Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet

    Welcome back, NASCAR diecast fans~ Today's post kind of happened on accident, as I didn't intend on ever doing a post on Danica Patrick.. but I was working on Neil Bonnett's car in Photoshop, and the next thing I knew, I had changed the colors of the car, and it looked just like Danica's old GoDaddy colors~ The car I ended up doing doesn't represent an actual car she ever raced, it's just close enough to resemble a fantasy paint scheme that she could have driven~

    I must admit, I am a fan of Danica, although not so much as I was when she first came into the sport~ I bought into the hype that she was gonna be the next big thing in the sport, and for years, I've always been a fan of female NASCAR drivers~

    I was hoping that Danica was the one that was gonna give the female drivers their first win in the Cup series, or at least in the BGN series~ So far, I've been wrong.. very wrong~ I hope someday she can pull one off, and get a win.. but it's gonna be very difficult for her~ Let's go ahead and get into this post, and I'll just highlight some of Danica's better races she had while driving the #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet~

                                                              The eye of the tigress~

    Danica's first full Cup season came in 2013, after she had spent the previous season running full time in the BGN series~ She won the pole in her first race as a full time driver, in the 2013 Daytona 500, where she led for 5 laps, and finished in 8th place~ Her next decent run came 5 races later, in the STP Gas Booster 500 @ Martinsville, where she came home in the 12th position, after spinning out early in the race, and getting a few laps down~

    Following the good run @ Martinsville, Danica was god awful for the next 8 races in a row, with no finishes higher than 24th during that span~ Then came the Quicken Loans 400 @ Michigan, where she qualified 37th, and beat and banged her way up to a 13th place finish~ After 2 more bad races, Patrick would go to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400, where she started the race in 11th, and finished in 14th place~

    Her final decent run of the season came in the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 @ Martinsville, where she started 41st, and made her way up to a 17th place finish, 1 lap off the pace of race winner, Jeff Gordon~ Danica finished out her first full Cup season with 1 pole, and 1 top 10, along with leading 5 laps, and finished 27th in the final points standings~ She had an average start of 30.1, and an average finish of 26.1~

                                                 Danica always finds time for exercise~
                         

    I feel like Danica's best season came in 2014, although some would argue that opinion~ She did have a lot of bad finishes, but she had some really good runs as well~ Her first good race of the season came in the Auto Club 400 @ Fontana, where she finished 14th, after starting from 27th place~ Six races later, in the 5-Hour Energy 400 @ Kansas, she qualified in 9th, and came home in the 7th spot~

    Following the Kansas race, Danica qualified 4th in the Coca-Cola 600 @ Charlotte, but a blown engine on lap 281 ended her day, resulting in a 39th place effort~ In the Coke Zero 400 @ Daytona, Patrick manage to pick up an 8th place finish, after starting from 29th~ Her car was partially sponsored by the Florida Lottery for the event~

    She had a surprisingly strong finish in the Oral-B USA 500 @ Atlanta, where after starting the race from 27th, she charged her way up to dang near a top 5 finish, with a 6th place showing~ The rest of the season was filled with sub par efforts, with her best run after the Atlanta race being a pair of 16th place finishes~ She ended her 2014 campaign with 3 top 10's, 15 laps led, and was 28th in the final points standings~ Her average start for the year was 22.3, a current career high, and her average finish was 23.7~

                                    Will we ever get to see her in a NASCAR victory lane?~

    Patrick started the 2015 season off without a top 15 finish in the first 5 races~ She ended that streak in fashion, with a 7th place finish in the STP 500 @ Martinsville~ I've always thought of Martinsville as a road course type of track, so it makes sense that Danica would do well there~ She always has a chance of running well on short tracks, road courses, and super speedways~ Her main problems are her restarts, and pit stops/making the car better~

    Danica started 26th in the "Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes" @ Bristol, and hammered her way up to a 9th place showing~ I was at this race, and she was very fun to watch.. the night was full of energy, and I was proud of the way she ran that night~ The race ended up going into overtime, or whatever the heck it's called, and junky ol' Matt Kenseth won~ I was mad about that~ He's boring~

    Despite having some decent runs in several races, something always happened near the end of the race... Danica always seemed to fade away at the end of the race, and finish in like 30th place~ Her only other top 15 during the entire season came in the "FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks" @ Dover, where she finished in 15th place~ Her 2015 campaign consisted of 2 top 10's, 7 laps led, and was 24th in the final points standings~ She had an average start of 22.4, and an average finish of 23.5~

                                           Custom Danica Patrick Racing Champions card~

    With the end of the 2015 season, Danica's time in the GoDaddy car was over, and she started the 2016 season off with new sponsor Nature's Bakery~ Gone were the familiar colors of the famous GoDaddy paint scheme, now replaced by the white and powdery blue scheme of the Nature's Bakery car~ It was a season of solid goose eggs for Patrick, although it did have a few bright moments~

    Danica's fist top 15 of the 2016 season came in the "AAA 400 Drive For Autism", which was the  12th race of the season~ She finished 13th in the event~ 7 races later, in the New Hampshire 301 she managed to eek out a 14th place finish, after starting from 29th place~ She picked up another top 15 finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 @ Loudon, with a 15th place effort~ Patrick led 11 laps of the Cheez-It 355 at the Glen @ Watkins Glen, but fell back towards the end of the race, and only managed a 21st place finish~

    Patrick's only other bright spot of the season came in the Bank of America 500 @ Charlotte, where she started in 13th, and finished in 11th place~ Although she didn't get a top 10 during the season, she led a career high 30 laps, and finished a career high matching 24th in the final points standings~ Her average start was 25.1, and her average finish was a career high 22.0~ Nature's Bakery is scheduled to be the sponsor for Danica for the 2017, and maybe even beyond that~ As of now, it's not been specified~

                            Would Shawna Robinson, Patty Moise, or Janet Guthrie act like this?~

     I swear, out of all the blog posts I've ever made.. this one was the hardest one to put together~ Every other picture of Danica is her in her underwear and bra~ Try searching for Ryan Newman, and see if you'll find a bunch of him in just his underwear.. lol~ You won't find that, because that's dumb, and Ryan Newman is a wheel man.. his driving skills are what keep him in NASCAR~ He may not win a lot of races, but he's consistent, and he doesn't tear up a bunch of race cars~

   With Danica, that's basically all she has to offer.. the sex appeal~ She does have an occasional decent run, but nothing near worth keeping her in that car with Stewart-Haas~ I still hope she wins a Cup race, but she's gonna have to focus more on the race car, and less on this yoga, and being in her underwear so much~ You don't see Patty Moise in her underwear, or Shawn Robinson.. they had respect for themselves~

    Danica will be 35 years old in March~ This is a time when most drivers are coming into the prime of their careers~ If there's any chance of her winning a Cup race, she'll have to do it within the next 3 seasons~ And she'll have to drive well enough to keep that ride.. in my opinion~ I don't see her staying with Stewart-Haas unless she starts becoming a top 15 driver on a regular basis, at the very least~ I don't care that she shows off her underwear that much, but I wish she'd at least get more competitive before she shows all of that skin~

                                               Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy Chevrolet~

                                                              Click pics to enlarge~

    Although I disliked the idea of doing a blog post on a current day driver, I had a really fun time making this car~ It really looks like it could have been one of her cars, but in the form of an old Racing Champions car~ The card was fun to make also, and it took probably the longest of any card I've ever done~ As with the Neil Bonnett car I used to make this car, this one doesn't have any lettering on the tires, which I think was due to a conflict with Hoosier, but I'm not totally sure~

    The colors of the car, and the scheme design from the Bonnett car make this one look pretty awesome in my opinion~ If this car was out there racing in 1994, it would have been a fan favorite hands down~ I would go so far as to say that this car looks better than it originally did as the Bonnett version, by a thousand million.. but that's just my opinion.. surely I'm biased~ :P

     I have to give this one an A- on the Racing Champions quality scale, due mostly to the fact of the tires not having any lettering.. so that's not really the cars fault.. I'm just a mean ol' critic~ All in all I love this car, and I enjoy watching Danica race around out there.. I'd rather see Johanna Long, but I guess she just doesn't have the sex appeal to get the job~ Below are some videos featuring Danica's time in NASCAR, along with a bonus car that I came up with~ Please share this blog post on any kind of social media you may be a part of~ Thanks for comin', and I'll see y'all on the next NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog post~

                                                                  ***Bonus Car***
                           Diggity Dave #29 Olde Thompson Himalayan Pink Salt Oldsmobile~

                                                                   
                                                   Danica Patrick: Pissed and Confused~

                                              
                                               What do other drivers think about Danica?~

                                                                Still hasn't learned~

                                               Danica fights, arguments, and tempers~

   

Morgan Shepherd #21 Cheerwine Ford

   Hello again NASCAR fans, and welcome to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving~ The Christmas season is now upon us, and filling people with Christmas cheer, which got me thinking about Cheerwine~ The super sweet burgundy soda used to be a regional thing, but is now being sold nationwide by Pepsi Co.~ Growing up in the south, I drank my fair share of the stuff, and I must say, it's truly a classic taste.. especially if you can find it in a glass bottle~

   Our old friend Morgan Shepherd had the honor of driving the #21 Cheerwine Ford partially during the 1994, and 1995 BGN seasons~ In today's post, I'm gonna be going over his time in the Cheerwine car, which spanned 15 races during 2 seasons~ Oddly enough, I couldn't find a single picture of Morgan on track in the car~ If anyone has a picture of it they'd like to send in, you can do so by emailing me @ buttermilkjug@yahoo.com~ Now, let's grab us an ice cold Cheerwine, and get right into this story~

                                           Morgan Shepherd #21 Cheerwine Ford hero card~

    In 1994, at the age of 52, Morgan Shepherd started the BGN season off with newly acquired sponsor, Cheerwine~ The team got off to a bumpy start, qualifying 29th in the season opening Goody's 300 @ Daytona, but was able to fair much better after the green flag fell, charging their way up to a 7th place finish, which turned out to his season high~

    He then qualified 36th in the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, and finished 13th, 1 lap off the pace of race winner, Terry Labonte, who was driving his self-owned #14 MW Windows Chevrolet~ Shepherd wouldn't race again in the BGN series until the 6th race on the schedule, in the Mark III Vans 200 @ Darlington~ While he had a season high starting spot with a 5th place lap, he just didn't have what it took during the race, which was run in very cold conditions, and was only able to muster up a 19th place finish, one lap down to race winner, Mark Martin's #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~

   Shepherd next raced in the Goody's 250 @ Bristol, where he had a horrid weekend~ Starting from the 31st starting position, he never was a threat in the race, and fell out of competition on lap 164, due to rear end issues, and finished 25th~ This was the infamous race where Mark Martin pulled off the track 1 lap early, thinking the race was over~ He ended up finishing in 11th place, and the race was instead won by David Green, who ended up winning the BGN championship that season~ It was the only race he won all year long~

                                                           Cheerwine advertisement~

   Morgan next ran the car in the Champion 300 @ Charlotte, where he started 37th, and was caught up in a lap 46 crash, which involved 9 other drivers~ Chad Little suffered the most damage in the crash, including a broken collarbone~ Phil Parsons went on to win the race, which would be his final BGN victory~ He was driving the #29 White Rose Collectibles Chevrolet, and was using Hoosier tires~

   Shepherd  qualified well in the Fram Filter 500K @ Talladega, with a 6th place run, but  faded during the race, after leading for 5 laps, and finished in 17th, 1 lap down to race winner, Ken Schrader, who was driving the #52 AC Delco Chevrolet~ This would end up being the final win of Kenny's BGN career~ He next ran in the Gatorade 200 @ Darlington, where he rolled off in 29th, and worked his way up to a 19th place finish~

   His final race in the 1994 BGN season came in the Autolite 250 @ Richmond, where he started in 13th, but dropped out of competition after only 41 laps, due to a handling problem~ In the 8 races he ran during the season, he recorded 1 lone top 10 finish, and led a total of 5 laps~ He finished 45th in the final points standings~ Going into the 1995 BGN season, Cheerwine stayed with Shepherd, and the team ran a total of 7 races during the year~ For some reason, Shepherd chose to skip the season opening race @ Daytona, and instead ran his first race of the season @ Rockingham, one week later~

                                          Custom Morgan Shepherd Racing Champions card~

    In the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, Shepherd had his best run of the season, with a 6th place starting position, and a 5th place finish~ He led for 20 laps, but was passed by Chad Little, who never looked back on his way to victory lane, in the #23 Harris-Teeter Ford~ To date, Shepherd's 5th place finish in the race is his final top 5 in the BGN series~ The following week, in the Hardee's 250 @ Richmond, Morgan qualified in 23rd, and finished in 37th, due to rear end problems~

   He then ran the following week, in the Busch Light 300 @ Atlanta, where he rolled off in 34th, and beat and banged his way up to a 15th place finish~ Johnny Benson Jr. won the race, driving the #74 Lipton Tea Chevrolet, and driver Jim Bown had an outstanding run all day long, leading 4 laps, and finishing 3rd, in the #51 Luck's Foods Chevrolet~

   The Cheerwine team was in good spirits for the Mark III Vans 200 @ Darlington, after a 10th place qualifying effort~ Shepherd was running strong until he blew an engine on lap 72, which resulted in a 36th place finish~ Larry Pearson got the win, driving the #92 Stanley Tools Chevrolet~ It was his first win in the series since 1988~

                                                   Old Cheerwine painted advertisement~

    After skipping the next 4 events on the circuit, Shepherd was back @ Charlotte, in the Red Dog 300~ After qualifying in 23rd, the car suffered ignition issues after only 51 laps of competition~ This resulted in a 36th place finish for Morgan and the team~ Shepherd must have been a good luck charm for Chad Little, because Little won this race too, driving the #23 Bayer Ford~ Tracy Leslie, who started 2nd, also had a strong race, leading 48 laps, and finishing in 3rd~ Rich Bickle won his first career BGN pole for the race, and finished in 8th~

   Shepherd next raced in the series for the Detroit Gasket 200 @ Michigan~ He started the race in 21st, and was able to come home in the 11th spot, one lap down to race winner, Mark Martin, who was driving the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~ Dale Jarrett dominated the race in the #32 Mac Tools Ford, and at first, had won the race... it was later found out hours later that Jarrett's car had an illegal carburetor, so he was banished to a last place finishing position, and the win was given to Martin~ This was also the final race for legendary BGN series driver, Jimmy Hensley~

   Morgan's final race with the Cheerwine sponsorship came in the All Pro Bumper To Bumper 300 @ Charlotte, where he qualified 9th in the 44 car field, led for 3 laps, and finished in 6th place~ Mark Martin also won this race, again in the famed #60 Winn-Dixie Ford~ This was the final race for veteran BGN driver, Tom Peck~

    Shepherd ended his 1995 campaign with 7 starts, 1 top 5, and 2 top 10's, while leading a total of 23 laps, and finishing 45th in the final points standings~ His tenure with Cheerwine spanned 15 races during 2 seasons, with a total of 1 top 5, and 3 top 10's, with 28 laps lead, and an average finish of 21st~

                                                Morgan Shepherd #21 Cheerwine Ford~

Click pics to enlarge~

     If you can't tell what I did with this car, it's really a 1/24 scale bank~ I just shrank it down and made a custom card for it on Photoshop~ As far as I know, a 1/64 scale version of this car was never made, which is sad~ It's bad enough I couldn't even find a picture of the car on the track... we could have at least been given a 1/64 scale version.. that would be much better than a bank, in my opinion~ 

    I love the look of the car~ It kind of reminds me of the ol' Winston cigarettes car that Jimmy Spencer used to drive, though this car came before that one~ A simple red and white paint scheme, yet it's very eye catching~ I'm gonna give this car a B+ on the Racing Champions quality scale, with points taken off for it not being a real 1/64 scale car, and never coming with a card~ Other than that, I love this car, and the history behind it~ 

   The 2017 season is going to mark 50 years since Morgan's first NASCAR race, and I'm so thankful we've had him in our lives this long~ A lot of newcomers to the sport may be heard mocking him, but guys like Morgan are what the sport was all about, and I applaud him for still doing what he loves, at his age~ I've had a lot of friends that will never see the age of 50, yet Morgan Shepherd's been racing for that long.. that's an amazing accomplishment, that deserves more credit and attention that what is currently being given to the man~ 

   Thank you all for stopping by the blog again!~ I'm looking forward to the holidays, and starting a new year, and I hope you all are too~ The blog has grown a lot in 2016, and I'm very thankful for that~ I don't want these old drivers to fade away, and be forgotten about, and you've all proved to me that you don't want that either~ It's fun to look back at their careers, and rekindle the feelings we used to have for the sport we loved~ Below are some clips, including the 1994 Champion 300 crash Morgan was involved in, although I don't think they show his car~ It's the best I could do~ Please share this blog post on any social media sites that you are on~ :)

                  **Bonus car** Morgan Shepherd's 1982 #98 Levi Garrett Buick on a 1989 body~

                                     1994 Champion 300 crash~ Morgan Shepherd involved~

                                     

                                                        1994 Purolator 500 finish~

                                     

                                                       Morgan Shepherd news piece~

                                     

     Auto Racing Crash-A-Rama Part 10~

 

   

Mike Alexander #84 Nashville Ford Dealers Ford

    Welcome back to the NASCAR Racing Champions diecast blog~ I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and got their bellies full~ In today's post, I'm going to be looking back on Mike Alexander's Cup and BGN career~ The actual car I will be reviewing, I believe is an ASA car, but I'm not totally sure on that~ I do know that I wasn't able to find any information on the car, not even one picture~

    Mike Alexander was an awesome race car driver, and was well on his way to becoming a short track ace in the Winston Cup series, until a vicious crash in the 1988 Snowball derby basically ended his racing career~ Although he was able to race for a few more years, he never was quite the same after the accident, though he did win the 1992 track championship at the Nashville Fairgrounds track, for the second time in his career~

                                                                   The early days~

    In the early 80's, Alexander was mostly racing late models~ From 1983 - 1984, he won a whopping 31 of the 56 races he entered~ He was the 1983 Grand American Stock Car series champion, in what was its final year, and in 1984, he won the All-American Challenge series championship~ In the picture above, you can see he had a friendly rivalry with legendary racer, Richie Evans, whom he often battled to the checkered flag~

    Alexander entered his first Cup race in 1980, driving D.K. Ulrich's #40 Midwestern Farm Lines Chevrolet in the Music City USA 420 @ Nashville~ He qualified 12th in the 30 car field, and wound up picking up his first career top 10, with a 10th place finish~ This was his only Cup race for the season, but he would be back in 1981, driving for Bob Rogers in the #37 Rogers Auto Leasing Oldsmobile/Buick in 19 events~

    He had a bumpy season in the Rogers owned machine~ When he could finish a race, he had some decent finishes~ The problem was, 1/2 the time the engines were blowing up, and he wasn't getting to finish the races~ His first top 10 of the 1981 season came in the Virginia 500 @ Martinsville, where he started in 11th, and finished in 10th place~ He had a season best finish of 7th in the Firecracker 400 @ Daytona, and also finished 10th in the Champion Spark Plug 400 @ Michigan~

                                               Alexander posing in front of the #12 car~

   Following the 1981 season, Alexander was without a Cup ride, and ran 1 BGN (at the time called Late Model Sportsman Series) race in 1983, where he finished 38th in the Miller Time 300 @ Charlotte~ He attempted to make the field for the Goody's 500 Cup race @ Martinsville, driving the #01 Action Van Chevrolet for car owner Emanuel Zervakis~ He managed to qualify in 14th place, but had to withdraw from the event due to blowing an engine during practice, and not having a spare~

   Mike got a break in the 1984 season, when driver/owner Dave Marcis was hired by RahMoc Enterprises to drive their #75 Pontiac, after Neil Bonnett vacated the seat just before the start of the season to drive for Junior Johnson~ Alexander was asked by Marcis to fill his seat in his self-owned #71 Oldsmobile for a partial, 19 race schedule~ For the most part, the 1984 season was lackluster for Mike, with his only top 10 coming in the Busch 500 @ Bristol, where he finished in 7th place~ He finished out the season with a career high of 28th in the final points standings~

    He was picked in for the start of the 1985 season to race for Sims Brother Racing, in the #84 Sims Brothers Racing Chevrolet, and would finish the season driving for Sadler Brothers Racing, in the #95 Action Vans Chevrolet~ In the 11 races he ran during the season, his best effort came in the season opening Daytona 500, where he started 29th, and limped his way up to a 12th place finish~

                                                       Alexander with his #84 BGN car~

    Following his 1985 Cup campaign, Alexander then race 11 races in the BGN series for his own team, with sponsorship primarily from Action Vans~ He had a decent season, winning his first career pole in the Busch 200 @ South Boston, where he finished 18th~ He finished 8th in the Winn-Dixie 300 @ Charlotte, and also finished 8th in the All Pro 300 @ Charlotte~

    Mike ran his first full season of BGN competition in the 1987 season~  He finished 2nd in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory, and 5th in the Miller 500 @ Martinsville~ He picked up his first career BGN victory in the Hamptons 200 @ Hampton, leading 97 laps, and beating out veteran driver Tommy Houston to the checkered flag~ Alexander won the pole in the Kroger 200 @ IRP, but wound up finishing in 13th place~

    He was runner up again in the Budweiser 200 @ Jefferson, and again in the Bobby Isaac Memorial 200 @ Hickory~ He finished 3rd in the World Crown 200 in the return to Jefferson, and again finished 2nd in the Winston Classic @ Martinsville to end the season~ He finished out his first full time BGN season with 1 pole, 1 win, 8 top 5's, and 12 top 10's, while finishing 6th in the final points standings~

                                                     Mike on track in the Raybestos car~

    The 1988 Cup and BGN seasons were by far Alexander's best~ In the Cup series, he was driving for the Stavola Brothers, and was teamed up with legendary crew chief, Jimmy Fennig~ The pairing was due to Bobby Allison's injuries he sustained in the Miller High Life 500 @ Pocono~ Alexander finished out the season in the car, and finished 10th in his first race with the team, in the Miller High Life 400 @ Michigan~ He finished 5th in the Budweiser at the Glen, 7th in the Delaware 500 @ Dover, and 6th in the AC Delco 500 @ Rockingham~

    Alexander qualified 4th for the Atlanta Journal 500 @ Atlanta, and had his best race of the season, leading for 20 laps, and finishing in 3rd place~ He finished out the 1988 Cup season with 2 top 5's, and 6 top 10's in 16 races, while finishing 32nd in the final points standings~ His 1988 BGN season was equally impressive, as he was again fielding his own cars~ He finished 7th in the season opener @ Daytona, and didn't waste any time finding victory lane, picking up his only win of the season in the Mountain Dew 400 @ Hickory~

    In the very next race of the season, Mike finished 2nd in the Goodwrench 200 @ Rockingham, and followed that up with a 4th place finish in the Miller Classic @ Martinsville~ He won the pole for the Pennsylvania 300 @ Nazareth, but only managed an 18th place finish~ Following the Nazareth, Alexander finished 2nd in the Busch 200 @ South Boston~ He then won the pole in the Budweiser 200 @ Dover, and finished in 10th place~

                                                    Alexander at Nashville Fairgrounds~

    Mike then finished 5th in the Roses Stores 150 @ Rougemont, and the Big Star/Coca-Cola 200 @ Lanier, and finished 4th in the Granger Select 200 @ Louisville~ Up until this point, he had been the points leader for practically the entire season, but a 20th place finish @ Myrtle Beach, followed by a 43rd place finish @ Oxford put an end to that~  He finished 2nd in the Poole Equipment 150 @ Rougemont, and again in the Tri-City Pontiac 200 @ Bristol~

    Alexander picked up his final top 5 of the season in the Advance Auto 150 @ Martinsville, with another 2nd place finish, and had clawed his way back up to 2nd place in the points standings, but finished poorly in the final 3 races of the season, and wound up finishing a career high 4th place in the final points standings~ He finished the season out with 1 pole, 1 win, 10 top 5's (career high), and 17 top 10's (career high), while leading 337 laps (career high), and finishing 4th in the points standings (career high)~

    But fate dealt Mike a bad hand, and following the end of the 1988 BGN season, he was involved in a brutal crash in the 1988 Snowball Derby, which nearly took his life, and basically ended his racing career~ He ran the 1989 Daytona 500 for the Stavola Brothers, but it was clear that he wasn't ready to be back behind the wheel, and that was the final start of his season~ He ran a handful of Cup races in 1990 for Bobby Allison, before calling it quits from Cup and BGN series competition, ending what would have been a spectacular racing career, at the age of 32~

                                          Mike Alexander #84 Nashville Ford Dealers Ford~

                                                                Click pics to enlarge~

    I have to admit, before last year, I didn't know this Racing Champions car existed~ I found it at a flea market in Sevierville, when my wife and I were visiting Dollywood~ I was so happy to have a car that I'd never seen before~ I'm guessing this is some kind of ASA car, but I can't guarantee that to be accurate.. just my guess~

    I love the red, white, and blue paint scheme on the car, and through my research, I found out that Mike's father used to own some dealerships in Nashville~ I would imagine that they owned "Nashville Ford Dealers", but that too is just a guess~ Mike's father has since passed away, and the dealerships were sold~ I also found out that Mike has a son, Clay, who also races~

    All in all, I give this car a B- on the Racing Champions quality scale, as there are a few imperfections on the paint, and I don't really care for the picture on the card~ That said, it's still an awesome little car, and I'm happy to have it in my collection~ Below are some clips of Mike, and some random NASCAR stuff, since I couldn't find a lot of Mike Alexander videos~ Thanks for stopping by the blog again, and please remember to share this post on any social media outlets you may be a part of~ :)

                                                           Rusty Wallace ruins it again~

                                                 Interview with Mike and his son, Clay~

                                     1988 Budweiser 200 (full race) Mike interview from pole~

                                                 1990 Daytona 500 - Alexander crash~