2011-07-12 21:52:07
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1982 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile Cutlass
Star of the book "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots," named one of the 5 Best motorsports books ever written.
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Original driver: Bobby Labonte
Current driver: Sam Moses
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Motor:
Penske Chevy V8, 358 cubic inches
Horsepower: 620 @ 7200 rpm
Torque: 480 lb-ft @ 5800 rpm
Chassis:
Hedgecock Racing Enterprises
Wheelbase 110 inches
Weight: 3400 pounds
Original name: The Old Refrigerator
Races 1983:
Charlotte, Mid-Ohio, Downtown Detroit, Road America, Pocono, Daytona
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The Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile Cutlass was built in 1981 by Jay Hedgecock, whose Hedgecock Racing Enterprises has since built more than 1000 cars. It was first driven at Martinsville by Phil Parsons, but soon found its way to the shop of Winston Cup car owner Billy Hagan, who carried number 44 with Terry Labonte (Winston Cup champion 1984, 1996). But it was Terry’s little brother Bobby Labonte (Winston Cup champion 2000) who worked on the car after high school, and began racing it on Saturday nights at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina (“Birthplace of the NASCAR stars”). Dale Earnhardt Sr., in his first year as Winston Cup champion (1980), also drove the car once, at Caraway Speedway.
In 1982 the car was converted to road race trim by Tex Powell, and the next year Tex Enterprises campaigned Sports Illustrated writer Sam Moses in the IMSA Kelly American Challenge. That rollicking season is documented in the timeless racing book Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots, named one of the 5 Best motorsports books ever written. After the last race at Daytona that year, the car gathered dust and rust for nearly 20 years, until being restored by Sam White Motorsports in North Carolina.
It came back to the track in 2004, driven by Udo Horn and Sam Moses to first place in class at Sebring in the 3-Hour Historic Race. It won again in 2005. In 2006 it was purchased by noted collector Larry Bowman, who passed the roller chassis back to Moses in 2008. Restored a second time, to period correct status, the Bandit was driven to a dominating win in the vintage race of the 2011 Portland Rose Cup by Ronnie Swyers, followed by an outstanding performance by Moses in the Historic Stock Car class at the Portland Historics. The well-built 1982 Oldsmobile Bandit can hold its own in that class against many mid-90s Winston Cup cars.
Having been a motorsports writer from the mid ‘70s to late ‘90s, Moses intimately knows the fantastic machines in the Historic Stock Car class, and feels privileged to be racing against cars that were once driven by legends he’s been lucky enough to know and write about.
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Sam Moses
Previous Blogs:
Rose Cup Gallery
2011-06-22 08:32:44
Photos by Doug Berger, Jeff...
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Rose Cup Day One
2011-06-22 08:09:13
It was a great day of practice for the Portland Rose Cup. The Bandit hadn't been on the track since it won its class and finished 10th overall in the 3-hour Historic race at Sebring in 2005. But it's sitting on the front row for the vintage race on...
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Return of the Return of the Bandit
2011-06-15 22:42:51
For the last three years the Bandit has been licking its wounds after blowing a head gasket in practice for the Portland Rose Cup. A lot of good work has been done since then, and the car is better than ever--even faster...
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Shakedown Run
2010-09-21 04:11:52
Lots happening with the Bandit. Videos coming soon.
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Concours de Maryhill
2008-06-17 07:48:56
Over the weekend, in less than 24 hours, the Bandit shot from show car to contender, and I soared from resignation to rejuvenation.
Because this blog is episodic, the back-story is in the previous posting. But...
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Lightning Strikes Bandit at Rose Cup
2008-06-16 10:27:00
So much has happened since my last blog entry that I haven’t had time to do this update. Nor much enthusiasm, because mostly what happened is I blew a head gasket at the Rose Cup at Portland International Raceway on June 1.
Sometimes...
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1958
2008-05-17 07:30:30
I couldn't believe it when I got my copy of Vintage Motorsport magazine and read my father's name, from a race he ran in 1958. I had to write the editor, Randy Riggs (whom I've known since 1972, when he was an editor at Cycle World magazine and I...
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Engine and Tranny Go In
2008-05-14 12:32:25
Weekends are long in racing. For example, I just spent a four- or five-day weekend working on the Bandit. There was a moment there, when Pat Boyle and I were working 12 hours a day to get the engine and transmission installed, that I thought: I...
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Challenges, not Problems
2008-05-13 12:59:39
Thanks mostly to Barbara Signore, the engine arrived in April, weighing 750 pounds in its crate. The car was in the trailer (moved from my yard to the driveway when the snow melted), and the engine was in the garage;...
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Scored an Engine!
2008-03-10 06:31:05
On Saturday morning March 8, I was in a hotel room in Laguna Beach with the ocean crashing just outside my third-floor balcony. I could see the horizon through the wide-open sliding-glass door, but my eyes were glued to my laptop screen. I was...
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