Jet's Racing Designs' Fictional Racing Universe and More! - Carsets Showroom

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Joshua Moulds is an Ontario driver whose success in the 80s and 90s was brought on by Norm Leonard Motorsports, a team that still exists in the NAPARL D1 series today. Having been out for wins often, but not often championship, Moulds saw the peak of his career with a Southeastern 400 win in 1989, which also resulted in one of three runner up points finishes. Forever a winning driver, but never a championship driver, Moulds became much more than a footnote in series history through consistency and excellence lap-by-lap.

 

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Manuel Aleman, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, is known best for not only being one of the most recent Mexican champions, but for how he brought Pamela Hall to become the first female champion owner almost overnight, after taking a bold step away from a decade of racing with bigger teams, where he had great seasons but never finished in the top three in points. In the late 90s and early 2000s, he stepped back into championship contention, getting his crown in 1999. Pamela Hall ultimately decided to sell her team upon Aleman's retirement, deciding that she wanted to go out on top. That equipment ended up in the hands of Equipo De Franco's, who would slowly become the most successful Mexican-based team today, also based in Monterrey. Aleman is involed with the team as a driver coach to this day, and even participated in a test this year, still active even above age 60.

 

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Delaware native Scott Bennett is the driver who put Bob Benson Motorsports, the current day Holden powerhouse, on the map with their first title in 2006. He had a long career, having just retired in 2019, but being a consistent win threat. After Benson expanded to their #9 car, Bennett was involved in getting drivers acclimated with the team, though their second car took a while before they finally found success with current driver Sean Williamson, seeking his own title to beat out his mentor in Bennett. Even with only one title, the #99 Mobil 1 car was an icon of the 2000s.

 

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Perhaps no one in NAPARL History can be more synonymous with passion as a driver than Kenny Rivard, a driver who had a long career with his family team, and was one of the last holdouts of the complete owner-driver era, not retiring with the rest of his family until the 90s. He was first put on the map with an upset win and massive payday at the 1972 Southeastern 400, where almost all the money went into stabilizing the team for the long term. In the decade after, he was often a contender for a few wins a year, but refused to jump ship to a bigger team, preferring to stay with his family operation in Raleigh no matter the opportunity cost. He and his team would even go on to win a second Southeastern 400 in 1979, this time in more dominant fashion. Also worth noting in this is how little sponsorship Rivard took, remaining loyal to a B.F. Goodrich seller in North Carolina that sponsored him from the beginning. An unconventional racer from start to finish, Rivard makes the list thanks to his two marquee victories and passion for the series.

 

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Oscar Cano was the last of the three Texas drivers who pioneered the ride of NAPARL racing from the East coast to across the continent. He was perhaps the most Texan of them all, driving for Lone Star Motorsports, a team owned out of Dallas that became the first successful team away from the East. While Texas was the theme of the car, its sponsor in SOhio Oil was not far from it, making it even more impressive that the team could put a successful effort together, including Cano's one championship in 1975. He'll always be known as a pioneer for the expansion of the sport, and for being a humble competitor at every stage of his career.

 

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Alex Arellano is one of the greatest drivers from Mexico in NAPARL history, as is also notable as the second half of the America Monterrey team that dominated end of the century. As the first champion from Mexico, he set the standard for stars from south of the border, and became popular in the U.S. and Canada for his enthusiasm after his many wins.

 

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Frankie Sullivan is an Ontario native who ran for two decades in the 90s and 2000s, highlighted by a Southeastern 400 win in 2001. This was the first marquee win for Master Motorsport, a team still around in the NAPARL series today, still being led by the 22 car. The team was known for continuing to push the design of NAPARL racing forward, with their Weather Channel sponsorship providing a uniquely detailed and gradient-heavy paint scheme, which became much easier for teams to replicate later on, both of which were pushed for by Frankie himself. A man with a love for his team, Frankie left a great influence in his time, even without being a series champion.

 

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David Taylor is a driver with a lot of history around him, despite not being a champion. The native of Jackson, Michigan was the driver for Project Wolverine, an independent team built by University of Michigan alumni in the 1980s, who were a surprise success out of the gate. After gaining a solid sponsor in Unocal, Taylor and the rest of the team had a strong decade with two Southeastern 400 wins. While the team sold off in the late 90s after Taylor’s retirement, the Project Wolverine brand was revived in the 2010s for the World Tour Racing Championship, where the new iteration of the team still races today in the Tribute Car Division. Taylor is still involved in the project, even with his racing days long behind him.

That’s driver #42 for the set, so we now have a full field for NR2003! While there’s still eight drivers to go for the Top 50 set, I’ll have a special post of unrated cars on track tomorrow to show off a full field.

 

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The NAPARL Top 50 Drivers set is nearing completion, with only eight drivers left to reveal, including the greatest of all time! For those of you new, follow along the history of this fictional stock car racing series told through car designs for NR2003. Who will win when all the stars across history collide on the same track at the height of their careers? Soon you can find out!

 

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Daniel Orrostieta is a driver from Jacksonville, Florida who had a relatively short, but successful career, leading the peak of Holt Motorsports, a team that had failed to settle on a driver for their one car. His 1991 championship came during one of the most competitive seasons in NAPARL history, where he wasn't even in championship consideration for most analysts despite being a race winning driver. Despite the doubts, he and the team overcame for their only title in the striking Rayovac car, with a metallic gold color that was one of a kind.

 

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Gary Delaney is perhaps the most successful of the series's one time champions, but stayed a one time champion largely due to bad luck in the second half of his career. The St. Cloud, Minnesota driver captured a championship for Morrell Motorsports in 1998, but mismanagement at the team caused them to sell off just a few years later. That instability, combined with an injury that sidelined him for half a season, caused his 2000s to be much more of a challenge. Despite that, he persevered to gather several wins after his injury and raced all the way to 2013. His 23 NAPARL seasons are nearly the most all time, and extremely impressive given his previous injury. Delaney had plenty of raw talent, and used every last drop of it.

 

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Here’s a driver you probably weren’t expecting to see again! Martin Martinez, Jr. races today in the Formula Racing Association, the North American championship for the International Grand Prix Alliance, but he was a stock car star before he made the switch. As a driver with loads of raw talent, he made his desire to succeed in every series clear from the start. Driving for Callahan along the whole NAPARL ladder, he made it to Division 1 quickly and won two championships in only eight seasons. He likely could have had a run at the greatest of all time, but decided to make the transition to open wheel racing, where he still is today with Sunoco Hennessy after a controversial exit from Callahan’s team. He still has a love for NAPARL racing, and can often be seen in the garage on FRA off weeks, and has even been open to a return near the end of his career. What a unique career for a uniquely talented driver.

EDIT: Martin's second championship was in 2015, my apologies for the error in the render.

 

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The NAPARL Top 50 Drivers set is nearing completion, with only eight drivers left to reveal, including the greatest of all time! For those of you new, follow along the history of this fictional stock car racing series told through car designs for NR2003. Who will win when all the stars across history collide on the same track at the height of their careers? Soon you can find out!

Now this is something to get excited about!

 

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John McDavid, known by his nickname 'Lucky,' became one of the greatest racers the series had ever seen off both raw talent and luck. Being the dominant driver of the 1980s, he was voted as the second greatest driver as the best of the three time champions, especially with how close he was to winning four or five titles along the way. As the more dominant half of the Jeff Sand Motorsports duo with Maldrum Forbes, McDavid led the team to countless wins in his time. He went from the small town of Andalusia, Pennsylvania to one of the biggest stars in NAPARL racing, thanks to both his raw talent and big personality. Truly one of the greatest to get behind the wheel of a NAPARL race car, but there's still someone who did even better that we'll meet later.

 

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Vincent O'Shea's rise to being a NAPARL Champion was another built out of a team started by friends, but with the added benefit of a whole state pushing them to success. In the aftermath of the success of Bob Carpenter's Georgia Racing, O'Shea and company took a similar approach with Florida Racing Club, though it took them much longer to find footing. Then, the native of Lake Park was able to get Hoosier Tire themselves to sponsor their car, in one of the boldest efforts in early series history. Their bold strategy paid off as the team stabilized for the timebeing, and after putting things together for a 1969 Championship run, they remained consistent before having another spark a decade later for a second championship. Florida Racing Club disbanded in 1985 upon his retirement, but what a remarkable run they had together.

 

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Hoosiers university in the flesh!?

 

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The last of the one time champions to the stage, Clark St. Andrew was the last champion driver for Ford in 1976, bringing home the sole title for Tom Schonerock Racing. An early bloomer, St. Andrew won the championship in only his seventh season, likely in part to the funding boost the team got in sponsor Pan-Am as Ford's investment in the series started to wane. Being another early example of a driver with a sponsor unrelated to the auto industry, his sponsorship opened new opportunities to companies nationwide to get involved in the sport. St. Andrew lives a quiet life today in his home state of Virginia, though he still pops out of the woodwork every once in a while to talk about his racing experiences, including becoming a fairly prolific writer about the earlier days of the sport.

 

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And now, a driver I'm sure you're all familiar with. The back to back defending champ, Nick Valentine is on pace to be a top three driver of all time, but of course we've already heard many stories about potential record breakers who fell short. Being only 32, Valentine certainly looks like he could be different, and he's white hot heading into the 2023 season. This car from his first championship season shows how the #12 Diet Coke Nissan has become a series icon in such a short time. The question now becomes, will Valentine be able to follow it up and become the greatest?

And with that, we've hit driver #49. Monday, you'll get to meet The Greatest of All Time!

 

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And now, here he is. The NAPARL’s Greatest of All Time is John Axworthy, its only five time champion and all time wins leader. The native of Ontario’s dominance across the 1960s really cemented the series’ presence as more than American. His raw talent led to him becoming the first superstar for General Motors, with him receiving direct funding and engineering from Chevrolet after his first championship. With Chevrolet still in the NAPARL Series to this day, it’s safe to say their investment paid off. While some will point to the different era of less competition for the reason why he can’t be the greatest, it’s hard to argue against the most wins and championships there’s ever been. John Axworthy has been the driver who drivers have tried to outdo for over 50 years, and while many have gotten close, no one has done it yet. John Axworthy’s famous #10 car is #1, the Greatest of All Time!

And that's all 50 cars in the NAPARL Hall of Fame Top 50 Drivers exhibit! Tomorrow, I'll be making a special post to announce the carset release date, as well as go in a little more detail about what else will be included in the carset. Thanks again for all the support!

 

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The NAPARL Top 50 Drivers carset will be launching Monday, April 3! Check out this teaser reel, and stay tuned for this Friday, March 31, for a full carset breakdown, including one more announcement about something being included!