Bobby Dotter #08 Team R Buick

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions 1/64 diecast blog~ Today's blog post was supposed to be done on July 11th, because that's Bobby Dotter's birthday (as well as my own), so I wanted to do a special "double birthday" post~ I forgot to do it last year, and again this year on the 11th, so I'm just gonna go ahead and do the post now, because I know I'll forget again next year~ :P

    Bobby Dotter basically ran the "Team R" sponsorship when he didn't have a primary sponsor~ Team R was what he called his race team, which was owned by Ed Reizen.. so it wasn't like that was a paying sponsor~ When he could get someone to pay him to put their company logo on the car, he gladly accepted, but when the offers dried up, it was back to ol' trusty Team R on the car~ Anyway, let's get on with the post... our story begins all the way back back in the 1989 BGN season~

                                       Bobby poses with his car, and his lone BGN trophy~

    Bobby's first race in the #08 Team R Buick came in the 1989 "Winston Classic" @ Martinsville~ After starting the race in 16th, Dotter was able to battle his way to a 9th place finish~ This was the only race he ran during the season~ He drove nearly the entire 1990 season, mostly in the Team R Buick, and the occasional Oldsmobile, but also managed to pick up sponsorship for a few races from Old El Paso, and a one race deal with Progresso Soup~ He also moonlighted in the #00 C.L. Loven Oldsmobile during the Granger Select 200, driving the Mark Beard owned car to a 16th place finish~

    Dotter's first good run of the season again came in the "Winston Classic" at Martinsville, where he finished in 6th place after starting the race in the 15th position~ He had his best race of the season in the Carolina Pride/Budweiser 200 @ Myrtle Beach, where he started from 3rd, and finished in the 4th position, picking up his first, and only top 5 of the year~

    Bobby finished the 1990 BGN season with 29 starts, 0 wins, 0 poles, 1 top 5, and 8 top 10's, while finishing 14th in the final points standings~ This wasn't enough to secure funding for the next season, so the team would again run the #08 Team R Buick to start the season~ The team would eventually pick up sponsorship with 10 races remaining in the season, with a 10 race deal from "Cling Free"~

                                      Dotter in the Old El Paso sponsored #08 Buick~ 1990~

    For the first time in his BGN career, Bobby made the season opening race @ Daytona, by qualifying in 41st place~ He finished the race six laps down, in 18th place~ He also led for the first time in his career in the Pontiac 200 @ Darlington, leading 5 laps before fading away to a 15th place finish~ He qualified 6th in the Carquest 300 @ Boston, and led for 22 laps before being pushed back to finish in 4th place~

   Dotter had an all around solid race in the Granger Select 400 @ Hickory, qualifying in 10th, and remaining in the top 10 all race long, while finishing in 9th place~ He picked up his last top 5 of the season in the True Value 250 @ Oxford, with a 5th place effort~ He ran the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin in the #64 Sunbird Boats Pontiac, owned by Dennis Shoemaker, and finished in 17th place~ The rest of the season, he drove the #08 Cling Free Buick, with a best finish of 11th, in the Kroger 200 @ IRP~

    Bobby finished the 1991 BGN season with 31 starts, 0 wins, 0 poles, 2 top 5's, and 4 top 10's, with 27 laps led, and finished 14th in the final points standings~ Before the start of the 1992 BGN season, the team picked up sponsorship from Jeno's Pizza, in what was supposed to be a 10 race deal~ He ended up getting one more race out of them, before eventually going back to the Team-R sponsor~

                                     Bobby at the lake with his #08 Jeno's Pizza Oldsmobile~

    Bobby mostly had average finishes in the Jeno's car, with the exceptions of the Budweiser 250 @ Bristol, where he finished in 3rd place, after starting in 8th, and the Granger Select 200 @ Dublin, where he picked up his lone BGN victory, after leading 58 of the races 200 laps~ Jeff Burton, who actually won the race, was stripped of his victory for using a non-approved rear end carrier assembly, and finished in last place as a result of the penalty~

    After the 10 race deal with Jeno's ended, Dotter raced the Champion 300 @ Charlotte in the Wade Day owned #16 31-W Insulation Chevrolet~ He finished the race in 32nd, due to oil line issues~ He picked up sponsorship for the Kroger 200 @ IRP from Payless Markets/Lucy's, and finished in 9th place in the car~

    He then moonlighted once more for Dennis Shoemaker, driving the #64 Shoemaker Racing Pontiac in the SplitFire 200 @ Dover, where he finished in 16th place~ In the AC-Delco 200 @ Rockingham, Dotter drove the #08 "Debby Honyotski" Oldsmobile~ He started the race in 26th, and finished in the 29th spot~ He drove the remainder of the season in the "Team R" sponsored Buick/Oldsmobile, with a best finish of 9th in the "Winston Classic" at Martinsville~

    Dotter finished the 1992 season with 28 starts, 1 win, 0 poles, 2 top 5's, and 4 top 10's, leading a career high 116 laps, and finishing 16th in the final points standings~ Before the 1993 BGN season began, Bobby picked up sponsorship from DeWalt Tools, although he would still revert back to the "Team R" sponsor during three events~

                                            Dotter with the #08 DeWalt Tools Lumina~

     The 1993 season was the final time Dotter ran the "Team R" sponsor~ His first race in the car came in the Fram Filter 500K @ Talladega, where he started 25th, and finished in 11th place~ He had his best finish in the "Team R" car at Bristol, for the Food City 250~ He started the race in 11th, and charged his way up to a season best, 3rd place finish, behind Joe Nemechek, and race winner Todd Bodine, who was driving the #34 Fiddle Faddle Chevrolet, owned by Frank Cicci~

     Bobby ran his final race in the "Team R" car in the Autolite 250 @ Richmond, where he started the race in 19th, and finished out his time in the "Team R" car with a respectable 6th place finish~ He ran the remainder of the season with the DeWalt sponsor, with the exception of some one off races with "Arizona Iced Tea", "Dew's Hardware", and "Tedder Hardware"~ He won the pole in the Arizona car, in the Havoline 250 @ Milwaukee, but only managed a 14th place finish~

    His best races in the DeWalt car that season were the NE Chevy 250 @ Loudon, where he finished in 3rd, the Polaroid 300 @ Rougemont, where he came home in 5th, and the Pantry 300 @ Hickory, where he finished in 6th place~ He won the pole for the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte, but never led a lap, and finished in the 9th spot~

    Dotter finished out the 1993 season with 2 poles, 0 wins, 3 top 5's, and 8 top 10's~ He didn't lead a lap all season long, but finished a career high of 7th in the final points standings~ Dotter ended his BGN career in 2004, after 14 season, 209 races, 4 poles, 1 win, 12 top 5's, and 42 top 10's~ He may not be the most remembered driver in the sport, but I always enjoyed seeing him out on the track~

                                                      Bobby Dotter #08 Team R Buick~

                                                             Click pics to enlarge~

    As soon as I found out this car was made by Racing Champions, I obsessed about it constantly until it was in my collection~ I finally found it one day at the flea market for a dollar~ Talk about happy!~ I rushed home, and ripped it out of the package.. imagining how cool it was gonna look on the blog~ Then I turned the card over, and noticed he had the same birthday as I did ~ I then decided to save the car, and post it on my birthday~ It never worked out, but I'm so glad I finally got this post done~

    I love pink race cars~ I don't care if that sounds "gay"... I just think they look awesome~ This car wasn't nearly pink in real life, it was actually red.. but Racing Champions decided it would be pink, and I'm gonna give them mega props for that decision~ Such a simple paint scheme, but it does the job.. much better than the current paint schemes, that tend to go a bit overboard, and make the car look gaudy~

  I hope you all enjoyed today's post, and I appreciate each and every one of you who stop by the blog~ If you have any suggestions on how to improve the blog, or want to see your favorite driver/car get their own post, feel free to leave a comment down below, you don't even have to make an account to comment here~ Below are some clips featuring parts of Bobby Dotter's career~ Enjoy, and please remember to share this post on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site~ :D

                                  1989 ARCA Daytona - Bobby jumps out of his moving car~

                                           Bobby and Chuck Bown crash @ Dover - 1992~

                                   1994 Goodwrench/AC Delco 200 @ Dover - Dotter crash~

                                                 1985 Slinger Nationals featuring Dotter~

   

Bill Elliott #94 McDonald's Mac Tonight Ford

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ While I was browsing through the news the other day, I seen where Jamie McMurray was gonna have a special "Mac Tonight" paint scheme for the throwback race @ Darlington this season~ This got me so excited that I decided to do a post on Bill Elliott's version of the car today~ I loved Mac Tonight, he was awesome.. and the car Bill drove was even more awesome~

    I miss the days when McDonald's had all their little characters~ Mac Tonight, Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, and so on.. these characters were designed to make kids scream for hours that they wanted to go to McDonald's, and it worked~ If you were a parent in the 80's and 90's, you know quite well how many "Happy meals" were purchased during this time~ McDonald's even sold plates, cups, and basically anything they could put Ronald McDonald and the gang's faces on~

   Bill had some awesome "special" paint schemes, but my favorite was probably this one, although the Batman Forever car was pretty dang cool too~ This car wasn't ran in that many races, but it was in more than the Batman Forever car, or the Piggly Wiggly car of Kevin Lepage~ Well, what am I waiting for?~ Let's dive into this thing, so I can get to McDonald's for a Big Mac!~ :D

                                        The wonderfully cool Mac Tonight, doing his thing~

   Mac Tonight was first used nationwide in 1987, and he was created to boost McDonald's sales after 4 PM~ He sang a song that was similar to the tune "Mack the Knife", a song made popular by Bobby Darin~ In 1989, Darin's son filed a lawsuit against McDonald's, stating that the song infringes upon his deceased father's trademark without prior permission~ McDonald's was then forced to remove the song from all TV and radio advertisements~

   Everyone loved "Mac" however, as sales at some McDonald's boasted a 10 % increase in evening/late night sales~ I remember getting a little toy Mac in a Happy meal when I was young, I think he was riding a moped or a bike~ Eventually, the Mac Tonight commercials seemed to just fizzle out~

    He was brought back in 1997 for the 10 year anniversary of his nationwide debut~ Bill Elliott was currently being sponsored by McDonald's, so his car would sometimes feature the special "Mac Tonight" theme~ I remember the first time I saw him live in this car at Bristol, in the 1997 Goody's 500~ That was actually the debut of this new paint scheme~ I watched that car all night long too, I had never seen a car with stars all over it, and a dang moon head guy wearing sunglasses on the hood~ This was great!~ :D

                                      Bill Elliott hero card featuring the #94 Mac Tonight Ford~

     When I found out that Bill was gonna be running this car for the first time at Bristol, I couldn't wait to get to the track to see it!~ I had already seen pictures of it, but I wanted to see the real thing~ And man, was it sharp out there.. under the lights of Bristol!~ Elliott started 36th that evening, and was able to salvage a 16th place finish, albeit three laps off the pace of race winner, Dale "Boring" Jarrett~ I was so mad that Jarrett won, because he bores me to death, and I was pulling for Dick Trickle, who managed to finish in 3rd place~

     Bill's next race in the Mac Tonight machine was in the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 @ Richmond, where he sat on the pole in what would turn out to be his final pole position as an owner/driver~ After leading 43 laps during the early parts of the race, Elliott's car began to fade away, and he eventually finished in 30th place... 5 laps down to race winner, Dale "Boring" Jarrett~ This was also the Cup series debut of Kenny Irwin, who sat on the outside pole for the event, and led 12 laps, finishing in 8th place~

                                           The #94 Mac Tonight Ford awaiting the race~

    Next up was the CMT 300 @ Loudon, where Elliott qualified in the 10th spot~ He had a decent race, remaining on the lead lap and finishing in 11th place~ Steve Grissom, who finished a career high 4th place in the first race at Loudon earlier in the year, again finished 4th, tying his Cup series best effort~ Jeff Gordon was the race winner, followed by Ernie Irvan, Bobby Hamilton, Grissom, and Ricky Craven rounded out the top 5~

    The series next stopped @ Dover for the MBNA 400~ Bill qualified in 13th place, and again ran decent during the race~ He never led, but was able to hold on to an 8th place finish~ Mark Martin won the event, which only had one caution (for "Dum Dum" Michael Waltrip), while Kyle Petty, who led for 191 laps, finished 3rd after having to pit for a splash and go with only a few laps remaining~ It would be his last top 5 finish until the 2007 Coca-Cola 600~
                                                     
                            #94 Mac Tonight Ford with #33 Skoal Chevrolet~ Richmond - 1997~

    The final race of the season for the Mac Tonight theme came in the Hanes 500 @ Martinsville~ Elliott qualified in 16th, and was able to pull off a top 5 finish, with a 5th place run~ Rusty Wallace dominated the event, leading 226 of the 500 laps, but was black flagged (wrongly, I must say) by NASCAR for jumping the start, and finished in 15th, as the last car on the lead lap~ This gave the win to Virginia's own, Jeff Burton~
 
    Bill drove the #94 Mac Tonight Ford for one more race in the 1998 Cup season, the Goody's 500 night race @ Bristol~ I think it's cool that I was at the first, and last race he ever ran this car in~ I knew about the first race, but I didn't actually know his last race in the car came at Bristol until I wrote this post today~ I just remember being there and seeing it again.. watching it shine in the night as it went around the track~

    Elliott started 27th in the event, and was only able to salvage a 19th place finish out of the deal~ The race was won by Mark Martin, who led 190 of 500 laps, and had just lost his father the week before~ A still grieving Martin celebrated in victory lane, in what had to have been a very special moment for him after the loss~ Jeremy Mayfield led a surprising 173 laps, and ended up finishing in 8th place, and Kevin Lepage picked up his first career top 10, with a 10th place finish~

                                           Bill Elliott #94 McDonald's Mac Tonight Ford~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

                                      Bill Elliott #94 McDonald's Mac Tonight Ford Truck~

                                                                 Click pics to enlarge~

                                 Bill Elliott #94 McDonald's Mac Tonight 1/24 scale version~

    Well, I just decided to throw a few more items down here this time~ This isn't even all of the Mac Tonight diecasts that I've got~ I've got the gold one, and I think somewhere I have a hauler, or a Dually truck~ :P I really love this truck the most out of all of them~ Its little hood opens, and its tail gate goes down, so that's pretty cool too~

    I love all of the Mac Tonight cars, and they really look awesome all displayed together~ The card I used for these was from the gold car.. I don't have cards for the 1/64's.. I think they didn't come with one~ I thought about making a custom card, but I couldn't find many pics of the Mac Tonight car to work with, and I couldn't waste one, because I needed them for the post~

    I'm excited we're gonna get to see this paint scheme back out on the track, I just hope Jamie McFlurry doesn't fudd it all up~ I'm not a big fan of his, but I'll pull for him during that race, just for the sake of the car~ The Bojangles Southern 500 @ Darlington is gonna be an awesome event, and I just can't wait to see all the awesome paint schemes, especially the Tide car!~ (Even though I don't like Kenseth)~ I'm gonna easily give this car an A+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, as it's one of the coolest, and at the time, most innovative paint schemes of all time~

    I'd like to thank everyone for stopping in for a bit, I hope you enjoyed the post, and please remember to share it via Facebook, Twitter, or any other form of social media out there~ I'm looking forward to the Bristol races this weekend, especially the truck race tonight!~ Go #75!~ Below are some videos featuring Elliott and his career in NASCAR~ Enjoy them, and have a great weekend!~ :)

                                               Funny Bill Elliott McDonald's commercial~

                                           Ford Thunderbird commercial featuring Elliott~

                                                   McDonald's Mac Tonight compilation~

                                                     Finish of the 1994 Southern 500~

Derrike Cope #37 Poison Ford

    Hello again diecast fans, and welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ Today's post is one I'm pretty excited about, because it features one of my favorite all time drivers (Derrike Cope), as well as one of my favorite 80's bands (Poison)~ I've always wanted to do a custom of this car, but didn't know how to write the blog for it, since it only ran in one race during the 2002 season~ Since then, I've figured out ways to work around that, so I figured now is as good a time as ever for this post~

    When I was a little kid, my cassette player was always blasting Poison~  The "Look What the Cat Dragged In", "Open Up and Say... Ahh!", or "Flesh & Blood" albums were my favorites~ All three albums rock out, and I suggest you give them a listen if you never have, or haven't in a while~ They still hold up to this day as classic albums~ Now that you've got some good background music to listen to, let's dig into Derrike Cope's lone race in the #37 Poison Ford~

                                  Custom Derrike Cope #37 Poison Racing Champions Card~

     Following the 1999 season, when he made 15 Cup races, and failed to qualify for another 15, the 1990 Daytona 500 winner was having a hard time finding sponsorship, or even a team to drive for~ He didn't even have a ride to start the 2002 Cup season, but was contacted by Ed Campbell to drive his #57 CLR Ford in the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 @ Las Vegas~ Derrike failed to make the race, and was let go from his driving duties with the team~

    He next tried to make the field in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, but again failed to qualify in his self-owned #37 Sound Moves/Ozzfest Ford~ Cope was back to try again the following week in the MBNA Platinum 400 @ Dover, but he again failed to make the race, again driving the #37 Sound Moves/Ozzfest Ford~

                                      Bret Michaels poses in front of the #37 Poison Ford~

     Cope's first race he actually made came in the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 @ Michigan~ This time, he was driving Warren Johnson's #37 Ford, sponsored by the country music band "Alabama"~ Cope's car was ill all week long, and he qualified 42nd in the 43 car field~ Dale Jarrett won the pole in his #88 UPS Ford, and he also led a race high 70 laps, while finishing in 2nd place~

    The race was eventually won by Matt Kenseth, in his #17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford~ Although Cope was able to finish the race,  his car just wasn't up to speed like it needed to be, and he finished in 38th place, six laps down~ The next race on the schedule was the Pennsylvania 500 @ Pocono, and this is the race Cope ran the Poison car in~

                                              Cope on track in the #37 Poison Ford~

     Poison was about to release their 6th studio album in 2002, and decided to use some marketing money to get the word out~ They contacted Cope, who gladly put their logos all over his car, and man was this car a beauty!~ Cope enjoyed getting a little extra attention, with lead singer Bret Michaels at the track for added publicity, it must have felt like winning the Daytona 500 all over again.. or at least Dover~ :P

    Derrike was eager to show his stuff out on the track, but his qualifying effort was pretty poor, and he would start the race from the 41st spot~ The race ended up being red flagged due to rain 150 laps in, and didn't end until 8:00 PM, when it was called due to darkness~ Cope lasted until lap 154, when his engine blew up~ He would finish the race in 35th place~ Bret Michaels cried, and threw his Poison water bottle at Dr. Jerry Punch (not really), and Poison never sponsored another car again (really)~

    The race was won by Bill Elliott, who also started on the pole for the last time in his decorated NASCAR career~ It was called with 25 laps remaining, and Sterling Marlin probably should have won, but I'm glad he didn't~ I didn't really like him, and I was happy for Elliott, who was always a fan favorite~ All in all, the race lasted dang near eight hours, in one of the most boring races I can recall, besides Bill winning the thing~ 

                                                Derrike on pit road in the #37 Poison Ford~

   The Copester then started driving for Beth Ann Morgenthau, in the #49 Dodge~ In his first race with the team, Cope crashed out in the Pepsi 400 @ Michigan, finishing in 37th~ He then drove the #49 Billy Ray Cyrus Dodge (for real) in the Sharpie 500 @ Bristol~ I lol'd the entire race watching Cope turn laps with Billy Ray Dorkus on the hood of his car, well.. not really the entire race, as Cope would crash out, and finish 41st, after only running 162 laps~

    He then drove the #49 BAM (Beth Ann Morgenthau) Racing Dodge in the next two races, with a best finish of 37th in the NAPA 500 @ Atlanta~ In the season finale Ford 400 @ Homestead, Cope drove the #49 Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resorts Dodge~ He started dead last in the 43 car field, and finished a season high (for real) 34th place~ Cope finished 53rd in the final points standings~

                                                     The Hollyweird album by Poison~

    Although they're considered an "80's band", the Hollyweird album was quite an enjoyment back in 2002~ It was the first album featuring the original line-up since "Flesh & Blood" (1990)~ The album sold 11,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 103 on the Billboard 200 chart, and number 8 on the Independent Albums chart~

    The album combines their classic old style with a fresh, new feel that go together nicely~ They also do a pretty cool cover of "Squeeze Box" by The Who~ I never was much of a fan of The Who, because Pete Townsend is a douche tunnel, but I do like "Squeeze Box"~ If you've listened to Poison before, but never listened to Hollyweird, check it out here~ If you like their old stuff, you'll enjoy this~ Stinky ol' Bret Michaels just does solo tours now, so a Poison show is out of the question for now, but if Guns n' Roses can get back together, these guys can do it too~ :)

                                                       Derrike Cope #37 Poison Ford~

                                                               Click pics to enlarge~

    I was very pleased with the outcome of this one~ I've gotta quit being so lazy with the first picture though~ That's starting to get on my nerves.. it just takes a long time, so I get lazy and just warp it on there in Photoshop~ lol~ One of these winter days coming up, I'll fix them all.. but I'm not worried about it currently~ This just has to be the coolest Derrike Cope car in the history of ever!~ I love that color of green, and when it's paired with purple and black, it's super amazing!~

   This car was easier to make than I had first thought it would be, so don't get discouraged if you're trying to make Photoshop customs of your own, just because it looks like it would be hard to do~ Sometimes, I'll start on a car that I think will be easy, and I'll end up spending 4 or 5 hours tinkering around on the two pictures, that is, if I do them both the right way~ I have often time spent over eight hours on a single blog post~ If it's a rare driver, or a one off car, it's hard to track down information and pictures, then I have to edit all of them~ It's hard work, but the finished product is worth it~

    I don't know how much longer Derrike Cope will continue racing, but I hope he is like Morgan Shepherd and races till he's nearing 80~ He's one of the only racers still out there from my childhood, and I enjoy seeing him out on the track, regardless of what position he finishes~ I get sad when he doesn't make the race, and I always look forward to seeing him in the next one~ Thank you all for stopping by the blog again~ If you liked this post, check out my other post on Derrike here~ Below are some videos ranging throughout Cope's Cup career, as there is no videos of his Poison car~ Please share this post on Twitter, Facebook, or any other form of social media~ :)

                                                          Top 10 Derrike Cope crashes~

                                               Derrike Cope on the pole?~ (ends up 5th)

                                                            Both of Cope's Cup wins~

                                        Derrike's car explodes to death~ 2016 Watkins Glen~