Jack Seller’s #NASCAR Cup Debut

The #44 Coca-Cola Buick Debuted in 1990

Sear’s Point Raceway
The Banquet 300
Sunday, June 10, 1990
Race 12 of the 1990 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

• Race Length:74 laps
• Time of race: 2:41:35
• Average speed of winner: 69.245 mph
• Margin of victory: under caution
• Lead changes: 8 among 6 drivers
• Cautions: 9 for 24 laps

Jack Sellers, who made a record 282 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West
starts, passed away over the weekend at age 72. (Getty Images)

Jack Sellers, a K&N Pro Series West Icon ran his last race on October 15th 2016. Just nine days later, news that ‘Cowboy Jack’ had passed shocked the tight racing west coast family. True to his word, he raced until the day he died.

What most fans did not know is that Jack had raced in two Cup races with many of the sports champions.

The 1990 Banquet Frozen Foods 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 10, 1990, at Sears Point International Raceway in the community of Sonoma, California.

While the names have changed, Winston Cup to Sprint Cup and Sears Point to Sonoma Raceway, the racing was as fierce and competitive then as it is now. Jack Sellers made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut that day and some how managed to grab the brief spotlight and valuable television coverage.

Driving his Green #44 Coca-Cola Buick, Sellers started forty-fourth (last) off the starting grid. He had to bring the car back to the pits on the first lap due to an oil leak that was filling his cockpit with smoke. During that pit stop, the car fell off the jack. Never willing to give up, Sellers went back on the track.

Unfortunately, on lap four, Sellers brought out a two-lap caution due to an accident. The #44 was off-track and backed into a tire barrier in turn nine. However, in ‘Cowboy Jack’ fashion, he soldiered on. Jack Sellers managed to be the last man to actually finish the event, thirty-three laps down. He took the checkered in the fortieth.

Sellers’ Caution – is at 7:58 on video 

After two hours and forty-five minutes of racing, Rusty Wallace defeated Mark Martin under the race's final caution flag. Below are the complete race results: 

Finish	Start	Driver	Car #	Laps
1	11	Rusty Wallace	27	74
2	5	Mark Martin	6	74
3	1	Ricky Rudd	5	74
4	26	Geoff Bodine	11	74
5	31	Bobby Hillin, Jr.	8	74
6	17	Sterling Marlin	94	74
7	2	Ernie Irvan	4	74
8	28	Irv Hoerr	0	74
9	20	Michael Waltrip	30	74
10	14	Rick Wilson	75	74
11	21	Alan Kulwicki	7	74
12	16	Hut Stricklin	12	74
13	19	Derrike Cope	10	74
14	10	Dale Jarrett	21	74
15	37	Terry Fisher	9	74
16	13	Kyle Petty	42	74
17	36	Stan Barrett	18	74
18	7	Ken Schrader	25	74
19	41	Harry Gant	33	74
20	29	Bill Schmitt	73	74
21	4	Bill Elliott	9	74
22	42	Jim Bown	2	73
23	35	John Krebs	99	73
24	15	Davey Allison	28	72
25	38	Mike Chase	23	72
26	32	Richard Petty	43	71
27	40	Jimmy Spencer	57	71
28	43	Butch Gilliland	24	71
29	8	Morgan Shepherd	15	70
30	33	Troy Beebe	93	70
31	30	Butch Miller	98	68
32	22	Dave Marcis	71	67
33	12	Darrell Waltrip	17	65
34	3	Dale Earnhardt	3	65
35	9	Terry Labonte	1	62
36	34	Bill Sedgwick	76	61
37	23	Chad Little	19	60
38	6	Tommy Kendall	40	46
39	27	Dick Trickle	66	41
40	44	Jack Sellers	44	41
41	18	Brett Bodine	26	38
42	24	Rob Moroso	20	17
43	39	Ted Kennedy	34	11
44	25	Hershel McGriff	4	2

The names of the drivers above is astonishing.  Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, and Mark Martin are all inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  It must have been epic to have raced against those legends.

Sellers in the Red #44 far left keeps to the high side to let the youngsters pass.

The NASCAR Community lost an important and enduring symbol of what a racer should aspire to be. Rest In Peace Jack Sellers – NASCAR Race Mom is privileged to have known you.

Note: Sellers also ran in the 1992 Save Mart 300K at Sears Point International Raceway in the #44 Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer Buick. He started 43th and finished 40th after suffering a transmission issue. He completed 48 of the 74 schedule laps.

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3. Hutchison Chases Rookie Title In K&N West
4. 25 And Counting For Sellers
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