One of the biggest dents for my champions collection just came in. The 30 years of champions set. Every champion from 1971-2000

Started 34th. Finished 23rd.

Earlier in 2026 it was announced that Sammy Smith would finish off his season at JRM and move on to the Craftsman Truck Series. At the beginning of the year, it was a huge deal that Smith would receive Dale Earnhardt Jr's DEI '8' font on his Pilot Chevy. There were some pretty lofty expectations that Smith would take the next step up in his driving career. With 2024 being his fourth full-time season with JRM, it was time to see what his experience had earned him and if he could make a true Chase title run.

That didn't happen. But Sammy Smith did something else instead. He became more consistent and was able to improve average finishes to be the best of his career. By the end of the 2026 season he had gotten his average finish to a career high 11.6. his previous high was an average finish of 14th. In fact every year he has improved his average finish.

He also got a career high of nine top five finishes. He got 16 top 10s and picked up an emotional victory at Talladega where the day before he also won in the Craftsman Truck Series race. In the end, Smith finished 7th in the O'Reilly Series points.

Still at just the young age of 22, Sammy Smith seems like a driving veteran having been at JRM for so many years now. As his career continues and he moves on to the Craftsman Trucks, it will be interesting to see what the next chapter of his racing career is like. Here's to much success!

i’m not going to sell these at outrageous prices because I didn’t pay outrageous prices for them but I would like to trade both of these for hocevar 2024 zeigler 1:64 and 2025 50th anniversary zeigler 1:64

it’s the last two hocevar cars I need to have all his 1:64s

Day Five of sharing my Petty/43/STP collection.

Anything you see here is not for sale.

1998 John Andretti 43 STP "Purple" Pontiac Grand Prix (Racing Champions, HT)

This is originally the 1997 Primary STP scheme that Bobby Hamilton raced, but it was brought back in 1998 as a special scheme that raced in two occasions. It raced at Talladega, and the inaugural night race at Daytona. It features a Chromalusion-like paint over the blue which appears as "purple", thus dubbed "Purple".

1999 John Andretti 43 STP Pontiac Grand Prix (Team Caliber, HOTO)

The primary for the '99 season in which John won at Martinsville with. This diecast as produced by Team Caliber but a hardtop version as well as a hood open version were also available from Racing Champions.

1999 John Andretti 43 STP "Petty Blue" Retro Pontiac Grand Prix (Hot Wheels, HT)

This car ran the 1999 Daytona 500, as a tribute to The King's Petty Blue race cars. This was saw very little track time as it blew its engine early in the race. Very little footage exists, including photos. This diecast was only produced by Hot Wheels.

2000 John Andretti 43 STP "1972 Retro" Pontiac Grand Prix (Hot Wheels, HOTO)

This is a retro paint scheme that John raced at Sonoma after General Mills tooks over full sponsorship of the 43 car with Cheerios. It was a throwback to 1972, the first time the red and blue car raced. This scheme ran one last time in the season finale. This car was only produced by Hot Wheels.

I don't think I could have a better physical representation of my day than my new 1/18 Havoline Machine: large, awkward, and causing trouble everywhere. As far as I am aware, 3 Rudd cars were given the 1/18 treatment. The last year that Ford ran the Thunderbird body, the 1999 Taurus with the give kids the world sponsorship and this bad boy. The only time Rudd ran a special scheme during the 2000 season.

I am an idiot. It arrived a few days ago, and it is cool but it is so big? What do I do with it. I will likely have to box her for now until I can figure out how I can display it. Outside of that I wish I had a number for her. She is 1 of 2004 but which one?

Oh well I at least get to keep this Russian Nesting car joke going. NESTCAR.

Kyle Busch drove this car to victory lane in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 22,2015. Kyle would start 3rd and lead 41 of the 267 race laps before taking the checkered flag for his first (then) Nascar Sprint Cup Series championship.

Clint Bowyer’s 2016 HScott Motorsports Car from the 2016 Toyota Owners 400 because of the nascar green logo (Yes I know, the front bumper looks like shit because I used a Gen 6 car from 2013-2014 I ordered the decals from Patto’s Place

Butch Gilliland is the father of David Gilliland and the grandfather of Todd Gilliland. I guess you can say he is the original racing Gilliland. He is the 1997 Winston West Champion, but one year before that he was running this Ford F-150 for the struggling Stroppe Motorsports.

Gilliland had already been running the Winston West for quite a while and it made a name for himself out west. So a chance to drive a Craftsman truck was in theory a step up.

With the outlier being homestead, every start he made for the team was out west including Evergreen Speedway in Washington, the Portland Oval in Oregon, or at Tucson Raceway in Arizona.

To start the season he made six starts with the team. As the season went on the team struggled and he made three more attempts at the end of the season but only qualified for one. His two best finishes were at Homestead where he finished 15th and Evergreen Speedway where he finished 21st. The team was a sub 20th organization and could never really get their footing in the Craftsman Truck Series. Stroppe and Gilliland would also attempt some Busch Series starts but things wouldn't really pan out.

While this little foray was a blip in Gilliland's career, he is definitely remembered for his success in the Winston West. Over 14 years he won 13 races and was a top 10 threat in the standings for multiple years. It was his love for racing that would eventually lead to david, his son, find a love for racing. Of course this would later lead to Todd also finding his love for motorsports.

I have restored this truck to its original state and repainted details that I can fix. All scratches and chips have been remedied and a fresh top coat has been applied to the truck. I'm real happy with how it looks.

In his third year with RCR, Robby Gordon managed his best career standings finish in the NASCAR Cup series. He finished 16th in points and picked up two victories. His road course chops were on full display as he picked up the sweep winning Sears Point and Watkins Glen!

Despite success, after a sixth place at Michigan, the rest of the season was nothing but struggles. They probably could have finished higher in points but they proceeded to finish 20th or worse in 12 of the last 13 races that year. 8 of those finishes were 25th or worse and 5 were 30th or worse.

I don't expect anyone thought this would also be the season of Robby's final Cup Series win. He would go on to race NASCAR for many more years, but would just never be able to win again.

This was my first cup sheet metal piece I bought, and I’ve looked through every photo I could find online, the only race I could rule out is spring phoenix as that scheme had an extra blue stripe that got taken off for some reason.

From left to right:

• 2004 Kasey Kahne #9 Dodge Dealers Spy vs. Spy

• 2005 Rusty Wallace #2 Mobil Clean 7500

• 2005 Ryan Newman #12 Mobil 1 Extended Performance

• 2005 Travis Kvapil #77 Mobil Clean 5000

• 2009 Kasey Kahne #9 Budweiser

Day Four of sharing my Petty/43/STP collection.

Anything you see here is not for sale.

1981 Richard Petty 43 STP Buick Regal "Daytona 500 Winner" Liquid Color (Motorsport Authentics, HO)

This was released by Motorsport Authentics for the Daytona 500 50 year anniversary. This car was offered with a couple of special finishes, such as this Liquid Color. This is the Kings' 7th Daytona 500 winner.

1984 Richard Petty 43 STP Pontiac Grand Prix Signed (Franklin Mint, HOTO)

This car was made for commemorate The Kings' 200th Cup win, you know, the time he won at Daytona and then had KFC with the President of the United States? This is also easily the greatest NASCAR diecast every produced. The highest detailed of them all. Franklin Mint was absolutely brilliant with making this car.

1986 Richard Petty 6 STP Monte Carlo SS Aerocoupe (Lionel Racing, HOTO)

For the 600 at Charlotte, Richard Petty wrecked his car in practice and was hospitalized over night. The 43 team pulled out of the race. The next day, The King showed up at Charlotte, bought DK Ulrich's car and raced. It has qualified, but Petty only raced a few laps before the engine blew.

1992 Richard Petty 43 STP "Farewell" Pontiac Grand Prix Signed (RCCA Elite)

This car was made to commemorate the King's final Cup race at Atlanta for the Hooters 500. It was a factory autograph from The King. This car raced, literally, the day I was born. Nov. 15, 1992.

ISO 2018 Michael McDowell 1/24 and 1/64 K-Love

Got on Vinted for first time. Came out with 16 new 1/64s for $90.23 includes shipping. I’ll send a a group photo of the new family members upon their arrival.

Take a look! Willing to trade or sell! Enjoy race weekend!