're not there anymore~ Then you start to regret not spending more time with them~ That's why it's important to always be with the ones you love, and let them know you care~ One day, Sherry Blakley was a teenage ice skater, then a race car driver, then, on February 13th, 2011, while vacationing with her husband, she failed to wake up from her sleep, and was gone~

    I haven't ever seen a cause of death for Sherry Blakley, but I'd imagine she had some kind of cardiac arrest, though that is just my speculation~ For someone not even 50 years old to just die in their sleep... it just seems odd to me~ I'm sad that she's dead, but I'm happy that I was able to do this blog post on her, to let people be able to know a little about who she was~

                                              Sherry Blakley #83 Ramses Protection Chevrolet~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    After watching Mark Martin drive the #6 Viagra car, which was totally hideous looking.. this car actually looks pretty amazing!~ The pink stripe down the middle, the Delta Airline wings on the hood (in gold!), the pink striping around the numbers, and along the bottom of the car, which is also trimmed in gold... along with Sherry's name... this car is just all around top notch, and more than worth the current price you can get one for~

    The card shows a great picture of Sherry in front of the car, with rows of palm trees in the background~ Since NASCAR banned this sponsor, the car was taken off of store shelves immediately, so this car is a little bit tricky to find at times, but never more than 15 bucks when you do find it~ I got this one on Ebay for five bucks, free shipping...which is way low, in my opinion~

    As far as the Racing Champions quality scale on this one, I've got to give it an A+ all the way around~ It's a great looking car, with an awesome card.. what more can you ask for from a Racing Champions diecast?~ As always, I'd like to thank you all for checking out the blog~ Please share this post on social media, and click the "Follow" button on the top of this page, on the right hand side to get updates on new posts~ Below I have posted some videos featuring glimpses of the Ramses car, as well as a bonus car~

                           **Bonus Car** Diggity Dave #46 Pizzarias Pizza Chips Chevrolet~

    When I was a kid, I loved Pizzarias Pizza Chips!~ They were the most awesome things ever at the time, and then one day... POOF!~ They were all gone... never to be seen again~ I wish they would bring them back, even if they give you cancer, I still loved them, and want them in my life again~ :)

                                  1994 Florida 200 & Daytona 500 highlights~ Blakley crash~

                                           Goody's Dash Series comp~ Blakley appearance~

                                             1993 Goody's Dash Dave Stacy in the Lake~

                                                                   Weird AIDS PSA~