Vintage NASCAR Models from Chuck Poi!!!

Junior Johnson's 1966 Ford "Yellow Banana"

Note From Chuck:
"One of the most controversial cars ever built was the '66 Ford Galaxy of Junior Johnson for the Dixie 400. This was the year that the Ford teams were boycotting NASCAR, and for the 2nd straight year attendance was down. 1965 saw all of the Chrysler teams stay home, also drastically affecting attendance. Johnson had retired as a driver but cut a deal with NASCAR to build a car for Fred Lorenzen to drive in the upcoming Dixie 400. He had protested in the past about how all of the Mopars had been chopped and channeled to alter their appearance for better streamlining. Indeed, all of the cars were starting to look like pyramids when you saw them from the front. Johnson's car had the dog-house angled down so steep that the front bumper was actually covering part of the lower headlight covers. The roof was also angled down. It was reported in the January 1967 issue of STOCK CAR RACING MAGAZINE that Lorenzen had to get in where the rear side window space was as the space between the door and roof was too narrow. The quarter panels were angled straight back rather that the regular downward slope.

All of these were obvious even to the untrained eye. Johnson made no effort to hide anything. Yet the car passed tech inspection, showing how desperate NASCAR was becoming due to the smaller crowds. The car was leading when the right front tire blew sending Fred into the guard rail and ending his day.

The body was cut in 3 sections for all of the necessary alterations. Decals are Fred Cady. Firestone wheel/tires from Nostalgia Race Models. The AMT kit has the 7-Litre type grille. All of the stock cars used the standard Galaxy version. I added strands of wire to achieve the correct look. Underhood details include usual wiring, fuel lines, radiator hoses, starter solenoid wiring, battery cables, and scratch built 3-piece shocks.

Johnson's Galaxies also utilized the long Chevy truck trailing arms which are still being used today. A scratch-built Watts linkage and hand wound springs complete the suspension. "

(Note from Mr NASCAR: - As with Mike Madlinger, Chuck Poi was an inspiration to me to get into NASCAR modelling after seeing his work in Toledo in the '80's and '90's. Chuck is an original DarkSider! Chuck was also a major contributor to Motor Racing Replica News Magazine in its heyday, as the resident NASCAR expert. Thanks for sharing these great models, Chuck!

Here is info on Chuck's line of vintage resin NASCAR - his was the first resin I ever tried, with great results!:
From Chuck: "I offer resin cast bodies, kits, and parts of stock cars from '55-'72 under the name of Nostalgia Race Models. My email is Chuksducks@yahoo.com. My phone is 317-356-6770." )

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