Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac

    Hello again, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog, the fastest growing NASCAR diecast blog in the world!~ With last weeks post, we now have over 75,000 views and counting!~ Many thanks goes out to everyone who stops by the blog, and shares the posts on social media with their friends!~ We couldn't have grown so fast without the support of each and every one of you, and I'm extremely thankful for all of the support you've shown!~

    In today's post, we're going back to the start of the 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup season, where we'll take a look back on Rick Wilson's time in the famed STP Pontiac, formerly driven for so many years by the King of NASCAR himself, Mr. Richard Petty~ As most of us know, at this point in his career, Petty was running in the back of the pack during most races.. some of that may have been his age, but another large part of it was due to the outdated equipment Petty's team had~ Wilson's time in the car was dubbed a bust, but in my opinion, a large part of the lack of success in the car wasn't due to him, but mainly the car itself~ Anyway, let's get into this one, shall we?~

                             Wilson and Petty with the newly numbered car, at a... rhino farm?~

    After his retirement from the sport following the end of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season, many in the sports world wondered who was going to be replacing the King of NASCAR in the famous STP Pontiac~ I don't think there was a single one of them who thought he'd pick Rick Wilson, from Bartow, Florida... but to the shock of well, pretty much everyone.. that's exactly what he did~ And being the self praising guy he always will be, he also stated that the #43 would not be on the track anymore, and the car would be renumbered 44~

    Petty was wanting the number retired, but NASCAR said no way~ That's why following this season, he was forced to mark the return of the 43 to the track~ NASCAR stated that teams can hang on to a number for one season, but must use it the following season, or surrender it to NASCAR~ The whole Rick Wilson in the STP thing was weird enough, but the number thing was the icing on the weirdo cake~

    With the driver announcement out of the way, the team headed to Florida for the Daytona 500~ After starting from 14th, Wilson finished 8th in his Gatorade 125 Qualifier, netting him a 15th place starting spot for the 500~ He never was a factor during the race, although he did lead a lap while the leaders were making green flag pit stops~ He eventually was involved in a crash with Bobby Hamilton, who was driving the pink #68 Country Time car.. Racing Champions made a diecast of this car as well, which was in a PVC case~ I believe it was limited to 5,000 pieces~

    With his car totally trashed, Wilson ended up finishing the race in 34th place~ This race was famous for its "Dale & Dale Show" ending, with Dale Jarrett beating out Dale Earnhardt for the victory~ Ned Jarrett was there being annoying, and I didn't like it.. because I was an Earnhardt fan~ I didn't like this 500 at all, because after Wilson went out, I was pulling for Cope, who led 30 laps, but faded at the end, finishing 29th.. then I was pulling for Earnhardt, and boring ol' Dale Jarrett won~ Blah~ One cool thing that happened was that Hut Stricklin finished 4th, driving the #27 McDonald's Ford, for Junior Johnson~

                                                 Wilson on track in the #44 STP Pontiac~

    The series next rolled into Rockingham, North Carolina, for the "GM Goodwrench 500", where Wilson qualified 15th, and Mark Martin won the pole in the #6 Valvoline Ford~ Wilson struggled to make up ground in the race, and ended up finishing in 17th place, three laps off the pace of race winner Rusty Wallace, and the famed #2 Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac~ Dale Earnhardt was 3rd, followed by Ernie Irvan in the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet, Alan Kulwicki, and Mark Martin finished out the top 5~




    Following the Rockingham race, Wilson went on a streak of five races (Richmond, Atlanta, Darlington, Bristol, and North Wilkesboro) without cracking the top 20~ His best qualifying effort during that span was an 18th at Richmond, for the "Pontiac Excitement 400"~ After seven races, the team found themselves 30th in the points standings~ The next race on the schedule was the Hanes 500, at Martinsville, Virginia, and Wilson qualified 20th, and finished 17th, tying his season high at the time~

    Rick qualified a season high of 4th for the "Winston 500" @ Talladega, while Dale Earnhardt claimed the pole position~ Wilson never was a factor in the race, and finished 16th, one lap off the pace of race winner, Ernie Irvan, who was driving the #4 Kodak Film Chevrolet, for Wilson's former team, Morgan-McClure Motorsports~ Jimmy Spencer had a heck of a run in the #12 Meineke Mufflers Ford, with a second place finish, followed by Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt, and Joe Ruttman finished out the top 5, driving the #20 Fina Lube Ford for Dick Moroso~

                                             Wilson poses in front of the #44 STP Pontiac~

    Rick qualified 20th for the "Save Mart Supermarkets 300K" @ Sonoma, and ended up having his best race of the season, finishing in 8th place, in what would be his only top 10 finish for the team~ The race was won by Geoff Bodine, driving the #15 Motorcraft Ford, followed by Ernie Irvan, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Kyle Petty~ The next race on the schedule was the "Coca-Cola 600" @ Charlotte~   

    Wilson used his momentum from the Sonoma race to qualify the car in 9th place for the race, but he blew the engine seventy laps shy of the checkers, resulting in a 32nd place finish~ He qualified 5th for the "Budweiser 500" @ Dover, a track he had won at in the BGN series~ Although he finished the race 5 laps down, he still managed to post an 11th place finish~ Dale Earnhardt won the race, in the #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet~

    The #44 STP team picked up a 12th place finish in the "Champions Spark Plug 500" @ Pocono, then finished 34th in the "Miller Genuine Draft 400" @ Michigan, due to an oil leak~ Wilson qualified 9th for the "Pepsi 400" @ Daytona, and finished in 11th place~ This race marked the final time that Wilson finished a race on the lead lap for the remainder of the season~

                                               Rick Wilson #44 STP Photograph - Signed~

    Rick qualified 10th for the "Die Hard 500" @ Talladega, but faded away to 23rd by the drop of the checkered flag~ In the final 14 races of the season, he would only crack into the top 20 one time, with a 20th place finish in the "Slick 50 500" @ Phoenix~ A lot of these struggles had to do with the pit crew, and the equipment.. but people were starting to wonder if perhaps Richard Petty made a mistake in his choice of predecessor~

    Wilson had a strong car for the "Bud 500" @ Bristol, qualifying in the 6th position, but was involved in a crash midway through the race, and had to settle for a 28th place finish, in what was easily a top 10, maybe even top 5 car~ Mark Martin went on to win the race, followed by Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, and Rick Mast, who picked up a rare, and well deserved top 5 finish~

    Moving on to the "SplitFire Spark Plug 500" @ Dover, Wilson qualified in the 6th position, and was looking strong early on, but was involved in a crash, when he lost control of the vehicle, and slammed into the wall on the driver's side~ Wilson was injured in the wreck, and would be replace by Jimmy Hensley for the Goody's 500" @ Martinsville~ Hensley finished dead last in the car, following a crash, and Wilson was back the following week to finish out the season~

                                                 Wilson in the cockpit of the #44 STP Pontiac~

    Wilson finished out the season with the lone top 10 finish @ Sonoma, and 1 lap led in the Daytona 500~ He finished the season 28th in the championship points standings, and had an average start of 20.3, and an average finish of 24.0~ He ran three races during the 1997, as well as posting a DNQ @ Texas, and attempted to make two races (Talladega, Daytona) in 1998 for Larry Hedrick, but was unsuccessful in both attempts~ 1998 was also the final time Wilson made an appearance in any of the top 3 NASCAR ranks~

    At the end of the season, Petty replaced Wilson with Wally Dallenbach, who was canned mid-season in favor of John Andretti~ It wouldn't be until Bobby Hamilton drove the car during the 1996 that Petty would get his first win since his retirement as a driver~ Wilson bought up some orange groves, and a farm, and lived in Florida to this day~

    He won the 2010 "Scotts EZ Seed Shootout" @ Bristol, driving the #75 Food Country Chevrolet~
This was the race that Larry Pearson and Charlie Glotzbach got injured in when Person's car collided with Glotzbach's, causing severe injury to both drivers, and ending this type of race for good~ Wilson then drove in a X-1R Pro Cup race, driving the #18 Food Country Chevrolet for Charlie Henderson in the "American Freedom Spectacular 200" @ Bristol, where he started 20th, and finished 19th~ This proved to be the final race of his career, to this point~



    I would have liked to see what would have happened to Rick's career if he had stayed with the Kodak team a few more seasons~ That team was smokin' hot with Ernie Irvan, and Sterling Marlin, and I think they would have been just as hot with Rick in the car, if he wouldn't have left them~ I really liked him when he drove for Food Country, so I always pulled for him throughout his career, and I'm proud to call myself a Rick Wilson fan~

                                             Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac - Standard Issue~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

                                     Rick Wilson #44 STP Pontiac - PVC Issue~ 1 of 5,000~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    Since I have both versions, I went ahead and posted both the standard, and PVC versions of this car~ I also have the 1/24 in both standard, and bank versions, but didn't include them in the post~ As you may have noticed, there are a few differences between the two versions~ The PVC version is lacking the darker red inside the circle around the numbers on the roof, as is also a darker blue than the standard version, as well as having a lighter color of orange~

    The PVC version also has different contingencies when compared to the standard issue~ My version of the standard issue has a misprint on the driver's side front tire, as it was stamped twice, so that's a little added bonus~ The card features Wilson, along with Petty, and the #44 STP Pontiac, at what appears to be a rhino farm~ I'm actually a pretty big fan of this card, because it seems like such an odd place to do a photo shoot~

    I'm giving the Standard version of this car an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, while the PVC version gets a B+~ I like the darker blue of the PVC version, and the extra contingencies, but the standard issue just looks more like what the car did in real life, so it gets extra bonus points over its PVC counterpart~ I love both versions, and Rick Wilson is awesome in my book!~ Now, let's get on to the bonus car~

                               Butch Miller #75 Roddenbery's Peanut Butter Oldsmobile~

    This is a fantasy car that could have been a reality for the 1992 BGN season, had it not been for a major flub by Food Country USA/Henderson Motorsports owner, Charlie Henderson~ Henderson had a meeting with Roddenbery's about a sponsorship deal with the team, and little did Henderson know, but Mr. Roddenbery himself was the man who showed up for the meeting~

    Charlie rattled off "Roddenbery's?~ What kind of name is that for a food company?~ It sounds like Rottenbery's~ It should be called Rottenbery's"~ It was at that time that Mr. Roddenbery introduced himself, and walked out of the meeting, eventually giving his sponsorship dollars to Steve Grissom's team, and Henderson was forced to continue sponsoring the car out of his own pocket~

    Thank you all for stopping in for this 104th edition of the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ Please click the "Follow" button up at the top of the page, on the right hand side, and share this blog post on any social media sites you're a part of~ Each share is greatly appreciated!~ Below are some Rick Wilson clips, enjoy them, and I'll see ya' next time, here on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

                                    Rick Wilson wins the 2010 Saturday Night Showdown - Bristol~

                                              Wilson/Hamilton crash - 1993 Daytona 500~

                                            Wilson crash - 1993 SplitFire Spark Plug 500~

                                         1989 Pepsi 400 - Multi car crash~ Wilson involved~

Johnny Benson Jr. #18 Hella Lights / Performance Friction Chevrolet

    Hello, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog!~ I've had a busy schedule the past couple weeks, so I missed last weeks post, but I'm still ahead of schedule, so I hope you'll forgive me~ :P Today's post is on Johnny Benson Jr.'s #18 Hella Lights/Performance Friction Chevrolet, which he drove a total of 7 races in during the inaugural season of the Truck Series~

    He technically only drove this Hella Lights version of the truck in the "1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic", which was the first race of the season, held at Phoenix International Raceway, but ran a similar looking truck during the remaining 6 races he ran throughout the year~ He also failed to qualify for the Lowe's 150 @ North Wilkesboro, which would have brought his total to 8 races ran during the season~ Anyway, let's look back at Benson's time in the #18 Kurt Roehrig Racing Chevrolet~

                                      Benson's only time in the Hella Truck - Phoenix 1995~

    As I stated above, Benson's only race with this specific sponsor came in the 1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic, @ Phoenix~ He qualified 4th for the event, and Ron Hornaday Jr. won the first official pole award in the series, driving the #16 RCCA Products Chevrolet, owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc.~

    After leading the first 23 laps of the race, Hornaday faded back, while Terry Labonte and Mike Skinner put on a show for the fans, battling back and forth for the lead for the remainder of the race~ Lobonte was driving the #5 DuPont Chevrolet, which was painted up like Gordon's old Rainbow Warrior car, while Skinner's truck resembled Earnhardt's famous GM Goodwrench machine~

    In the end, Skinner came home victorious over Labonte, with Ken Schrader finishing 3rd, followed by Joe Bessey, and Geoff Bodine, who finished out the top 5~ Benson was near the front all day long, but faded away near the end of the race, settling for a 10th place finish~


                                            Benson awaits the start of the race @ IRP 1995~

    Due to Benson also running the full BGN Series schedule during 1995, a season in which he ultimately won the Series Championship, he didn't run another Truck Series event until the 10th race of the season, the "Sears Auto Center 125" @ Milwaukee~ He qualified 12th for the race, while Mike Skinner won the pole, and eventually the race, in the famous #3 Chevrolet~

    The race was a three way battle between Skinner, Dennis Setzer, and Ron Hornaday Jr., with the trio combining to lead all but seven laps of the event~ Setzer finished second, followed by Hornaday, Rick Carelli, and Bill Sedgwick~ Benson was able to hold out for a 7th place finish, but never was much of a factor during the race~ He would race in the series again three races later, and would have his best run of the year at IRP~

    Benson qualified on the outside of row number one for the "Action Packed Racing Cards 150" @ IRP, with "Mean" Mike Skinner sitting on the pole~ Skinner led from flag to flag, and never looked back on his way to a dominating victory~ Benson finished in second place, right where he started, and was followed by Rich Carelli, Rodney Combs, and Scott Lagasse~

                                             Benson battles hard with Skinner - 1995 IRP~

    Johnny qualified 5th in the "Fas Mart Supertruck Shootout" @ Richmond, and the pole was won by Terry Labonte in the #5 DuPont Chevrolet~ Though Benson qualified well, he never was a factor in the race, and finished in 11th place~ The race was won by pole sitter, Terry Labonte, with Geoff Bodine coming in second, Mike Skinner third, Joe Ruttman fourth, and Ken Schrader finishing in fifth~ Derrike Cope finished in seventh place, in one of only 15 career appearances in the Truck series~

   Benson had his poorest qualifying effort of the season in the Goody's 150 @ Martinsville, with a 22nd place effort, due to qualifying being rained out~ The pole award was given to points leader, Mike Skinner~ Though he didn't lead any laps, Benson proved to have a strong truck by plowing through the field on his way to a third place finish~ Mike Skinner led a race high 134 of the 150 laps, but in the end, he was outsmarted by a Truck Series legend~

    Joe Ruttman was able to get by Skinner with two laps remaining in the race, and drove the 1-800-COLLECT Ford to victory lane~ Mike Skinner finished in second, followed by Benson, Kenny Wallace, and Hermie Sadler~ I must also not that Kenny's Red Dog truck was super awesome, and one of the best looking trucks of all time~ Also, Ernie Irvan attempted to make his comeback from the crash at Michigan, but failed to make the race, due to qualifying being rained out~

                                                        Benson on track at IRP - 1995~

    Benson made his next to last start of the season in the "Spears Manufacturing 200" @ Mesa Marin, where he qualified in the 11th position~ The pole award went to Bill Sedgwick, driving the #75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet~ Benson didn't improve much in the race, only moving up one position, to finish in 10th place~ The race was won by Mike Skinner, followed by Mike Bliss, Ernie Irvan, Jack Sprague, and Joe Ruttman~

  Johnny's final race of the 1995 Truck Series came in the "GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 200" @ Phoenix, where he qualified 15th~ The pole was won by Jack Sprague, driving the #25 Budweiser Chevrolet~ The race was again dominated by Mike Skinner, who led 89 of the 124 laps, on his way to victory, and eventually the series championship~ Skinner was followed by Ernie Irvan, Geoff Bodine, Ted Musgrave, and Ron Hornaday Jr.~

 Benson finished the season with 7 races, 2 top 5's, and 5 top 10's, with an average start of 10.1, and an average finish of 8.6~ He eventually went on to become the 2008 Truck Series Champion, and hasn't raced in the series since 2010, following a bad crash in 2009, that pretty much ended his career~

                          Johnny Benson Jr. #18 Hella Lights/Performance Friction Chevrolet~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    As I've said in previous posts, I'm a big fan of the Truck Series, and consider it to be the finest of the NASCAR series'~ I like this truck, but it really isn't anything special~ The card is kind of boring, and the truck is basically the same.. just a little boring~

    I was a fan of Johnny Benson, especially during his tenure in the #74 BGN car~ I feel like he should have had more success in the Cup series, but was always on a second hand team, as with Roush~ All of the good Roush cars were given to Mark Martin back then, but drivers like Benson, and Ted Musgrave still managed mild success with their cars~

    On the Racing Champions quality scale, this truck is getting a C+, because it lacks any stand out logos, and doesn't really have a good paint scheme~ The card is also very boring, so it can't get any higher than a C+~ With this truck out of the way, let's move on to the bonus car, shall we?~

                                         Mark Martin #6 Folgers prototype.. never released?~

    This car was sent to me in photo form from a friend of mine that I met through the blog~ As far as he knows, it is a prototype of Mark Martin's #6 Folgers Ford, that was never released by Racing Champions, but a few were made as test samples~ I asked Fred Wagenhals, and he never heard of the car during his time with the company, but did mention that the car was made by his other company, RCCA, which I have in my collection~

    I can't say one way or the other on this one for sure, but my guess is that it is a custom made diecast, and not a true Racing Champions version~ It does have real tampos, and not decals, so that kind of puts me on the fence about my decision~ The color is definitely off for one thing, and I don't recall Martin using chrome rims, though perhaps he did at some point~

    I still like the car, and would certainly enjoy it in my collection, regardless of how it came to be~ I'm gonna give it a C- on the Racing Champions quality scale, since it's the wrong color, wrong rims, doesn't come with a card, or any kind of verification of its authenticity~ If it came with a story of its existence, it would easily be a B+ car, even with its flaws~

    Thank you all for stopping by the blog again~ I'm now an affiliate with the NASCAR Superstore, so along with the videos below, I'm also going to be offering links to special deals on NASCAR merchandise soon~ I tried to do it this post, but it kept saying error when I clicked on it~ :P     
                                       
                                          Johnny Benson/Kyle Busch Incident Martinsville~

                                                     1993 Detroit Gasket 200 - Benson flip~

                                               Benson's 2008 Truck Series Championship~

                                       1995 Red Dog 300 - Huge wreck - Benson involved~

Steve Grissom #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions blog~ Today's post is going to be on the #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile, driven by Steve Grissom during his impressive 1990 BGN season~ This diecast was only produced in promo form, and was never part of Racing Champions' standard issues~

    I don't currently own the car, and it is pretty hard to come by~ A version of the car was "misplaced", and put into the 1990-1992 packaging, for some reason with a Bobby Allison card~ These are also pretty rare, and don't usually come up for sale that often~ A loose version of the car recently came up for bid on Ebay, but a friend of mine was bidding on it, so I didn't compete with him~ That's what got me wanting to do a post on this car, so here it is~

                                            Grissom poses with the car @ Charlotte - 1990~

    Grissom started the 1990 BGN season with a new sponsor, "Big Mama Meat Snacks"~ This would be the only season he ran this sponsorship, but it proved to be one of his best~ I would go as far as to say that it was his best season, even though he won the championship in 1993~ Things looked good in the season opener @ Daytona, with Grissom qualifying 8th for the event, but the good times were short lived, as he was involved in the huge pile up on lap 13, knocking him out of competition, resulting in a 33rd place finish~

    Steve's first decent run in the car came four races later, in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory~ He qualified 15th, but was able to pick up his first top 10 of the season, with an 8th place finish~ His next accomplishment came a couple of races later, in the U-Can-Rent 200 @ Lanier, where he picked up his first top 5 of the season, with a 5th place run~ Chuck Bown led all 200 laps of the event, dominating on his way to the checkered flag, driving the #63 Nescafe Classic Pontiac~ This is about the time Grissom's season started building momentum~

    In the Roses Stores 200 @ South Boston, Grissom qualified 4th, and finished in 3rd place, behind Jeff Burton, and race winner, Chuck Bown~ He qualified 7th for the Pontiac 300 @ Nazareth, and strong all day, leading 99 laps on his way to a 5th place finish~ On to Hickory, for the Granger Select 200, Grissom qualified 4th, before settling for a 7th place finish in the end~ The race was won by Chuck Bown, who had won 3 of the last 4 races~

                                        Grissom on track in the #31 Big Mama Oldsmobile~

    Following his brief success, he was met with a stint of bad finishes in the next three events~ He finished 27th in the Champion 300 @ Charlotte, 21st in the Budweiser 200 @ Dover, and 22nd in the Roses Stores 200 @ Rougemont, and fell from 9th, to 11th in the Series points standings~ Steve then started picking up momentum again, and was well on his way to his first career BGN victory~

    After qualifying 6th for the Firecracker 200 @ Volusia County, Grissom managed to stay up front all race long, and finished in 4th place~ He finished 11th in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 200 @ Myrtle Beach, and 8th in the True Value Oxford 250 @ Oxford, and then had a hiccup in the Budweiser 300 @ Loudon, where he qualified 29th, and finished 23rd, after battling his way to the lead, where he led for 24 laps~ 78 drivers attempted to make the field for the event, and the race was won by Tommy Ellis, in what was his final BGN victory~




    Grissom qualified 2nd for the Coors 200 @ South Boston, and Jimmy Hensley won the pole for the event, in the #25 Crown/Fast Fare Oldsmobile~ Hensley led the first 17 laps, and was passed by Grissom, who led the next 41 laps, before being passed by Chuck Bown~ Bown led the next 115 laps of the race, before he was passed by Tommy Houston, who went on to win in the #6 Rose's Stores Buick~ Grissom finished in 5th place, and was in 8th place in the Series points standings~

                                            Steve Grissom and the #31 @ Charlotte - 1990~

    The next race on the schedule was the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin, and Grissom made his name in the sport with style, by winning the pole, leading 150 of the 200 laps, and winning the race, picking up the first win of his BGN career~ Chuck Bown was pretty much the only competition of the night, leading 34 laps, and finishing in second place~


    The bad news for the competition was that the Grissom team was just getting started~ The next race was the Kroger 200 @ IRP, and Grissom qualified 17th for the event~ He quickly worked his way to the front, and led for 77 laps, on his way to back to back BGN series victories~ Ernie Irvan finished 2nd, driving the #75 U-Can-Rent Oldsmobile, owned by Charlie Henderson~

    Grissom started 31st for the Jay Johnson 250 @ Bristol, and was able to work his way to the lead, which he held for 6 laps, before fading away to finish in 3rd place~ The race was won by Rick Mast, in the #22 Raven Boats Buick, and this was the first of 3 BGN wins for Mast during the 1990 season~ The 1990 season also marked the final time Mast would win in the series~




                                              Steve Grissom custom Racing Champions card~

    In the Autolite 200 @ Richmond, Grissom started from 4th, and worked his way to the lead, where he stayed for 82 laps, before being passed by Rick Mast for the win~ Michael Waltrip also had a good race in the #30 All-Pro Auto Parts Pontiac, as he led for 78 laps, before finishing in 3rd place~ Grissom then went on to finish 7th in the Ames/Splitfire 200 @ Dover, in a race won by Harry Gant, driving Ed Whitaker's #7 Skoal Buick~

    Steve then had a string of three bad races in a row, and he would fall from 3rd, to as low as 5th in the Series points standings~ He finished 21st @ Martinsville, in the Zerex 150, 32nd in the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte, and 26th in the NE Chevy 250 @ Loudon~ With two races remaining in the season, Grissom was going to make sure to end his time with Big Mama Meat Snacks with a bang~

    He qualified 32nd for the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, but like the true race he was, he blazed his way up to the lead, leading the final four laps of the race, before taking the checkered flag~ Mark Martin dominated the day in the #1 Carolina Ford Dealers Ford, but gambled on old tires following a late caution~ He was quickly gobbled up by Grissom, who had fresh tires, and ended up finishing in 4th place~ This race was also the first official BGN start by a guy named Jeff Gordon~ He crashed out~ :P

   Grissom qualified 4th for the season finale "Winston Classic" @ Martinsville, while Chuck Bown won the pole~ The race was dominated by Kenny Wallace, who was driving the #36 Cox Treated Lumber Pontiac~ He led for 107 laps, but ran out of gas with three laps to go, handing the lead over to Grissom, who led the final 3 laps (his only laps led during the race) on his way to the checkered flag~ He ended the season 3rd in points, with 1 pole, 4 wins, 11 top 5's, and 15 top 10's, having led a career high of 486 laps throughout the year~

                                  Steve Grissom #31 Big Mama Meat Snacks Oldsmobile~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    Even though this diecast is usually pretty poor quality, I'm a big fan of this car~ I really don't understand why Big Mama didn't stay with the team following their success, but I'm guessing it was a financial decision~ I dolled this car up for the post, it's actually pretty ratty looking, even for the early Racing Champions days~

    I'm going to give this car a D+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, because it's flawed all to pieces, pretty much every one of them that I've seen look like rejects~ I do like the car, and would love one for my collection, but I'm going to have to find a decent version before I invest any money into it~ I'm pretty sure from pictures that I've seen that the little pig logo is just a sticker, and it tends to yellow over time, and peel up, which is why I hated cars with sticker logos~

   Another reason for the low score, is this car never came with a card~ I had to custom make the one shown, and I do love that card, I just wish it originally came with the car~ Whenever I get this car, I'm taking it out of the promo package, and getting the card printed for it, and putting it in a 1990 standard issue package~ I just think it will look so much better like that~

                             **Bonus car** DIY Food Country Matchbox Convoy custom set~

    No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, I just posted a Matchbox set on the Racing Champions blog~ I got bored yesterday, and just decided to Photoshop this up, just out of curiosity, and I liked it so much, I just had to share it with y'all here on the blog~ I'm now in the process of having this set custom made, but I'd say it will be a year or so before the finished product arrives~ I'll be sure to post pictures when that time comes~

    I've always loved these old Matchbox Convoy sets, and I always wondered why Bill Elliott's Convoy set came with a truck, instead of a van, or extra car~ I think this set looks amazing, although I got the color a bit off on the car.. it all started out as solid white diecasts, so I had to paint it all, and I'm not the greatest at doing that, so that's just the best I could do~ After I got done, I found the van, and added it into the picture after I was done dolling it up~

    Brad Teague and the Food Country team were a huge part of my childhood, and I'll always be dreaming up little Food Country diecasts, probably until the day I die~ They had such awesome paint schemes back in the day, though I wasn't fond of the white car years~ I love the car hauler from this set!~ It's the coolest looking Matchbox hauler I've ever seen, and I just can't wait until it's a reality~

    Thank you all for once again stopping by the blog here!~ I appreciate the emails that you send, and enjoy helping others learn more about Racing Champions diecasts, as well as finding out things that I never knew about them~ Please click the "follow" button at the top right hand side of this page, and share this post on any social media sites that you're a part of~ Below are some videos from Steve's career, enjoy them, and I'll see ya' next time, here on the NASCAR Racing Champions Blog!~ :)

                                             Finish of the 1990 Kroger 200~ Grissom win~

                                          1990 U-Can-Rent 200 - Lanier~ Grissom footage~

                                   1990 Rose's Stores 200 highlights~ Some Grissom footage~

                                                        
                                             1995 Goody's 250 highlights~ Grissom win~