As well as a good friend, Neil had been Jeff's mentor during his efforts to make the Winston Cup scene. Jeff came up thru the NDRA late model scene in the mid '80's, and had an excellent rep as a hard charger, but this reputation had been gained in dirt racing. His first Winston Cup start was in 1990 at Martinsville, where he finished 28th. NASCAR refused to let him participate in the next event, at Talledega, citing his lack of experience. To gain the experience, he went to the ARCA series, where in 1993, he proved his ability by winning three superspeedway races, at Daytona, Michigan, and Atlanta.
After taking over the Country Time ride, results for 1994 were not inspiring, the team making seven races, with no top ten finishes. Best finish was 21st in the Purolator 500 at Atlanta in mid March. Purvis' appearances in WINSTON CUP have been sporadic since then. In 1997, he made seven appearances.
Still driving for Finch, he has been focussed on Busch racing, where he has a total of 87 starts, with two wins, both in 1996, his best year. For 1999, Past Champion Randy Lajoie will be in the James Finch BGN car, leaving Jeff without a seat. Hopefully, he will line up something for 1999!
The model pictured was built from Monogram's Kellogg's Lumina of a few years back, and uses Tamiya TS-?? pink over Toyota Sunburst Yellow to get the Country Time colour scheme. Decals are an early set from SLIXX, and are of excellent quality.
The kit was built essentially box-stock, with aero additions in line with 1994 NASCAR mandates. Oil lines, plug wires, and seatbelts were added to improve the realism. An unusual, but authentic, touch was the use of SHABO "Hoosier" tire markings - remember the "Tire Wars"? - that this team used in it's WC appearances.
Phoenix Racing is no longer an entity in NASCAR Racing at the WINSTON CUP level, but in its day, this car certainly added colour to the circuits!
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