1970's Stock Car Racing Stars
52 drivers represented in full-color standard and TV cards, based on decade-long performance of real-life pro racing stars of the 1970s. Also includes set of 24 black-and-white Track Cards based on actual 1970s racing venues.
Get ready for some "retro-racin'" with the new 1970s Stars cards for RED WHITE & BLUE RACIN' Stock Car Action Game! This card set was a collaborative effort with stock car racing historian Jerry Minks, and we're excited about the great fun you're going to have as you travel back a few decades to experience a different era of stock car racing on your tabletop...
The early days of stock car racing were wild, wooly, ragged and roughshod. As legend tells it (perhaps not entirely accurately!), a talented crew of hard-charging, hard-living "good ol' boys" reveled in a vagabond life, moving from track to track to put on a show and collect a paycheck. Today, of course, big-time stock car racing is streamlined, hi-tech, slick and super-fast. The 1970s was a decade where those two worlds shared space.
By 1970, pro stock car racing was beginning to take on the refined look of a big-time professional sports organization, adding noticeable polish after a couple decades of fan-base building. It had developed some established stars, venues and traditions. All that was missing was the promotional power of television, and that would arrive soon enough. The '70s was a crossroads, where old-school met high-tech, where home-made, seat-of-the-pants met precisely-engineered, finely-tuned. At a venue like Pocono, which opened in '71, things wouldn't seem that much different from today. But in the early '70s, races were still held at smaller venues, too, and the big stars showed up for them—in places like Macon, Georgia, Ona, West Virginia, and South Boston, Virginia—for hundred-mile races, often on dirt tracks in front of a few thousand fans where you might get paid a couple hundred bucks for finishing in the top ten.
The days of dirt track and small-venue races ended completely in '72 with new guidelines designed to upgrade pro racing's image—no more sanctioned races under 250 miles in length, and no more dirt tracks. However, to enable you to experience these grand traditions of stock car racing, our '70s Stars card set includes track cards for a few key dirt track and small-track racing venues, along with some special rules for conducting these now-defunct varieties of races.
The "Stars of the 1970s" cards represent the top drivers of the decade, ready to entertain and energize as you watch them battle it out on the track! "The King" ruled the raceway in the '70s, winning five championships during the decade. As such, he's been given the greatest card we've ever created for the game! That said, there are plenty of drivers in this set ready to give "The King" a run for his money, including the driver who would eventually take his place at the top of pro racing's pecking order—"The Intimidator," rookie of the year in '79. Each driver is rated for his over-all performance through the 1970s, with car icons, numbers and sponsor colors that every fan of '70s stock car racing will recognize.
Additionally, there are several fascinating lower-profile drivers of historical significance included in the set. Pro stock car racing's first female driver, first African American driver and the only Canadian ever to win an officially sanctioned race each get cards in this set, as do a number of 1970s "Rookies of the Year," some of whom turned out to be "one-hit wonders!"
We've also included a few bonus cards, in the spirit of the decade. Remember when the US auto industry was the "Big Four"—General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and the now-defunct American Motors? AMC had a presence in '70s pro racing, and we've included duplicate cards of a couple of the more prominent drivers who actually drove AMC Matadors for a few races in the mid '70s. We've also included a card for "The King's" iconic 1970 Plymouth Superbird, representative of the "winged" cars that dominated the super speedways at the beginning of the decade until being quickly regulated out of existence by pro racing's rules-makers.
The '70s Stars cards for RED WHITE & BLUE RACIN' includes 52 drivers and four bonus cards, plus an additional half-dozen or so blank driver cards featuring car icons of the '70s—Chevy, Olds, Ford, Mercury, Dodge, Plymouth and AMC. You also get a set of 24 track cards based on real-life racing venues of the 1970s, including two dirt tracks and two "small town" super-short paved tracks. Unlimited '70s racing thrills, for just $19 postage-paid!