NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR

Ken Schrader's 2006 LITTLE DEBBIE Fusion


From www.littledebbie.com:

"In 1960, McKee Foods founder O.D. McKee was trying to come up with a catchy name for their new family-pack cartons of snack cakes. Packaging supplier Bob Mosher suggested using a family member's name. Thinking of what could be a good fit for the brand, O.D. arrived at the name of his 4-year-old granddaughter Debbie. Inspired by a photo of Debbie in play clothes and her favorite straw hat, he decided to use the name Little Debbie® and the image of her on the logo. Not until the first cartons were being printed did Debbie's parents, Ellsworth and Sharon McKee, discover that their daughter was the namesake of the new brand.

Little Debbie products have remained a value leader. Currently, they sell for less than other leading brands while providing quality ingredients."

Gosh - kinda sounds just like ol' Kenny doesn't it?? A quality guy, at a reasonable price, and sweet to boot!!

The once-legendary Woods Brothers, like Petty Enterprises, are these days a shadow of their former glory days of Pearson and Bonnett... but still, I was pleased to see him go to the 21, it would be a step up from previous years. The wheelhouse of the 21 car has been a revolving door the last decade or so, with up 'n comers, on the way outters, all getting a shot in the famed 21. Kenny doesn't fit any of those descripions in my mind, he is a hardcore racer, who looks for any opportunity to race. The fact he is still around, with no wins in 15 years attests to his determination and personality.

I wasn't overly taken with various Air Force schemes, but when Little Debbie signed on as a part time sponsor, it was just quirky enough that I thought I really needed this car in my NASCAR stable. To the best of my knowledge, no one had these planned, so, armed with Motorsports.com, Google Image, CorelDRAW, and Photoshop, I began the adventure a couple months back. What you see here is the result of that research and artwork, plus some valued input from the guys on Randy's NASCAR BOARD, in particular Thad, and the Two Randy's... thanks to everyone who filled in the puzzle pieces I couldn't figger out!

(Note: Preseason publicity car schemes show a blue stripe across the top rear of the hood, tying the two "swoops" together. As near as I can see from references, that part of the scheme was not run at all tracks, so I chose to leave it out. It would've been a real pain to apply!)

I have done a separate write-up of my process to make a reasonable-looking FUSION from combining the Taurus and Intrepid, as I alluded to in the Mark Martin AAA write-up. Click HERE to get to that page, or you can access it from the home page. Without going into gory detail, main items in the conversion are to cut the front clip down each side from the A-pillar to a point about one cm behind the rear of the front wheel opening. Mate the proper sections, and use lots of cyano glue and baking soda to join them. Finish up with putty, and you're good to go.. Except that with the new greenhouse, you need to use the Intrepid window piece. This does not match up very well at the base of the windshield with the back of the Taurus cowl you just glued on, so you'll need to make a thin, crecent-shaped piece to glue on the rear edge of the cowl... more glue, more baking soda... I also extended the rear bumper a bit.

Once the artwork was done, I rattled off a set of decals on the old ALPS unit, and got down to the colour scheme. Entire car was primed with PlastiKote white primer (from rattlecan, warmed in tapwater...) then topcoated with GM white touchup aerosol lacquer, warmed as above. Then it was time to mask off the white and apply red. Just as the shape of the blue "swoops" had been the trickiest part of the decal design, so was trying to define the white/red breakline along the fenders. I used a copy of the decal to help locate it, and it went well.

Once the body was painted, I began the decal application, with the "swoops" being the first to be applied. The decals comprise a complete set for the car, including 2006 contingencies. Once all the decals were in place, and had 24 hours or so to dry, I applied successive light coats of clear (TAMIYA TS13), again from a warmed rattle-can, and after a day of two to dry, polished it all up with terry cloth and Turtle Wax, to a nice shine.

I think Kenny is now the oldest regular driver on the NEXTEL CUP scene, with his first start coming in 1984. Over Kenny's career, he had, up to the end of 2006, 704 starts, with 4 wins, 64 top 5's and 23 poles. Looking over his stats, he has not missed any races except for 4 in 2003 since his sophomore year in 1985. His winnings total over 30 million bucks, with over 10 of that since 2002. His 2006 season was his best ever - over 4 million, in spite of a mere two top 10's and a 31st place finish (3rd year in a row...) in the Championship!

In spite of the financial success and longevity, it still must be a frustrating several years on the results side; but Kenny continues to project a positive, but "aw shucks" image, and his work on Speed TV's INSIDE NASCAR has introduced him to a lot of NASCAR fans, keeping his profile high. Don't know about you, but if I were gonna kick back at the cottage on a Saturday afternoon, have a few brews, and talk racin', or life in general, Kenny's still the driver I'd most love to have in the lawn chair next to me!

Oh, and by the way, according to my math, Little Debbie is now 51 years old...

To Home Page To Models Index Page To Top of Page