NSCA Cup Series Showroom

[jacobc62]

#24 | Alan Bledsoe
Team: Bledsoe Brothers Racing
Rookie Season: 2017
Starts: 142
Wins: 4
Top 5s: 25
Top 10s: 44

2022 will see some stability for Alan Bledsoe compared to recent years. While Alan may have still finished on the edge of the top 20 in points, he will see a sponsor return after a single season in Havoline. Looking to return to championship form, Bledsoe will see additional sponsorship in the form of Nationwide, jumping over from Hendrick Motorsports and John Mullen. And with a new teammate in Cam Barnes, Alan looks to take the Cup Series by storm.

 

[jacobc62]

#43 | Homer Parsley
Scheme: 1977 STP Dodge | Parsley Enterprises
Active Seasons: 1976-1995
Starts: 512
Wins: 200 | 6-Time Champion, 5-Time Daytona 500 Champion

Homer Parsley. "The King". First of his name, and dominator of the early years of the NSCA. Back in the days when guys like Parsley, Chandler Riles, Billy Cox, Lee Davidson, and others raced, very few actually had the ability to score a win on pure pace alone, unlike today where you can have over a dozen drivers be capable of winning every week if luck falls their way. Back in the 70s and early 80s, there was very little parity in the competition, and pretty much the only way for someone outside of Parsley or Riles to get a win was for one of them to have a mechanical issue or wreck their car, neither of which happened often. Now granted, these guys had plenty of racing experience from the old ASCA days prior to the ASCA/NRC merger in 1975, and had enough financial backing from sponsors to get back on their feet quickly after the mid-70s recession. For Parsley, it was long-time partner STP, whom was adorned on the #43 car from the last 60s all the way to the late 90s shortly after Parsley retired and was replaced by Roman Grainger for a few years. Unfortunately, Parsley Enterprises no longer exists, as the team shut down in the mid 2000s due to worsening on-track results and a revolving door of sponsors coming and going leaving the team strapped for cash. Recently there have been rumors about a team trying to move into Cup competition and essentially revive Parsley Enterprises in all but name alone and bring back the #43 to it's glory, though nothing has come of it in the few years since those rumors started. Homer Parsley does continue to act as an ambassador for the sport and is regularly seen at the track attending fan appearances and providing coaching to any drivers who come up to him to ask for it.

Side note: I'm about 90% sure this is the first time I've done anything with the #43 when it comes to leagues - offline or online..... Let alone anything that throws it back to Richard Petty.

 

[jacobc62]

#77 | Tyler Bladerunner
Team: Steven Merzlak Racing
Rookie Season: 2015
Starts: 152
Wins: 2
Top 5s: 27
Top 10s: 52

Tyler Bladerunner had another strong season in 2021. 1 win, a 6th place points finish, and 16 top 10s were just some of his impressive stats in the previous season. Consistency is key with the current points format, and Tyler was pretty consistent. Granted, that consistency was in the back half of the top 10 most days, and Tyler is looking to make the next big step: Consistent top 5s! As we all know though, it can take you having a great day and the points leaders having bad ones to gain anything substantial once you get into the thick of the championship battle. Bass Pro Shops extends their sponsorship of Bladerunner, with CarQuest coming aboard to fill in some races as well.

 

[jacobc62]

#14 | Austin Spencer
Team: Spencer Racing
Rookie Season: 2018
Starts: 116
Wins: 3
Top 5s: 18
Top 10s: 39

While the pick up in performance between 2020 and 2021 wasn't as large as Austin Spencer was hoping for, a 17th place points finish is a decent improvement over 25th. Of course, it also helps when you get a win during the season as well. Now entering his 5th season of Cup Series action, Spencer looks to try and regain even more of that lost ground to the championship fight, and is confident that the car will be strong enough to contend for top 10s and top 5s on a regular basis. Culver's increases their level of funding for the #14 after joining mid-season last year. Dove Chocolate also remains aboard.

 

[jacobc62]

#0 | Cody Haner
Team: RTD Motorsports
Rookie Season: 2017
Starts: 142
Wins: 0
Top 5s: 9
Top 10s: 21

Tired of seeing piss-poor results running for his own team, Cody Haner sold his assets off and joined RTD Motorsports for 2022. After finishing an embarrassing 41st (and dead last) in standings last year, Haner only has one way to go: Up. He brings with him Gatorade, whom due to the connections to PepsiCo, have also introduced a few other brands under their banner to be adorned on the #0 Toyota, including KFC, Taco Bell, and Lay's.

 

[jacobc62]

#24 | Wayne Jefferson
Schemes: 1998 DuPont Chevy, 1998 DuPont Chevy (All-Star Race variant), 2003 Pepsi Chevy | Parsley Enterprises
Active Seasons: 1993-2015 (Debuted in 1992)
Starts: 795
Wins: 92 | 4-Time Champion, 3-Time Daytona 500 Champion

The next driver to add to the list of Legends included in the set is Wayne Jefferson, my Jeff Gordon stand-in. Unlike Gordon, however, Wayne had 3 starts in 1992 to prep him for his first full-time season, and he didn't need to fill in for an injured Eric (Dale) Jr in 2016 as Eric Jr in my universe didn't get a concussion midway during the season. Getting back to Wayne and his career, he started as the hero to Eric Sr.'s "villain" persona. In the 2000s, Jefferson became the villain himself, but eventually saw himself back to being the hero in fans' eyes in the 2010s. In the late 90s and early 2000s, he pretty much became the face of the NSCA, and was one of the few recognizable drivers to those who didn't follow the sport. Wayne became such a racing icon, that he was even rumored to race in Formula 1 at some point, though these rumors turned out to be false. In any case, Wayne Jefferson is celebrated in the community, and while he wasn't able to get the championship count of other greats like Homer Parsley and Randy Carpenter, Wayne has stated that he is more than content with what he's accomplished during his career.... The schemes chosen were from his most dominant on-track showings, two from 1998 and one from 2003. His first 1998 scheme is his regular full-season car, where he scored the most wins in the year, the most laps out of everybody, and had the most top 5s and top 10s..... But also had several DNFs that left him only 4th at season's end. The second is specifically the 1998 All-Star race scheme where he led all but 2 laps in the event - those being the first two laps. His 2003 scheme is from the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, in which Wayne led over half the race and was able to stretch his fuel to win by a few seconds over Bobby Richards, rather than the recently accustomed few tenths that pack racing had developed in the late 1990s early 2000s.

*EDIT* Forgot to mention that @Thunder98 provided the associate decals for the 1998 schemes

 

[jacobc62]

#93 | Riley Whiskers
Schemes: 2010 Red Bull Toyota | Red Bull Racing
Active Seasons: 2008-2010 (Debuted in 2006)
Starts: 127
Wins: 0

"Wait, no wins? Only 3 full-time seasons? Why is this guy part of your Legends sub-set, Jacob?" you might be asking right now seeing the above stats of Riley Whiskers. Well, buckle up, buckos.... This is a story that ends in tragedy.... Riley Whiskers may have never been successful at the Cup Series level, but that didn't stop him from being one of the most caring individuals you could meet. A lot of folks looked up to him, it was very very rare that someone had something negative to say that involved him, and overall.... People hoped he could get into better equipment at the Cup level. Sadly, that would never even get a chance to happen. In late November of 2010, a tornado touched down in Whiskers' home town. It would be announced to the shock of the racing world a few days later that Riley was one of those confirmed to have died during the event. A few survivors of the natural disaster said that they witnessed Riley trying to help people get to safety, and it's an accepted reality that he died a hero. Even since their return to the Cup Series in 2020, Red Bull Racing has paid tribute to Whiskers by running a car with a primarily silver scheme, as it was Riley who convinced the team to allow him to run a silver-colored car instead of the white-colored car that Red Bull usually ran. While it 2022 RBR has kind of returned to that blue flagship car and white secondary car they had in their first 3 seasons from 2006 through 2008, the #23 of Elana Keshiel does still have a significant amount of silver on it.

 

[jacobc62]

#7 | Elana Keero
Team: Steven Merzlak Racing
Rookie Season: 2019
Starts: 80
Wins: 4
Top 5s: 19
Top 10s: 34

Elana Keero left the team her brother over sees at the end of 2020 to try and make her own legacy in the series. Last year, she was able to get a decent start at doing so. A win, a 15th place points finish, and notching a decent number of top 5s and top 10s to her credit in just her 3rd season. Unfortunately, this is a far cry from her teammates, whom not only were in the championship hunt, but one of them was the champion now two years back-to-back. FedEx returns with a new scheme as does ArmorAll.

 

[jacobc62]

#56 | Elana Mullen
Schemes: 1985 7-Eleven Pontiac | Prince Racing
Active Seasons: 1981-1989 (Debuted in 1979)
Starts: 192
Wins: 3 | 1985 Daytona 500 Champion

Elana Mullen wasn't the first female driver to participate in a Cup Series event.... Hell, she wasn't even the first female driver to win a race! However, many of today's female drivers have stated that in one form or another, Elana Mullen was the one to inspire them to become a racecar driver. Elana didn't come from South-Centeral Nowhere though. Born as Elana Krenic in 1957, Her father was a mechanic for one of the NRC's open-wheel series teams. Having been around racing pretty much all her life because of this, Elana eventually began racing in her late teens. It wasn't easy, after all this is 1970's America we're talking about. Elana had to practically fight for every opportunity she got early on in her career. Once she entered in the Sportsman division, however, things changed. She began to win races and consistently run up front each race. After a couple of years, she tried to break through into the Cup Series, with limited success. She did have to take a break in 1980, however, as by this point, she had met Zachary Mullen (whom was a funny car drag-racing driver himself), married him, and together had a child - John Mullen, whom would go on to have success in the Cup Series himself..... Afterwards, while Elana wouldn't compete in every race each season, she would race what was more or less considered full-time from 1981 through to 1988. While she would run in the back half of the top 10 in most races, it seemed like that's where she would stay. After all, this is the same time period in which Eric Reinhardt, Homer Parsley, Chandler Riles, and a slew of other more dominant and successful drivers were all competing as well. No one would've thought that Elana would win a race in her career, even though she clearly had the talent to race..... However, in 1985's season-opening Daytona 500, that changed. Elana Mullen would become the first female driver to win the biggest event in all of stock-car racing, and to this day only one other female driver has done so. Over the course of the next couple of seasons, she was able to earn another two victories. Unfortunately, while I wish I could say the story ends here on an upbeat note.... It doesn't. In the 16th race of the 1989 season, the Clayton 500 at Talladega, Elana Mullen would strap into a racecar for the final time. Late in the race, Elana's car would lose a tire, causing a fiery crash where she would ultimately receive fatal injuries.....

.... A multitude of female drivers compete on a weekly basis, and as mentioned earlier, attribute Elana Mullen as the reason they started racing. Elana son, John Mullen, is not only a Cup Series driver himself, but also managed to get his own Daytona 500 victory, and a Cup Series championship to boot. While it is generally agreed that while Elana might not have ever been a champion of the sport herself, it is agreed that she does have something a lot of other drivers don't: A legacy in the sport that is continued even to this day..... The scheme presented for her in the Legends sub-set is the one she drove for most of the 1985 season, including that Daytona 500 victory.....

 

[jacobc62]

#31 | Brendon Hancock
Team: Lionheart-Legacy Racing
Rookie Season: 2021
Starts: 30
Wins: 0
Top 5s: 1
Top 10s: 6

Brendon Hancock's rookie season wasn't anything special, but he did have a decent showing, even starting the season off better than his more experienced teammate. After a 20th place points finish, Hancock looks to build upon the foundation set last year. With a full season under his belt, Brendon hopes he can crack into the top 15 with ease. Wendy's and Walgreens remain aboard the #31 for 2022.

 

[jacobc62]

#36 | Eddie Kline
Scheme: 2005 Dollar General Ford | Douglass Racing
Active Seasons: 1995-2006 (Debuted in 1992)
Starts: 389
Wins: 1

Eddie Kline Jr. was one of the many journeyman drivers that appeared between the early 90s and mid 2000s. Early on in his career, he established himself as one of, if not the only person to show nothing but sportsmanship to his fellow competitors. If you were to wreck him, accidentally or not, he wouldn't get in your face and get into a verbal (or physical) confrontation. He'd get up to you, and talk it out right then and there. Give him an honest recounting of events and own up to what happened, even if you still feel like it may have not been your fault at the time? He'll shake your hand and call it even. Try and weasel your way out of any responsibility for the incident or just blow off the conversation entirely? He'll walk away, but the next few times you race him, he'll humble you on the track real quick without even making any contact. In 2005 at Bristol - one of the hardest tracks to get a win at - Eddie managed to finally break through and get his first career win with what many people claim will be the "cleanest race-winning car to ever grace victory line, for all-time" for Bristol. Tragically, 367 days later, Eddie would be killed in a crash during a tire test at Kentucky Speedway. Unlike real-life, where every track the Cup and Busch Series raced at had the SAFER barrier lining the corners and select walls at track by the end of 2004, NSCA had a much slower roll-out of the barriers at it's tracks, with SMI being especially behind on the installations. As a result of the accident, NSCA did speed up the process and took legal action against SMI due to their lack of speed on getting the SAFER Barriers installed on their tracks, creating a rift between the two companies that is still felt to this day, even though both organizations have since continued to work together. in 2009, NSCA honored Eddie's memory by renaming the sportsmanship award given out at the annual post-season banquet after him. The scheme painted for Eddie is the one he drove during the 2005 season, including to his lone career victory at Bristol.

 

[jacobc62]

#75 | Chandler Riles
Scheme: 1987 Valvoline Pontiac | Horner-Sickler Motorsports
Active Seasons: 1978-1997 (Debuted in 1977)
Starts: 535
Wins: 107 | 3-Time Champion, 2-Time Daytona 500 Champion

Okay, moving away from tragedy and getting back to the feel-good stories, let's talking about the 2nd winningest driver in series history: Chandler Riles. While he got a slow start to climbing the all-time wins list compared to some of the other drivers racing at the time, he did something that has not happened since: He won the championship in his rookie season in 1978. After that, he dropped off. However, in the mid 1980s, he began a conquest of victory after victory and was able to claim 2 more championship in 1988 and 1989. Unlike Homer Parsley (whom had dropped off considerably towards the end of his career), Chandler ran near the front of the field until he retired at the end of the 1997 season. However, that came the caveat that he didn't see victory since his 107th and final career win in 1994. His scheme is that of his 1987 ride, where he set a record of most top 5s in a single season that still holds today: 23 out of the 26 races. The only reason why he didn't win the championship that year? His DNFs in the other three races were dead last finishes, and he only had 2 victories that year compared to Eric Reinhardt's 1 DNF and 6 wins.

 

[jacobc62]

#19 | Dylan Maddox
Team: Factory Dodge Autosport
Rookie Season: 2019
Starts: 80
Wins: 1
Top 5s: 2
Top 10s: 6

Dylan Maddox's career is less than ideal..... In fact, I was just tempted to copy/paste the small paragraph I made for him in last year's carset since he didn't do anything to break his own status quo. 1 lone top 10 finish, a 30th place finish in points, and nowhere near the top half of the field on average finishes or starts.... The only bragging rights he has from 2021 is that he finished well ahead of his teammate in points. In fact, more could se said about his team, Factory Dodge, then Dylan, himself. FDA will downsize to just 1 car this year after having 2 entries since they bought out Gorman Motorsports during the 2018-19 off season. The team has also dropped their "Dodge/Mopar" schemes in favor of having a car sponsored for the full season. Speaking of sponsors, Geico and Quaker State remain aboard the #19 for 2022. Rockstar moves over from the #91 after it's shut down. Coor's Light exits the sport, however, and as discussed earlier, 3M moved over to Rei Takita in the #02.

 

[scottj63]

Sir, I spent the time to look at your beautiful cars and read all the back stories of the drivers......Now that is creative. Do you actually write dialogues on the races you run? What mod do you run these gorgeous cars on?

Scott in the Philippines

 

[jacobc62]

#42 | Jerry Walker
Scheme: 2003 Target Dodge | Chuck Rinsci Racing
Active Seasons: 1977-2008 (Debuted in 1976)
Starts: 936
Wins: 0

While he never had any victories in the Cup Series, Jerry Walker has the longest career of any driver in Cup Series History, which earned him the 10th and final spot for the Historic/Legend drivers. As you can imagine, he drove for a plethora of teams, and even at times was a teammate to a few other Legends drivers and even a few of the drivers in the main set! In his later years of racing, many people hoped he would go for the near-mythical count of 1000 starts, but despite a desire to fulfill the wishes of these fans, Jerry's increased age and declining health all but forced him to retire from racing at the age of 64 at the end of the 2008 season. His scheme comes from his best statistical season - 2003 - where he drove the #42 Target Dodge for Chuck Rinsci Racing. That year he finished 16th in points with 11 top 5s and 16 top 10s.

And with that, the set is complete! A big thanks to those who have followed this thread (and previous year's threads as well) and allowed me to indulge my inner J. R. R. Tolkien (not that I'm anywhere close to being on his writing level lol)

Sir, I spent the time to look at your beautiful cars and read all the back stories of the drivers......Now that is creative. Do you actually write dialogues on the races you run? What mod do you run these gorgeous cars on?

Scott in the Philippines

I actually used to record the races (though they were a fraction of the length of the real deal) and post them to Youtube, which ironically I haven't done since 2019 when the title sponsor wasn't yet Youtube. I did for 2020 iirc have a thread for that season in the mock seasons sub-forum, but that was deleted for some reason. The mod is the MENCS19 mod.

 

[scottj63]

I made a new version of NR2003 and put in the MENCS19 mod and downloaded your carset..... I think I have some sort of problem as all the cars have a graphics issue......None of the logos on the hood fit.....the logos are all to far forward and are cut off into the nose of the cars.

Scott in the Philippines

 

[jacobc62]

That's because the 2020 carset (which is the one I presume you downloaded as the 2022 set has not been released) is for the 2015 BR Gen6 mod.

 

[scottj63]

ahhhhhhhh thank you so much for the clarification Jacob....Greatly appreciated.....will get that one.

Scott in the Philippines

 

[scottj63]

Great carset Jacob.....put them in a 53 race series. First race Govier (a driver I added) won the Daytona 500, Hoefflin won at Rockingham and Keero won at Las Vegas.....I like how the ratings you gave them make for very good competitive racing. Half the field is still on the lead lap at the end....Great work Sir.

Scott in the Philippines

 

[Eli the Wolf]

Love the carset! Also I cant believe that you were included in some guys youtube video by austin ogonoski. too but I dont know why though tbh. But either way your carset is great.