Racing Champions: Mark Martin '98 Valvoline' Taurus

Mark Martin's illustrious career in the Nascar Cup series spans an impressive 31 years. His impact on the sport parallels the names of Gordon, Petty, and Earnhardt. Perhaps his most memorable car over the years is his number 6, Valvoline Roush Racing Ford Taurus. In 1998 he won a career high, seven races. As impressive as that was, it was success at the worst time, because Jeff Gordon was also having the best season of his career and had won 13 races solidifying the Championship. For a closer look at this Racing Champions 1/64 replica read on...

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The real thing: Mark Martin's 1998 Roush Racing Ford Taurus on display in the Hall of Fame room at the Nascar Hall of Fame museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photograph Courtesy of Diecastcurio.com, October 2017). The car was on site to honor Mark Martin's induction into the Hall of Fame that year. 

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This Racing Champions 1/64 scale Nascar diecast is premium in nature. It not only features the single use, bubble and card packaging, but it also has the more modern single car clear box packaging as well. The model was distributed with a photo of Mark Martin and his signature, a photo of the parked 1/1 version of the car, and the Nascar 50th Anniversary logo. In order to make car feel more premium, the diecast manufacturer added rubber tires, and stamped Mark Martin's signature to the bottom of the car. The car also features an hood that opens to reveal an engine inside, visible below. 

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Notes:
The Ford Taurus replaced the Ford Thunderbird in 1998. The Taurus would represent the brand until 2006 when Ford would introduce the Ford Fusion. The diecast car shown above effectively captures the many rounded features of the 98 stock car from that season. Forgiving the era that the car was made, a few of the features are certainly too accentuated. The nose of the car, the size of the tires, the height of the ride, and the scale of the fuel tank are all almost hilariously oversized. But the car is still very clearly what it's mean to be, the replica of a Nascar Hall of Fame legend. The spray painted look from the late 90's was created by making a 'swarm of V's' in gradient colors. The model beautifully replicates that unforgettable look on this tiny three inch piece of metal. 

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Sources:
-Jayski.com
-Nascar.com
-Nascarhall.com
-Racing-reference.info
​-Rfkracing.com