Need help with historical research

Hello everyone;

Though I've been a member for a little while and I have enjoyed this site tremendously, this is my first post. Guess I'm a bit of a slow starter.......

I am currently doing research on Michael Waltrip's first year in Winston Cup. He only ran 5 races in 1985 for Dick Bahre. (1986 being his first full-time season and thus offically his rookie year.)

In the last 2 races he drove in, in1985, those beingthe October race in Charlotte and the November race in Atlanta he drove the Monte Carlo SS shown in the pics below. I am trying to track down any pics that might show the rear of this car in particular the trunk deck.

In the picture of the Charlotte car I can see there are some graphics back there and since Hawaiian Punch is the main sponsor it could logically be interpolated that the graphics are of the "Punchy" character made famous by asking "how about a nice Hawaiian punch" and then socking some poor unsuspecting tourist-type.

Problem I'm having is that the 2 photos included here (one from Charlotte and one from Atlanta) are two out of the 3 pics I've ever seen kicking around the internet. None of them show enough of the rear of the car to determine what if anything is back there, and if it is "Punchy" which of the many versions of him is it?

Hawaiian Punch was his sponsor throughout the 1986 season and pics of his Pontiac 2+2 are easy to find. I'm hoping someone else(private or professional) pointed a camera at this car and got a pic or two of it going away.

I've made inquiries to MWR, Del Monte Corp. (they owned the Hawaiian Punch brandback in the mid-80s)the editor of Circle Track Magazine, and Dr. Pepper/ Snapple who currently owns the Hawaiian Punch brand. No help from anyone at those places, they either are ill equipped or neverkept any archival records especially thru mergers and acquisitions.

So I'm appealing to the masses out there. Please help. This is a project that has really taken on a life of its own, but I am eager to close it out and move back to some other research projects from the 50s and 60s that need my attention. I can't guarantee anyone a pay increase or the key to the executive washroom, the covered parking stall or anything other than my sincere gratitude and a Golden Atta-Boy (or Girl) award which I will happily email to you in pdf format and is suitable for framing! lol.

I hope someone out there can help or at least give me a lead or two to follow.

Thanks in advance.

Jerry

Robbie;

Thanks for the reply. If you like I have a higher resolution copy of the Charlotte car if you want to examine it.

I've played with it in photoshop and near as I can tell part of that "yellow" area iis actually white or near-white and is shaped like the clenched fist of the Punchy character. I have downloaded over a dozen different versions of Punchy including the one on the Bouchard car. I have seen versions of Punchy standing next to the words "How about a nice Hawaiian punch" rendered in yellow lettering. I need to play with it some more to see if the yellow might actually be lettering or if its a surfboard or a pineapple etc. All have been used to advertise various new products in the mid-80's including a citrus-based dessert.

The other pic is of the Atlanta car and it shows nothing on the trunk lid. Doesn't mean nothing's there, just doesn't show anything.

As for the tv panel, the conventional wisdom infers that the words "Hawaiian Punch" are spelled out across the panel like the Pontiac 2+2 Mikey drove in 1986, or the Ron Bouchard car that preceded these.

Appreciate having another pair of eyes on this though, let me know if you want the higher resolutionn pic and I'll email it to you.

Thanks.

Jerry

Jerry,

I have the races on DVD, but I can't guarantee how quickly I can go thru and watch them to see if I can spot out anything for you.

Hi Jay;

Yeah if you have video of both races that would be fantastic! Just to be sure, the races are:

The Miller High Life 500 on Oct. 6, 1985 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and,

The Atlanta Journal 500 on Nov. 3, 1985 at Atlanta International Raceway.

Mikey DNF''d in both races. At Charlotte he finished 183 out of 334 laps then his engine gave out.

In Atlanta he was involved in a crash after completing 94 laps.

These two events almost assure some camera time. Although its possible he may have gotten some "accidental" camera time while being passed by a more high profile driver, or he could have gotten an honorable mention from the announcer as DW's younger brother. DW was "on fire" at this time.

If it doesn't look like you'll be able to find the time, could you let me know how I can obtain a copy of these races on DVD? Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Jerry

Jerry-

I am burning copies of both races in the next week or so. I will have a look to see if there's something that I can help you with. But to answer your question- yes, I do have copies of both of them. That Charlotte race was done by Jefferson-Pilot, and the Atlanta race was covered by WTBS.

Jay;

Thank you. May I ask if you could burn me a copy of both races? Even if the footagedoesn't have what we're looking for, I'd like to have copies of these two races anyway. I will gladly compensate you for your time and materials.

Let me know and I'll send youmy contact info.

Regards.

Jerry

Jerry-

I have some good news for you on the Atlanta car. This is the logo that was on the back trunk lid for the Atlanta race:

Y-106 FM

Sorry, but that's the best pic I've got for now. Y-106 was a country station here in Atlanta. If you Google Rhubarb Jones, you should find the radio dj that was at the station the longest. On his site, you can email him. He might can help you with some clearer logos of the Y-106 logo.

I will have your races in the mail on Thursday.

Thank you Jay!

Can't wait to see the videos. Thanks for the lead. I'll follow up with them Monday or Tuesday.

Jerry