Racing Champions standard diecasts may lack the detail and accuracy of their more upscale competitors, but the company excelled in offering a plethora of schemes, including those from underdogs, smaller operations and mid-pack drivers. One such example is Dave Blaney’s 2003 First Tennessee Bank Ford Taurus.

Sandwiched between his two stints will Bill Davis Racing, 2003 marked Blaney’s second year with owner Doug Bagwell in the No. 77 Jasper Motorsports Ford.

The season started well for Blaney, who earned a pole – with many teams sitting on qualifying – and 10^th-place finish in the second race of the season at Rockingham. After retiring the next week at Las Vegas for a clutch issue, Blaney reeled off an eighth-place finish at Atlanta. The subsequent week he earned his first Cup Series top-five finish, placing third in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington behind Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven in one of the most memorable and thrilling NASCAR finishes of all time. Blaney was seventh in the points following the race.

The hot start for the Buckeye Bullet quickly faded, however. Blaney finished outside the top 30 in three of the next four races. He earned his fourth top-10, and final of the season, at Pocono more than halfway through the season.

The Jasper Motorsports team had fallen to 25^th in the points standings when the Cup cars rolled into Bristol Motor Speedway for the 2003 Sharpie 500. The No. 77 wore a one-off scheme for the Sharpie 500, a red, white and blue Ford Taurus sponsored by First Tennessee Bank in the company’s home territory. It was the only race of the season in which Jasper Engines and Transmissions was not the primary sponsor of the No. 77.

Blaney qualified 15^th in his First Tennessee Bank ride but was caught up in a multi-car crash. In what appeared to be an accordion effect, Ted Musgrave got into the back of Ryan Newman. As Newman went spinning, Blaney got into the back of Jeff Burton, who then contacted Musgrave’s rear bumper. All three cars slid to the inside of the front straight and sustained notable damage.

The No. 77 team made repairs, but Blaney couldn’t recover from the incident and finished 30^th, 64 laps down.

Blaney and the No. 77 earned one more top-15 finish that season, landing 28^th in points.

The 2003 campaign didn’t end without some controversy. Jasper Motorsports, a full-fledged Ford team, ran a Dodge in the fall Talladega race. The team, which had an engine partnership with Dodge’s Team Penske, felt running the Dodge at the superspeedway improved their chances. Bootie Barker noted after the race the team dyno tested both a Ford and Dodge the week of the EA Sports 500, and the Dodge delivered more power.

The team’s decision was, unsurprisingly, not taken well by Ford, who pulled its backing from the No. 77 after the race.

Jasper Motorsports and Blaney parted ways after the 2003 season.

Blaney’s Cup Series career is probably best remembered for his near wins. Blaney seemed to have the car to beat at the 2002 Cracker Barrel 500 in Atlanta, leading 70 laps in the Bill Davis Racing No. 93 Dodge. He built an eight-second lead with just over 100 laps to go when he felt a vibration. The team completed a green-flag stop, and finding no issues, sent Blaney back out on track. Soon after, Blaney’s left rear tire gave out with 100 laps to go. Once with the car to beat, Blaney finished outside the top-30.

A decade later, Blaney was leading the 2012 Daytona 500 during a caution on lap 160. It was this same caution that sparked Juan Pablo Montoya’s infamous spin and crash with a jet dryer on the track. Fuel from the jet dryer set a portion of the track ablaze, and it momentarily appeared as if the Daytona 500 could be called. However, officials determined the track wasn’t compromised, and racing resumed after a two-hour delay. However, the 49-year-old Blaney wouldn’t have his Cinderella story that day. He was caught up in a crash on lap 196 and finished 15^th.

Though he was winless in Cup, Blaney remains a well-respected, admired and decorated driver. He is the 1995 World of Outlaws champion, 8^th on the Word of Outlaws career win list, and captured wins in the Chili Bowl Nationals and Knoxville Nationals. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2014.

His continued following showed with a Blaney custom 1/24 NASCAR diecast earning a top-five spot in the priciest eBay diecast auctions of December 2024.

Blaney fans hoping to land one of the Blaney’s 2003 First Tennessee Bank Racing Champions 1/24 will likely have to do some serious searching. As of this writing, none appear to be for sale online through various avenues, and only one was sold (for $25) in the last several months on eBay.

According to Diecast Registry, no production number was released for the diecast.