By David G. Firestone
Hailing from Maylene, Alabama, Dave Mader III was a driver who had some success in the lower echelons of auto racing, but on the national level, didn’t really do much. He beat Mark Martin at the 1978 Snowball derby. He also scored four consecutive championships in the All-American Challenge Series win the 1991 Michigan ARCA 200, and had one top 5, and 9 top 10’s in the Xfinity Series, but his career results are otherwise unremarkable.
Coming off a 1992 where he raced 10 races in the Cup and Xfinity Series, it looked like Dave would have a ride for 1993. While he did race in the NASCAR Southeast Series, he didn’t race in the Cup Series again, though he did race in other series. This Simpson custom made double-layer suit was prepared for Mader sometime in the 1990’s. I’ve noticed something odd about the Winston Cup logo, but more on that later. The suit was worn, as it shows decent use, including stains on the yellow stripes.The collar is a Velcro version, and is black outlined with yellow piping.
The standard Simpson warranty label is in the cowl.
On the right chest, there is a zippered pocket. On that pocket are a couple of Simpson patches, and DAVE MADER embroidered.
On the left chest, there is a NASCAR WINSTON CUP patch circa 1993-1996. The patch is covering something on the suit, but I can’t figure out what it is.
The front torso is unadorned, except for the quilt pattern.
The black belt is unadorned, except for the white stitching.
The legs have white and black stripes up the side that extend to the arm pits. They have no logos, and are boot cuffs.
The shoulders have black epaulets, outlined in white piping.
The right sleeve is unadorned, except for a small Simpson patch near the cuff.
The left sleeve is unadorned.
The back of the suit is unadorned, and doesn’t show any wear.
It’s rare that I’ve encountered a suit where I can clearly tell it has been used for some time, but not been able to find out anything more than that. Simpson stopped adding flag tags indicating when the suits were made around the mid 1990’s. The Winston Cup Series patch would date it 1993-1996, but since it appears the patch was added at a later date, this doesn’t help much. I’m going to go with what I have already, since I’ve hit the wall in terms of what and where I can search.
Next week, a pair of Ryan Newman autographed gloves.
The Driver Suit Blog 
I am Dave Mader’s exwife and that looks like his Terminal Trucking fire suit that he wore in 1992 and likely practiced in for the Charlotte race in 1992.