Interest in historic stock...
Interest in historic stock cars has increased the value of older cars. Much of a car's value is based on who drove it. The Thunderbird that helped Alan Kulwicki win his 1992 Winston Cup title is among the rarest. Photo by Jerry F. Boone
Cesario says he was fortunate in that Kulwicki was a detail-oriented engineer who kept comprehensive records on each chassis. It was a lot easier for him because he was a hands-on owner/driver with a small operation and a limited number of cars and employees.
His car won the Food City 500 at Bristol and the Champion Spark Plug 500 at Pocono. It went to Dover in September 1992 as Kulwicki's backup car. His team pulled it out of the hauler when Kulwicki crashed his primary car in practice, and Alan put it on the pole.
It started the race, but it was crashed and never run again by the '92 champion.
"When Alan died the following spring, the car was sold to Geoffrey Bodine," Cesario says. "Back then, it was just an old race car. I was in the right place at the right time, and it didn't end up in a museum."
Paul Andrews, Kulwicki's crew chief during his 1992 championship season, was able to provide the documentation on the car, which helped when it was restored by Bill McAnally Racing in Roseville, California.
"It was Alan's short track car, so it is still set up for tracks like Dover," Cesario says. "It makes it a handful on a road course. It naturally wants to turn left, and I'm trying to make it turn right. It takes a different type of driving style."
Four examples of NASCAR's...
Four examples of NASCAR's history take the final curve leading onto the long straight at Reno-Fernley Raceway, where the big V-8s could stretch their legs.
Cesario could have easily converted the chassis to a road course configuration. Most fans would never have noticed the difference.
"But I would," he says. "It wouldn't be the same car."
That devotion to authenticity extends to most of the cars run in the series.
Jim Koehler points to a double line of rivet holes in the back of the Wrangler Jeans car.
"This was damage from when Dale Earnhardt was driving," he says. "I guess some other owner might have repaired it. But why? The front hoop also is bent to one side. It is still driveable, and there's no way we'd ever repair it. The fact it has damage from Earnhardt's days makes it that much more special."
The car was driven by Ricky Rudd in 1983 and by Earnhardt the following year.
Koehler maintains a small fleet of vintage cars for a California businessman and gets to drive them when the owner isn't available.
"It's a rush," he says. "You sit in the seat and think to yourself that it is the same seat Dale sat in all those years ago."
Steve Barber's former Geoff...
Steve Barber's former Geoff Bodine Thunderbird leads a Ford owned by John Scherer and raced by Geoff's brother, Brett.
But the rush is accompanied by responsibility.
"You've got to have respect for the car," he says, echoing the thoughts of almost every member of the vintage group. "You've got to race it hard without hurting it."
Tim Smith feels the same way. He looks out of his trailer at the Kodak car and smiles.
"There are probably 100,000 people who would like to do what I'm able to do," he says. "I grew up back East and have always been a race fan. We went to Daytona, Darlington, and Dover . . . the tracks with real history."
Smith says he was an Irvan fan when Ernie was racing.
"I liked his style behind the wheel and his demeanor when he was out of the car. The thing that I liked the most is he was a blue-collar guy who simply wanted to race. There wasn't anything given to him. He learned it all from the school of hard knocks."
Smith bought the Kodak car, a '92 Lumina, in 2001.
"I wish I had a little more history on it," he says, "but it really doesn't matter.
"Just sitting in the car gives me the shivers."
Jerry F. Boone can be reached at Jfboone@aol.com.