Remember that one day when you could wake up without an alarm? When you would get your favorite bowl of cereal and sit between the hours of 8 and 12? This is a blog dedicated to the greatest time of our childhood: Saturday mornings. The television programs you watched, the memories attached to them, and maybe introducing you to something you didn't realize existed. Updated every weekend.
He played Poodle’s owner in Madeline; Bigfoot, Dragon and an
Astronaut in Darkstalkers; Duke Freid in The Vision of Escaflowne;
Welman Matrix, Faux Megabyte and Starship Alcatraz Computer in ReBoot; Akuma,
computer, and Incan #3 in Street Fighter: The Animated Series; Vulcan in
Monster Rancher; Duck Dunaka and Mike Hauger in NASCAR Racers;
Machine Men, X-51, Electro and additional voices in Spider-Man Unlimited;
Clow Reed in Cardcaptors; Gus Bonner in Stargate: Infinity;
Principal Edward Kelly in X-Men: Evolution; and Java in Martin
Mystery. He also provided additional voices for Camp Candy, Sherlock
Holmes in the 22nd Century, Alienators: Evolution Continues,
Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!, Gadget and the Gadgetinis,
He played Van Fanel in Escaflowne; Zadam in B.R.A.T.S. of the Lost Nebula;
Redline in NASCAR Racers; Jimmy Woo in Action Man; Cyclops/Scott
Summers in X-Men: Evolution; ElecMan and Dave in MegaMan: NT Warrior;
Dr. Ira Kane in Alienators: Evolution Continues; Champ Bear in Care
Bears: Adventures in Care-A-Lot; and Cole and several minor roles in LEGO
Ninjago. He also provided voices for Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!
During prohibition
in the southern United States, bootleggers would use modified cars to get more
cargo space for their illegal booze as well as more speed to outrun police, and
later tax revenue agents after prohibition was lifted. All that racing around
the country backroads stuck and they began doing it for fun as well as for
business to create what would become known as stock car racing.
The origins of NASCAR.
In 1947, Bill France saw the
potential for a unified series of racing competitors and created the National
Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC). The venture would oversee 40 events
over the course of a single season at the Daytona
Beach track, with a grand prize of $1,000 going to the winner. Attendance
ended up exceeding the venue’s capacity multiple times. By the end of 1947,
France and the other 35 men who represented the NCSCC gathered together to
bring France’s vision of an organized group of race car drivers to reality. On
February 21, 1948, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded.
Bill France, Sr., the founder of NASCAR.
NASCAR was originally split by three
divisions: Modified, Roaster and Strictly Stock, although Roadster proved
unpopular with fans and was soon abandoned. The first Modified race was held at
Daytona Beach later that month, while the first Strictly Stock race ran at Charlotte Speedway in
June of 1949. In 1950, Strictly Stock became the “Grand National” division,
allowing for modifications to be made to the cars to improve both safety and
performance. As foreign manufacturers took notice of their cars being used in
the races, they began to show interest in entering the races themselves. In
1952, NASCAR expanded beyond the United States with its first race in Canada.
A garage with Unlimited Division racers.
Today, NASCAR is a major racing
concern still held within the France family and comprised of several different
series. In 1999, NASCAR partnered up with FOX Kids to produce an
animated series for the younger NASCAR fans. Developed by Saban Entertainment,
NASCAR Racers took place in the near
future in Motor City. Jack Fassler (Paul Dobson) had pushed for the creation of
a new Unlimited Division which would allow for cars that possessed various
technology to aid in the races along extreme reality-defying tracks. Amongst
these advancements were rocket boosters for speed and jumping, wings and
parachutes for gliding, and an inner Rescue Racer that could be ejected if the
car was in trouble. To train for these races, racers used an advanced virtual
reality simulator.
Team Fastex: Jack Fassler, Duck, Charger, Flyer, Spitfire and Stunts.
The show primarily focused on
Fassler’s Team Fastex comprised of Mark “Charger” McCutchen (Ian James
Corlett), a second generation racer; Carlos “Stunts” Rey (Rino Romano), a
daredevil who raced in order to win money for his ill father; and Steve “Flyer”
Sharp (Roger R. Cross), a retired Air Force
pilot who suffered some brain damage from an explosion during a mission. After
some convincing, Fassler’s adopted daughter (a plot point that played out
during the second season) Megan “Spitfire” Fassler (Kathleen Barr) was allowed
to join the team. Megan was also responsible for the creation of the team’s
cars and their technology. Douglas “Duck” Dunaka (Dale Wilson) was the team’s
crew chief. Mark’s brother Miles (Andrew
Francis), also an aspiring racer, often helped Duck around the pit.
Spex with Rexton on his view screen.
The primary competition for the Fastex team was Team Rexcor. The team was
owned and operated by Garner Rexton (Ron Halder) who attempted to do anything
in order to win races as well as destroy Fastex. Amongst his racers were Lyle
“The Collector” Owens (Philip Maurice Hayes) who was a spy on the Fastex team,
but with his ruthlessness and arrogance behind the wheel was ejected by
Fassler; Hondo “Specter” Hines, an incredibly sneaky and spooky driver; Zorina,
who was very ignorant and aggressive and often teamed-up with Specter to
destroy opposing cars; and Diesel “Junker” Spitz, a gang member recruited by
Rexton who managed to trash opposing cars despite being clumsy and very slow in
other regards. Spex (Richard Newman) was a cyborg and Rexcor’s crew chief.
Other racers included veteran racer Farrell Longstreet, Kent “Demolisher”
Steel, an android, and Eve “Wild Card” Kildere, a female stunt driver that
initially worked for Rexton.
NASCAR Racers promotional paint jobs on actual NASCAR racers.
The first three episodes aired as a preview movie on November 20, 1999
before the rest of the season began that February. Interestingly enough, the
actual NASCAR wouldn’t be seen on FOX until
the show’s second season when it began airing in February of
2001. The series blended 2-D traditional animation for the characters
designed by Joel Adams with 3-D computer
animation used for the racing and action sequences by Creative Logik and VanHook Studios. It was written by Michael Edens,
Mark Edens,
Steve Cuden, Scott Peterson
and Matthew
Edens, with music composed by Alexander
Van Bubenheim, David Hilker,
John Costello, Jeremy Sweet, Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (as Kussa Mahchi). To promote
the series, four racing teams were tapped to have their cars done in a scheme
representative of one of the four hero characters for a photo op. The cars were
unveiled at a Winston Cup
event on November 14th, 1999. Jeff
Gordon’s #24, Bobby Labonte’s #18
and Terry Labonte’s
#5 were all involved with the promotion early on, with Andy Petree’s #55 coming
on board after some initial challenges navigating around car sponsor
commitments. Each design had to be approved by the racing teams, Hasbro, who was handling the toy
merchandising, and FOX Kids.
Duck and Spex fighting over tools.
The series was renewed for a second season, and some changes followed.
The Unlimited Division cars were replaced with new atomic-powered XPT racers,
which looked like sleeker versions of the original cars. The second half of the
season saw the introduction of Nitro Racers with high-flux fusion units, many
of which had a six-wheel design. Feeling betrayed over not being told about her
adoption, Megan left Fastex to form her own team: The Spitfires. They were an
all-female team comprised of her, Eve, Zorina after she was booted from Rexcor,
and an intimidating racer named Chrome. Replacing Zorina was Tanker, an army
veteran whose car resembled a tank. Phil “Octane” Knox worked clandestinely for
Rexton and frequently employed a hallucinogen to his foes. The mysterious
“Redline” O’Rourke was also introduced and provided competition for Charger
both on the track and for Megan’s affections. Fastex also gets a new mechanic
in the form of the klutzy “Lugnut” Gooch.
“The Real Thing” (11/20/99) – Fastex owner Jack Fassler hires four
racers to compete in the new Unlimited Series, but ends up having to fire Lyle
“The Collector” Owens for disruptive racing.
“The Stakes” (11/20/99) – Megan fights for her father to allow her to
join the team while Lyle challenges Mark to a rigged race at the quarry.
“Heroes” (11/20/99) – Mark ends up in the river and needs saving by
his team.
“Duck Out of the Way” (2/5/00) – After Megan is hurt in an accident,
Jack blames Duck who quits and joins Rexcor in order to secretly determine if
they’re the ones responsible.
“Co-Pilot” (2/12/00) – Lyle tricks Megan into driving for him by
hooking up their simulator to his car.
“The Mission” (2/19/00) – Steve is asked by military intelligence to
destroy a chemical warfare factory during an off-road race.
“Always” (2/26/00) – When Mark’s car is rigged to die by Lyle, Mark
discovers a downed airplane with a man trapped inside.
“Boy vs. Machine” (3/4/00) – Miles is banished from the Fastex garage
after accidentally taking over a computer controlled car while Rexton plans to
hack the course to attack the Fastex cars.
“Pulp Faction” (4/1/00) – Fastex and Rexcor end up teaming up in order
to find and rescue a kidnapped Libby Fassler.
“Daredevil” (4/22/00) – Carlos falls for a female stunt driver who
tries to sabotage the team to repay a debt she owes Garner.
“Flag Bearer” (4/29/00) – Thieves hide their stolen goods in Steve’s
car, but after they fail to recognize its new paint job they attempt to take it
back by force during the race.
“Every Man for Itself (Part 1)” (5/6/00) – The Fastex Team each has
their own reasons to win the championship race, losing their teamwork in the
process.
“All or Nothing (Part 2)” (5/13/00) – Mark uses the team’s new
experimental car in the final race while Miles discovers the Rexcor driver is
actually an android.
Season 2:
“Second Chance” (10/28/00) – Carlos is almost sidelined by the new
competition until their new mechanic, Lugnut, gets him back into the race.
“Toxic” (11/4/00) – Lyle attempts to rejoin Rexcor and is tasked with
taking out Mark before the first race of the season, but ends up on the
receiving end of a toxic bath.
“Payday” (11/11/00) – A mutated Lyle is Rexcor’s newest driver, and
Mark is determined not to let a dislocated vertebrae keep him out of the race
for Lyle’s satisfaction.
“Red Flag” (11/18/00) – Brock Vanleer returns and holds the
Motorsphere hostage for his revenge on Team Fastex.
“Chain Reaction” (12/2/00) – Rexcor tampers with Fastex’s temperature
gauges to not only take out their cars, but to bomb another fuel center and
part of the city.
“Rumble” (12/9/00) – Carlos is tricked into an unofficial race while
Team Rexcor attempts to sabotage the Fastex cars with remote-control devices.
“Crash Course” (2/3/01) – Rexcor has one of Fastex’s fusion units for
the new Nitro Racers stolen, and the team has to retrieve it and save Gloria
who’s trapped on a crashed plane with the thief.
“El Dorado” (2/10/01) – Carlos saves a driver Lyle rams off the road,
and in return the driver tells the greatly in-debt Carlos about a hidden
treasure.
“The Wild Blue” (2/17/01) – Farrell Longstreet ends up poisoned by
Octane with hallucinogenic-laced water that causes him to relive a combat
mission during his next race.
“Runaway” (3/10/01) – Accidentally wrecking Farrell causes Mark to
reconsider racing while Megan discovers Jack and Libby are not her parents and
quits.
“Duck Unlimited” (3/3/01) - Garner
fires Zorina and she joins with the Spitfires and Duck is promoted to driver
for Fastex, while Lugnut takes over as pit boss.
“Hostage” (3/17/01) – Jack is abducted during a Rexcor robbery as
insurance, and Megan gives up a win in order to help Fastex recover him.
“Last Chance” (3/24/01) – Worth Dwindling tries to get Carlos to throw
the final race in order to get his father full funding for his research center,
but when it comes down to it Carlos can’t.
