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NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR

Jimmy Spencer's 2003 SIRIUS INTREPID!!


But, siriusly, folks... (sorry, had to get that out of my system...)
So, are you a Spencerite. or part of the Busch League? With all the hullabaloo this last couple weeks of August 2003, young Jimmy's getting the most attention he's had since 1994, when he won two races in Junior's McDonald's Ford! (Of course those are his only wins...) Jimmy is what is called in NASCAR parlance a "throw-back", meaning of course he asks and gives no quarter, drives hard, and does not fit the current model of young, slick, sponsor-friendly drivers (hi, Kurt!) who get handed top rides based on their photogenic qualities... but I digress...

Jimmy cut his teeth in the very tough NASCAR Modified series in the 70's - 80's, going nerfbar-to-nerfbar against the likes of Richie Evans and Geoff Bodine, and his hard-driving style earned him the "Mr Excitement" monicker.. that is not a Winston Cup affectation...Ironically, most of his Modified career was in a number 24 car...

Jimmy started his career in 1989, running 17 races, and has been a "second-tier fixture" on the scene ever since, finishing up in 2002 in the #41 Target Dodge with a best of 2nd place. Never quite getting that killer ride to allow him to move up the hierarchy

Bumped by the youthful Casey Mears for 2003, Jimmy landed in the #7 SIRIUS Dodge fielded by Jim Smith; apparently with some ties to the Evernham operation. Jimmy and "Mongo" the SIRIUS dog, have certainly elevated the profile of this team! This has all culminated so far with his run-in with Kurt Busch at MIS in August, where unpeasantries were exchanged, Jimmy slugged Kurt, and missed Bristol as a result. Fan reaction has generally been with Jimmy, and we were asked if 3 amigos planned a sheet of the "MONGO" Dodge. Originally, we demurred, until Wayne Kepner pointed out that NO ONE among the major producers - SLIXX, JWTBM, WetWorks - appeared to have this one planned! That Was a surprise! (and it was also about a week ago...)

So Photoshop was fired up, images harvested and created, and Viola! Here is Jimmy's 2003 ride in the livery it appeared at in Michigan. The sheet has a second hood logo to build earlier 2003 versions. Starting model is the Revellogram 2001 Bill Elliott Dodge. One alteration that could be made - I didn't - would be an updated 2003 resin snout from Modern Motorsports. (I have not gotten around to ordering any yet, think I'd better...)

Body was primed with PlastiKote white primer from a heated rattlecan (hot water only, folks!), followed by Canadian Tire Basic White Touchup Aerosol Lacquer, again from the heated rattlecan. The blue for the body was mixed to match the blue roof number, I got a pretty good match by adding Basic White to CTC's Grabber Blue touch-up aerosol, sprayed into a bottle. Body was masked, and blue applied through an airbrush. Cowl panel, B-pillars and rear spoiler are flat black.

All the decals are on the 3 Amigos sheet we put together, except the fender contingency decals and grille, headlight and tail light decals. The white with black pinstripe for the rockerpanels is also on the sheet. I applied the numbers first, to get them properly positioned, then applied the rockerpanel white decals, positioned properly with the cut-out around the base of the numbers. In actuallity, the numbers could be a bit lower, and the white band a bit narrower, if I were to build it again..

All other decal application was straightforward. Once all decals had been in place 24 hours, they were clearcoated by carefully spraying several LIGHT coats of TAMIYA TS13 clear from the heated (hot tap water) aerosol can, then polished to a nice shine with Turtle wax.

And there it was, Mr Excitement's SIRIUS ride, with old "MONGO" on the hood! (Was it DW who hung that name on the pooch?)

So, Jimmy sat at home and stewed... and watched Kurt take the Bristol race, kind of a storybook thing. And Jimmy came back for the Darlington race... not quite storybook - wrecked his car in qualifying, started 38th - thank goodness for provisionals..., and worked his way up to a 22nd place finish about 8 laps down... keeping a good distance away from Kurt...

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