Revell 1/24
Dale Jr. Budweiser 2004 Monte Carlo

Background

One might think that being the son of the seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt would mean getting a ride in a top NASCAR Nextel Cup level race car would be a slam dunk. However, much like his dad before him, Dale Sr. decided that his son should earn that opportunity. After spending two years in college getting his automotive mechanical degree, Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to work at his father’s Chevrolet dealership and went straight to the pit – the oil change pit, that is. Yep, an oil change technician earning the princely sum of about fifteen thousand dollars a year. Still, displaying the positive attitude that would serve him well later as a stock car driver and as a media figure, 'Little E' became the fastest oil changer around. Saving up his money, he and brother Kerry bought an old race car for $200 and went racing at the age of 17. Running in the Street Stock Division at Concord Speedway in North Carolina, Dale Jr. clinched 3 feature wins and 12 pole position starts over the next two years.

Since it was now apparent that Dale Jr. would excel in the family business, his next stop was NASCAR Busch Grand National series. Running a car with a familiar looking number 3 on the side, Dale Jr. was the series champ in both 1998 and 1999, making him NASCAR’s first 3rd generation Champion. Along the way, Junior decided to try his hand at the then Winston Cup series races. To retain his rookie status for the following year, his first full season in the series, he could only run a few races in ’99. So for his inaugural appearance, Dale Jr. chose the longest, toughest race of the year- the Coke Cola 600 mile run at Charlotte where he finished a respectable 16th.

Running the full schedule as a rookie in 2000, it took only until Junior’s 12th start to find his way to Victory Lane. Another race win and victory at the exhibition All-Star race at Charlotte in May, it was the first time it was conquered by a rookie-were also highlights of Dale Junior’s first season.

As has been documented many times by now, Junior’s life changed with the loss of his father in the 2001 Daytona 500. By showing maturity and level headedness beyond his years, Dale Jr. has stepped up for his family and the business and has put the red #8 in Victory Lane multiple times every season. By his own admission, his greatest accomplishment was being able to include the 2004 Daytona 500 among his Nextel Cup victories so far. Other accolades acquired have included appearances on many television shows and magazine covers-including many non-racing publications-his authoring of the book 'Driver #8', which was on the NY Times best seller list for 17 weeks and his building of the Chance 2 race teams along with his stepmother. Chance 2 is currently campaigning a full time Busch Grand National team with former NASCAR North star Martin Truex Jr. behind the wheel. Dale Jr. finished the 2004 Nextel Cup series on 5th place, 138 points behind Kurt Busch the 2004 Nextel Cup Champion.

The Kit

Revell-Monogram has once again released their typical NASCAR kit with updated drivers seat and the 2004 Monte Carlo body. I’ve build many of these kits and they haven’t changed much through out the years, what attracts me to these are the new markings and updated bodies. This kit includes 75+ parts comprising of a pre-painted windshields and jackscrew adjustment holes. Most of the kit parts are molded in white styrene plastic, the window net and NACA ducts are molded in soft black rubber. No Chrome parts are included with the kit, as nothing is chrome plated on Modern NASCAR mounts. The instrument panel no longer has any instrument face detail, the instrument marking need to be cut out of the kit instructions glued to the back of the instrument panel, this is nice but it lacks color. A modern seat with all the safety supports is provided for the driver figure, but the driver does not have the NASCAR required HANS devise, but this could be scratch build. My review sample was flash free no sinkholes were found on any parts. If you want to display the roll cage without the body then some noticeable ejector pin marks will need to be cleaned up. The decals are of excellent register and include all the sponsor markings including the new 2004 series sponsor Nextel. Decals are also provided for the driver figure. Overall this is an excellent kit, the only accurate detailed in 1/24th scale available. If you’ve never build a Revell_Mongram NASCAR kit before I highly recommend you follow the instructions and test fit all pieces to see what is the easiest for you to assemble the roll cage and the many interior pieces. I look forward to building this one and setting along side my Dale Earnhard # 3 Lumina kit.

References

• http://www.nascar.com
• http://www.dalejrpitstop.com/
• http://www.dale-earnhardtjr.com/
• http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/

I highly recommend this kit. Many thanks to Revell-Monogram for supplying this review sample, look for this build soon on Cybermodeler.