MuskyBill Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 (edited) Part 2... There's a hobby shop in Hamilton that I used to visit a lot when I was collecting Nascar diecast & building 1/24 scale models. Twice a year, they'd bring up various race cars to attract fans... Fans who've been around since '87 will remember this car very well. During the annual All-Star race, Dale Earnhardt & Bill Elliott were battling for the lead late in the race. Elliott threw a block pushing Earnhardt down off the apron & into the grass. Mere mortals would've spun out, but Dale stayed in the gas passing Elliott for the lead & eventually, the win. Since that night, this exact car has been known as the car from "The pass in the grass". Perhaps my favorite car... I used to go there so much, I became good friends with the owners. So much so, that during one of these showings, I was asked if I was interested in sitting in Dale's 2000 Taz car.... Crawlin' in... Once inside, I was numb. Dale sat very low in the car, almost made me feel like my butt was draggin'... The feel of the wheel, the shifter...the smell of the high-octane racing fuel, the smell of the rubber....wow!! I got to drive it onto the hauler... Once inside the hauler, I went to climb out & forgot where I was & whacked my head on the roof of the trailer... Still numb... Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to meet a ton of these guys. I only scanned a few of my favorites. No, I never met Dale, but I got this close once... 'Gentleman' Ned Jarrett... Kerry Earnhardt...see the resemblance?? Darrell Waltrip... Nascar's newest bad-boy, Michael Waltrip... Other's include Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, Harry Gant, Dave Marcis, Kenny Schrader, Joe Nemecheck, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott & the list goes on. I took a trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway in November 2000, when the Napa 500 was the last race of the year. On the way down, I stayed in Kannapolis, North Carolina for the first few days of the week. Kannapolis is Earnhardt's hometown. During my stay, I toured a few of the areas race shops. One of them was Hendrick Motorsports... Inside the Museum, some cool cars were on display, like Tim Richmond's '88 Monte Carlo... Some will remember the Talladega race where Gordon took out his teamate, Kenny Schrader. When Schrader's car finally stopped tumbling down the backstretch, here's what was left... They also had some butt-ugly cars on display too... The highlight of Hendrick Motorsports was the Terry Labonte shop. They let us go right on in! We toured the hauler, the drivers lounge, the works! Here's the Grinch car... But the best shop of all was.... To see the rest, you'll have to click here....Part 3...http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3529 Edited February 17, 2007 by MuskyBill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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