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Dale Earnhardt Junior's 2002 BGN "NILLA" Monte Carlo


Once again, Dale Jr and Childress Racing teamed up to return the legendary "3" to the track, at the May 25th, 2002 (yesterday, as I write this...) CARQUEST AUTO PARTS 300 BGN race at Charlotte... sorry... LOWES Moter Speedway.. This was part of a 2-race deal between RCR, NABISCO, and DEjr as I understand it, and also may be serving to showcase the "3" through 2002, with a tentative re-entry into WINSTON CUP with that number in 2003. The first entry was the OREO car at Daytona in February, where Dale blew away the field.

Graphics for this model came, of course, from 3 AMIGOS' resident artiste, Sam Lopez. Everything is on the sheet except the fender contingency decals, and the front grilles. Starting point for this model was the Earnhardt 2000 regular kit, but any 2000 Monte kit, regular or Profinish, would work. Only significant modification I made was to remove the itty-bitty kit rear spoiler, and replace it with one that complied closer with NASCAR specs. (Once again, one thing I did NOT do, but wish I had, was modify the front airdam to incorporate the "kickout" NASCAR has given the Chevies..., or maybe started with the ProFinish body... next time fer shur!!)

Painting was fairly simple. I found a 1983 Toyota 541 yellow touch-up lacquer (CTC SKU# 47-8198-2 for those of us north of the 49th). I chose this colour because it was "softer" than other yellows with the creamy appearance of my references. Of course my references consisted solely of a diecast preview picture and some shots on this site, kindly donated by Ray Lawson, as the car did not race until yesterday....

After the body was primed with PlastiKote grey primer (rattlecan heated in hot tapwater) I wetsanded it nice and smooth with 600 grit then heated my aerosol can of 541 in hot tapwater, and laid down three smooth coats, with about an hour between coats.

Decal application was quite simple; "Splash" decals were applied first, then numbers and rear quarter graphics, then I added the hood graphics.


Once all decals were on, and it had a couple days to dry, I sprayed on several light coats of TAMIYA TS13 clear from a rattlecan heated in hot tapwater, then polished it out with Turtle Wax, and it was ready for the chassis.

Chassis was done as per my normal process; I added seatbelts, and a radio coil wire around the steering column, and that was about it!

I was very pleased with the final result. Sam's artwork as usual was spot-on, and I was able to get it all to came together on the model body. When I watched the race (see below) I held my breath for the first look at the car on the grid, and was pleased to see that the graphics I used, and the colour, were quite accurate... no one fooled with the graphics in the last few weeks...whew!! And the sister car to the OREO was ready for my shelf!!!

So, how did the Junior and the NILLA car fare at Charlotte? Finished watching the race on tape a couple hours ago. Not quite the heady story of the Daytona race! At Lap 85, he tangled with his WC team mate at DEI, Michael Waltrip, who drives his own Aaron's Rent machine in BGN. Looked to me like Little E dropped onto the apron, then slid up, and Mikey tagged him on the right rear, and turned him into the wall. The NILLA was a crushed waferbox, and Dale parked it, finishing 36th, as he is not doing the BGN Points thing..

Mike took the blame during pit crew communications, but it looked to me, and Dale seemed to see it the same way, it was just one of those "racin' deals"... but maybe Mikey coulda cut him some slack...

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