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Racecar Of The Day: May 22, 2017; Road Champs '92 Chevrolet Lumina (Ernie Irvan)
Topic Started: May 22 2017, 10:04 PM (440 Views)
Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
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Today's Car Of The Day is Road Champs' 1992 Chevrolet Lumina NASCAR stock car (Ernie Irvan).

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Wikipedia
 
Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as "Swervin' Irvan", is a retired American stock car racing driver. A former competitor in NASCAR, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head injury at Michigan International Speedway. He is inducted in numerous halls of fame and was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. After a series of concussions in the late 1990s, Irvan retired from racing in 1999.


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For more information and pictures of the real car, please visit: Ernie Irvan

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From the early '80s through the early '90s, Road Champs was one of the main secondary contenders in the realm of 1/64 diecast. They weren't ever going to knock Hot Wheels or Matchbox out of the top spots, but they were definitely up there with Majorette in vying for a top five finish. Their last gasp came around the turn of the century, though the brand name was still technically a registered trademark last I checked (it's been a few years). They jumped on the NASCAR bandwagon not long after Racing Champions really cracked the market for racing collectibles, but they had an extremely limited lineup of drivers compared to Racing Champions.

But one of them was Swervin' Ernie Irvan. Road Champs was based out of New Jersey, which, at the time, was also my own home. To say that New Jersey was 'off the beaten path' of NASCAR's regulars is an understatement. The last time New Jersey hosted a Cup Series race was 1972 at the long since defunct Trenton Speedway. I've driven through the area where the track used to be. Literally through where the track was. But I bring this up because in 1990, Ernie Irvan's car came to the then-flourishing (but the now soon-to-be-demolished) Wayne Hills Mall. I was already a NASCAR fan at the time, and this was my first opportunity to see a stock car up close and personal. Morgan McClure had recently switched from Oldsmobile to Chevrolets, but the show car was still an Olds. They even let me sit in it. So while I wish this was a replica of the Oldsmobile, I'll settle for the Lumina since Irvan was already racing Luminas by that point anyway.

I'd love to say this is a childhood piece, but in reality this gap in my collection was filled just a month ago at the Keystone CARnival.

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Wikipedia
 
After sponsorship problems plagued Ulrich's team, Irvan left to race for Junie Donlavey, who had procured a sponsorship program with True Cure. True Cure failed to fulfill its financial obligations, and after three races, Irvan was told he could seek other opportunities. He moved over to Morgan-McClure Motorsports' (MMM) No. 4 Kodak Oldsmobile, filling the vacancy left by Phil Parsons. After starting 30th in his first race for the new team (Atlanta in March), Irvan charged to the front and grabbed a third-place finish - the first top-five of his career. The next race, at Darlington Raceway, he became involved in controversy after being involved in an accident that nearly killed Neil Bonnett. Irvan then won his first Winston Cup pole position, at Bristol, in the spring. He won his first Winston Cup race, in the Busch 500 at Bristol, on August 25. Ernie wrapped up the season with three poles, one victory, six top-fives and 13 top-10s, winning $535,280 and finishing ninth in the final standings.

In February 1991, Irvan drove the Morgan-McClure Chevrolet to victory in the Daytona 500, stock car racing's most prestigious and then most lucrative race. Four years earlier, Irvan watched the 500 on a borrowed black and white TV while washing cars, one of several jobs he worked to support both his family and his struggling career. Irvan's next victory came later in the season at Watkins Glen International Raceway. The race was marred by the death of popular veteran J. D. McDuffie. Irvan ended the year with two victories, three second-place and four fourth-place finishes among his eleven top-five and nineteen top-10 finishes in 29 starts. He finished the year fifth in Winston Cup driver standings and won $1,079,017. During this time, Irvan came under more controversy due to his aggressive driving style, earning him the nickname "Swervin' Irvan" before he apologized to his fellow drivers in a televised speech during the drivers' meeting before a race that year.

Irvan's 1992 season was highlighted by three more victories - Sonoma in June; Daytona in July; and Talladega in July. He had three pole positions, nine top-fives and eleven top-10s, $996,885 in winnings, and finished eleventh in the final season points. He suffered a broken collarbone in an accident during a Busch Series race in March at Atlanta and twelve finishes of 24th or worse including seven he did not finish. On November 21, 1992 he married Kim Baker.

Irvan continued his tenure with Morgan-McClure in 1993, adding poles at Dover in June and Daytona in July and a victory at Talladega in May. In total, while driving for Morgan-McClure, Irvan obtained nine poles, seven wins and 51 top-10 finishes in 105 starts. When Irvan's friend Davey Allison died in a helicopter crash on July 12, Irvan wanted to take his place at Robert Yates Racing in the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford. Morgan-McClure did not want him to, and the result was a lawsuit. Irvan was fired from the ride in the fall, he took over the car at Darlington in September where he started 10th and finished fifth. Irvan's first victory with RYR came in his fourth start with the team when he won at Martinsville later that same month. Irvan dedicated his victory that day to Allison and then followed that victory two weeks later with one at Charlotte in which he led all but six laps. Irvan scored five front-row positions (including two poles) and two victories in his nine races that season with RYR. Irvan was ranked ninth in driver standings at the time of his departure from Morgan-McClure, but he rose to sixth in the final standings.

At the 1994 Brickyard 400, Irvan was a factor and was leading with five laps to go when a tire puncture forced him to pit and lose a lap.


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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
Swervin' Irvan...that phrase was heard a lot in those days of NASCAR - still a great time to watch stock car racing. Road Champs, like so many of the manufacturers of the day, jumped on the NASCAR band wagon but by the time they came along there was an over abundance of product on the market - Racing Champions was the big player at the time giving collector's pretty much the first offering of stock cars. Yes, ERTL had made a few and then there was Stock Car Miniatures. I also remember Pit Row and other lesser brands plus Matchbox-White Rose and Action. Overall this is a pretty nice model of the '92 Lumina - and since I still have tons of NASCAR packed away - my example might still be buried in one of the many boxes I have as I (sadly) bought just about everything from all of the brands...is it any wonder my wife would row her eyes :rolleyes: as I tossed blister card after blister card into the shopping cart at Target or Wal-Mart or...I miss drivers like Irvan - he had a neat personality.
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
John, I sure remember all that you said, including the throwing in the shopping cart every racing Champion car I could find that I didn't have!!
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

I had either forgot or didn't realize Road Champs actually produced NASCAR models. That's a neat background history on Ernie Irvin. Think I have the Racing Champions version of the same era car.
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pjedsel
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craftymore
May 27 2017, 07:22 PM
I had either forgot or didn't realize Road Champs actually produced NASCAR models. That's a neat background history on Ernie Irvin. Think I have the Racing Champions version of the same era car.
If I recall Road Champs entry into the world of NASCAR did not last all that long - I am thinking there may have been 10 - and that might be on the high side. By the time they jumped on the bandwagon, as I noted, you had Racing Champions, Pit Row, Matchbox-White Rose - all quickly saturating the market.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
I can only recall Road Champs having four drivers off the top of my head:

Ernie Irvan
Richard Petty
Mark Martin
Rusty Wallace

Not sure if there were others or not, but Racing Champions and White Rose flourished because they had most of the drivers, while Pit Row found their niche by offering drivers (often backmarkers) that the other brands didn't have. RCCA found their niche by offering historical cars as well as some drivers not offered elsewhere. Road Champs never had enough variety in their NASCAR line to gain traction. I remember these just sitting on the pegs at Jamesway before that store liquidated in 1995. Overall it's a better casting than either Lumina offered by Matchbox, Pit Row, or the first efforts from Racing Champions. The lack of an interior hurts it, though I wonder if that was specifically because the Racing Champions offerings also lacked interiors at the time. Where I must compliment Road Champs is their tampo applications - much nicer than any of their competition, look at those contingency sponsors!
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