1990 Mark Martin

Sept. 30, 1990 – Mark Martin maintained his points lead by winning the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He led the first lap and the final 38 laps to take the win. Complete results can be found here. Dale Earnhardt would eventually overtake Martin to win the 1990 Winston Cup championship.

Action produced this car in 1995.

1992 Stanley Smith

Happy birthday to former NASCAR competitor Stanley Smith. Smith was critically injured in the 1993 Die Hard 500 at Talladega. While he never competed in Winston Cup again, Smith recovered to have a successful career driving late models throughout the Southeast.

Racing Champions produced this car in 1992.

2014 Jeff Gordon

Sept. 28, 2014 – Jeff Gordon won today's AAA 400 at Dover, transferring to the next round of the Chase for the Cup with a victory. Gordon led the final 71 laps. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by SpinMaster NASCAR Authentics in 2014. It depicts Gordon's standard Drive to End Hunger scheme. The special Hunger Action Month scheme he drove in today's race has not been produced to date.

1997 Jeff Burton

Sept. 28, 1997 – Driving the Jack Roush Thunderbird, Jeff Burton collected his third career victory by leading the final 22 laps of the Hanes 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Complete results can be found here.

Racing Champions produced this car in 1997.

2013 Ron Fellows

Happy birthday to occasional NASCAR competitor and road racing extraordinaire Ron Fellows!

Lionel Racing produced this car in 2013.

1992 Geoff Bodine

Sept. 28, 1992 – Geoff Bodine led on five different occasins, including the final 43 laps to take the victory in the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. It was Bodine's fourth win at the tight half-mile. Complete results can be found here. 

This car was produced in 1992 by Racing Champions.

1993 Joe Nemechek

Happy Birthday to 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Champion "Front Row" Joe Nemechek. To date, Nemechek has four Winston/Nextel Cup wins and 16 Busch Series victories. 

This car was produced in 1993 by Matchbox/White Rose.

1990 Rob Moroso

Today would have been Rob Moroso's 46th birthday. Moroso and his female companion were killed in a highway accident on Sept. 30, 1990, shortly following the Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkseboro Speedway. It was estimated that Moroso was traveling 75 mph in a 35 mph zone. It was later determined that Moroso had also been driving under the influence of alcohol. Moroso is a tragic example of the consequences of youthful indiscretion. He had already secured enough points to be named 1990 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.

This car was produced in 1990 by Racing Champions.

1999 Casey Atwood

Sept. 25, 1999 – Casey Atwood took the lead for the final time on lap 192 of 200 to take the victory in the MBNA Gold 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway. It was his second victory of the season. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced in 1999 by Revell.

1972 Richard Petty

Sept. 24, 1972 – Richard Petty passed Bobby Allison on lap 462 of the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway and held on to capture his seventh victory of the 1972 season. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by Winner's Circle in 2009.

2013 Regan Smith

Happy birthday to NASCAR Nationwide Series competitor Regan Smith!

This car was produced by Lionel Racing in  2013.

1996 Tim Steele

Sept. 22, 1996 – Tim Steele was dominant in the Eddie Gilstrap Fall Classic ARCA race at Salem, winning the pole and leading 176 of the race's 200 laps en route to victory. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by Racing Champions for Lindberg in 1996.

2014 Joey Logano

Sept. 21, 2014 – Joey Logano pitted for four fresh tires on lap 247 of the 300-lap Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That move made the difference as Logano was able to hold on to take the victory, securing his spot in the next round of the Chase for the Cup. Complete results can be found here.

Lionel Racing produced this car in 2013. Since Logano's car only has small associate sponsor changes for 2014, I have not added his 2014 car to my collection.

1995 Curtis Markham

Happy Birthday to former NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driver Curtis Markham. Markham is currently the shop manager at Joe Gibbs Racing and spotter for Denny Hamlin. 

Racing Champions produced this car as part of its 1995 Preview Edition.

1975 Richard Petty

Sept. 21, 1975 – Richard Petty led nearly half of the race's 400 laps to take the victory from the pole in the 1975 Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by Winner's Circle in 2009.

2014 Brendan Gaughan

Sept. 20, 2014 – Brendan Gaughan made a daring three-wide pass to the outside of Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon on lap 195 to take the lead in the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Gaughan held the lead over the final five laps to take the victory. Complete results can be found here.

Lionel Racing produced this car in 2014. Gaughan took victory in a special Protect the Harvest scheme which has not been made in scale.

Fun Friday Answer!

On Friday, I featured this car and asked viewers to find the oddity. Scroll down to see if you were correct.

Racing Champion was constantly evolving in its early years, and variations weren't uncommon. This particular car has a variation I've never seen, though. The front tires have Racing Champions logos while the rears have Good Years!

I don't know if this variation makes the car any more valuable or not, but it's certainly good for a chuckle.

1992 Ricky Rudd

Sept. 20, 1992 – Ricky Rudd captures his only victory of the 1992 season by winning the Peak Antifreeze 500 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Rudd led 32 of the race's 500 laps. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced in 1992 by Racing Champions.

2013 Juan Pablo Montoya

 Happy birthday to former NASCAR competetor Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya scored two wins during his time in NASCAR, but perhaps more importantly, he opened the door for drivers from other disciplines to enter the sport.

 

This car was produced by Lionel Racing in 2013.

Fun Friday!

Welcome to the first installment of Fun Friday! In this somewhat-irregular series, I'll spotlight a car with a unique or unusual feature, and leave it up to the viewers to see if they can figure out what it is.

In this installment, Michael Waltrip's 1991 Pennzoil Pontiac from Racing Champions is featured. See anything odd about this car? Feel free to comment. I'll post the answer on Sunday.

1955 Tim Flock

Tim Flock took the victory at the tricky circular Langhorne Speedway on this date in 1955. Driving for innovative owner Carl Kiekhaefer, Flock led the final 170 of the race's 250 laps. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by Racing Champions in 2002. It is one of the earliest pieces in my "adult" collection, and shows a bit of wear.

2013 Jimmie Johnson

Today is Jimmie Johnson's 39th birthday. While he is a controversial figure at the moment, Johnson will surely go down as one of the all-time greats of the sport.

This car was produced by Lionel Racing in 2013. It is the "night race" version of his traditional blue scheme.

2011 Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski won the Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series at Chicagoland Speedway on this date in 2011. Keselowski was dominant in this Penske Racing Dodge Challenger, leading 158 of 200 laps.

This car was produced by Lionel Racing in 2011.

1995 Johnny Rumley

Our final review of a past Dover winner comes with this Johnny Rumley car from 1995. Despite being a winning driver (Rumley won at Hickory in 1993) and a winning team (owner Don Beverley had been to victory lane with Jimmy Hensley and Hermie Sadler), this has to be considered an underdog victory. Rumley led one time for last 11 laps to take the victory on this date in 1995. Complete results can be found here.

This car was produced by Racing Champions in 1995. It differs from the race winner in the fact that this is a Monte Carlo while the winning car was actually a Lumina. Rumley's Lumina was never made.

1991 Harry Gant

Continuing our look at past Dover winners, this is the car that Harry Gant drove to victory on this date in 1991. It was Gant's third consecutive win (he would also go on to win the next week in Martinsville), and he was on his way to earning the nickname "Mr. September." Results of the 1991 Peak Antifreeze 500 can be found here.

This car was produced by Racing Champions in 1991. As was customary with tobacco and alcohol sponsored cars, this car doesn't display the Skoal Bandit graphics.