The End of An Era in Evanston

By David G. Firestone

We all have at least one place that we always remember fondly from our childhood. It could be a restaurant, a park, the home of a close friend, or family member, or a park. We all have at least one, probably many. It is always sad when one of these places goes away. Well this happened to me this last week, when an Evanston institution began the process of moving.

Tom Thumb in Downtown Evanston was a place that I and a number of my friends spent a great deal of our childhood. Some of us were skateboarders, some of us were RC car fanatics, some of us, like me were model builders and die cast collectors. It had been in the same place for 49 years, but they announced that they were going to move after a zoning decision was made to replace the current building with a two-story building for two restaurants. So, on July 12, after 49 years as an Evanston institution, it closed. I went there on the 12, and made, with a heavy heart, my last purchase. This was a sad day because I am a huge NASCAR fan, and for many years, Tom Thumb was the only store in Evanston that sold NASCAR stuff. It was also one of, if not the oldest skate shop in the midwest. I went there, looked around the store where I spend my childhood, took it all in, and bought my last purchase, this 1997 Darrell Waltrip 25^th Anniversary set.I bought this for two reasons. The first is that I love this set, I remember many of these schemes from races I watched in 1997. They all look really good, and they bring back memories. The second reason, and I didn’t even think about this until I started doing some work for next week. During my research, I was grumbling about how many different paint schemes each car runs every week, and it dawned on me that this might be the first example of that in the Sprint Cup Series.

You never had this much variety in paint schemes before 1997. Each team ran one scheme for the majority of the season, maybe 2 or 3 different schemes and special schemes for the All-Star race, and possibly the Busch Clash. But Darrell Waltrip ran, in total, 7 different schemes, each based on a specific era in his career. Each had Western Auto Parts America as the primary sponsor, but were based for past sponsors. He started with Gatorade, which he ran for DiGard Motorsports, from 1975-1980. He won two Coca Cola 600’s(1978, 1979) a Winston 500(1977) the Southern 500(1978,1979)as well as 22 other races during that time.In 1981, he left DiGard for Junior Johnson Motorsports, and was sponsored by Mountain Dew, where he won 24 races including the 1982 Winston 500, the 1981 Busch Clash, and two of his three Sprint Cup ChampionshipsPepsi replaced Mountain Dew and created The Pepsi Challenger which he ran in 1983 for Junior Johnson. He won 6 races for PepsiAfter Pepsi left, Budweiser took over the sponsorship, and from 1984-1986, he won 13 races, the 1985 Winston Cup Championship, the Inagural All-Star Race in 1985, the 1985 Southern 500, and the Winston 500. I find love how they call it “Red” instead of Budweiser since this was marketed to kids at the time.In 1987, he made the move to Hendrick Motorsports, and picked up Tide as a sponsor. He won the 1989 Daytona 500, The 1988 and 1989 Coca Cola 600’s and 6 other races. I loved that it was identical to the scheme used by Ricky Rudd that same season.From 1990-1997, he raced the #17 for Hendrick Motorsports in 1990, and then founded Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, which raced this scheme from 1990 to 1997. He won 5 races, but was never to get his former glory back. Western Auto left the team after 1997, and Darrell Waltrip Motorsports shut down shortly after the start of the 1998 season.The last scheme is one of the most innovative schemes in the history of NASCAR. His legendary Chrome scheme. Darrell loved chrome, using chrome numbers, and a chrome helmet. This was supposed to be used for just a single race, but it was raced a number of times that season. Nothing like this had ever been done in NASCAR before. There had been chrome numbers, but never a chrome car. This car was so far ahead of it’s time. Darrell even had a Chrome driver suit that he wore with this car!1997 would be the beginning of the end for Darrell Waltrip. He shut down his Winston Cup team in 1998, and joined Dale Earnhardt Inc. midway through the season. He would race for just two more seasons before fully retiring in 2000.

The idea of 7 different schemes seems like standard opperating procedure today, but back in 1997, this was revolutionary. This was unheard of. These schemes were all good, and they worked well, but this surprised some fans. 17 years later, this is the norm rather than the exception. If I did the paint scheme reveiws back in 1997, I would write one article at the beginning of the season, one before the all-star race, and maybe one midway through the season. There were no changes to paint scheme, or if there were, they were very rare.

Tom Thumb will reopen eventually. But whavever the new location, it will never have the same feel as the decades old building were it was once housed. I will miss it. I really will. But I find a bit of irony in that I bought the beginning of an era at the end of another era. I will visit Tom Thumb when they reopen, and I wish them the best of luck. From the residents of Evanston to Tom Thumb, we will miss you, and we wish you the best of luck in your new location!

We also have a paint scheme related news item to discuss. This last week, NASCAR announced that the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup would have some new features on their cars. Specifically, all Chase contenders will have a yellow splitter cover, a yellow window stripe with black letters, yellow roof numbers, and a special Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup decal. I’ve been speculalting that this might come to be, and now I have proof. I am not going to discuss how I think it will look, until I have a good idea as to who is in the Chase, and how it will look on their cars. Here is an illustration of how it looks.

With that out of the way, we move on to…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS

Kasey Kahne #5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevy SS Another case where it looks like two different designers created the car without speaking to each other. It looks awful. The color scheme is good, so it passes, though just bearly with a D-

Tony Stewart #14 Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Chevy SS For a Bass Pro Shops scheme it looks really good. It isn’t over designed, has a nice patriotic touch, and has a good color scheme. A+

Clint Bowyer #15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota Camry Clint’s C scheme but with an even worse color scheme ends in a D-

Greg Biffle #16 3M Throwback Ford Fusions Greg Biffle is holding a contest to pick a throwback sheme for his race at Pocono in August. I would normally grade all four of these seperatley, however they all have the same traits, so I will grade them at once. All four have really good color schemes, and really nice logos, but they are all plagues with modern car numbers as well as modern designs. They simply look awful. I will vote for none of these schemes and give them all an F-

Trevor Bayne #21 QuickLane Ford Fusion A really good design with a really good color scheme. It works very well, A+

Cole Whitt #26 Scorpion Window Film Toyota Camry Good color scheme, good design, though the silver stripe on the bottom is a bit much. A-

Paul Menard #27 Menards/Splash Chevy SS The Splash logo looks really good, and I’ll give it a B+

Joe Nemechek #29 Toyota Cares Toyota Camry Great color scheme, awful design, they average out to a C-

Morgan Shepherd #33 ThunderCoal Chevy SS I liked the other ThunderCoal scheme, but this is just awful. Too many neon colors, and it is needlessly overdesigned. I give it an F

Alex Kennedy #33 MediaCAST Chevy SS Awful color scheme and way too over designed. F

Landon Cassill #40 Gallery Furniture Chevy SS Great color scheme, great simple design, though the 40 could be brighter. A

Kyle Larson #42 Cottonelle Chevy SS Great color scheme, great design A+

Michael Waltrip #66 Royal Teak Toyota Camry Good color scheme, great simple design, A+

Martin Truex Jr. #78 Worldvision Chevy SS Great color scheme, great design, I love that fade, looks great. A+

Ryan Truex #83 Voodoo/Armed Forces Motorsports Toyota Camry A D+ scheme with a new hood logo is still a D+ scheme.

Michael McDowell #95 JPO Absorbents Ford Fusion Another great Levine Family Racing scheme. It is hard to believe how bad they were last year. Great color and design scheme equals an A+ scheme.

Carl Edwards #99 UPS Ford Fusion They took a D- scheme, and made it worse. Awful color scheme, awful design, F-

Why I Hate Politics and Paint Scheme Update

By David G. Firestone

I have a lot of paint schemes to discuss and we will get to that shortly. I wanted to discuss something that took place before the Coke Zero 400 last week. It is a bit murky, but here is what took place.

Charlie Crist is a former governor of Florida, and a former Republican. After a brief hiatus from politics, he has annoucned his intentions to run for the Governor of Florida as a democrat. He had plans to run the #98 Phil Parsons Racing Ford driven by Josh Wise. After this was announced however, the Republican Party of Florida filed a lawsuit stating that it was a campaign contribution worth more than $3,000. Remember, this was the same team that was crowd funded by Reddit and Dogecoin at Talladega, and that sponsorship cost about $55,000. It was later reported that the Charlie Crist decals had been removed from the car. Phil Parsons Racing stated the deal was in response to a series of negative ads toward Crist, and that the Crist decals were part of a deal with recording artist Lee Brice. They also stated that they didn’t pull the sponsorship due to the lawsuit, and that the $25,000 sponsorship would be returned.

I frankly don’t buy any of that for a second. I think that it was because of the lawsuit, and that Phil Parsons Racing did not want to get thrown under the bus because of it. They tried to handle it as diplomatic as possible, but it still sounds sketchy. The other reason I have a huge problem with this is because the simple fact that politics and racing don’t mix. Look at what’s happened with F1 and IndyCar. Politics are a constant issue in the sport, and I for one am tired of it. Look at the Ayrton Senna/Alan Prost battle in the 1990’s! Look at The Split! Politics ruins racing!

This is not the first time a politician with deep pockets has sponsored a race car, but I hope that this is the last time. I’m not against politics, I’m against forcing it into something it has no place being in! If tobacco, cel phone carriers, and hard liqour have or had been banned from sponsoring cars, then so should politicians.

Ok enough serious stuff, on to…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!

Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/Hawker Chevy SS Nothing bad to say here…A+

Jamie McMurray #1 Lexar Chevy SS Great Color Scheme, great design, A+

Austin Dillon #3 Great Stuff Chevy SS Color scheme is good, the design looks very odd. The gold numbers and chain design does not suit the car at all, and if they were left off, I would give it an A, but this scheme earns a B-

Austin Dillon #3 NRA Museum Chevy SS Good color scheme, decent design, B+

Austin Dillon #3 Cheerios Protien Chevy SS Much too overdeisgned, decent color scheme, C-

Kasey Kahne #5 Team Stream Chevy SS Good color scheme, but Kasey loves to drive overdesigned cars, and this is no exception. I’m giving it a C which is a very fair grade here.

Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Chevy SS Good color scheme, decent design, B+

Marcos Ambrose #9 Black and Decker Ford Fusion Good color scheme, Good design, A

Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy/Florida Lottery Chevy SS It looks like two people designed this car, and they didn’t talk to each other while designing it. Both sets of color schemes are awful, and both design schemes are awful. F-

Greg Biffle #16 3M/DAV Ford Fusion Green usually doesn’t look good, camo never looks good, so this scheme earns an F

Greg Biffle #16 3M Aerospace Ford Fusion See Above F

Greg Biffle #16 NESN 30^th Anniversary Ford Fusion A bit less overdesigned, at least by Greg Biffle’s standards, and I do like the Red Sox and Bruins logos as well, so I will give it a C

Greg Biffle #16 3M Ford Fusion Good color scheme, decent design, B+. Nice change for Greg Biffle.

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Battery Center Toyota Camry No. Redeeming. Features. Whatsoever. F-

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Cargil Ford Fusion Much MUCH TOO OVER DESIGNED! F

Jeff Gordon Panasonic Toughbook Chevy SS Blue and white work very well, and while it is a bit over designed, it works, and I’ll give it an A

Jeff Gordon #24 Pepsi Chevy SS Great color scheme, great design scheme, A+

Cole Whitt #26 Rinnai Toyota Camry The color scheme is good, and the design is great, so it gets an A+

Cole Whitt #26 Tapout Muscle Recovery Toyota Camry Simple design, great color scheme, A+

Boris Said #32 7-Eleven Ford Fusion I normally hate green on race cars, but this works well. I like the design scheme too, and I give it an A

Bobby Labonte #33 Thunder Coal Chevy SS Great simple design and a great color scheme, A+

Alex Kennedy #33 MediaCast Chevy SS The color scheme is awful, and the design is worse. F

Reed Sorenson #36 Theme Park Connection Chevy SS Ugly design, good color scheme, C-

David Gilliland #38 Long John Silvers Free Fish and Fries Ford Fusion Great design, great color scheme, great look, A+

David Gilliland #38 Love’s Truck Stops Ford Fusions CAMO DOES NOT WORK ON RACE CARS! F

Landon Cassill #40 Snap Fitness Chevy SS So So design, good color scheme C+

Kyle Larson #42 Target Chevy SS Whadaya Know? An A+ Patriotic scheme!

Aric Almirola #43 Waffle House/Smithfield Ford Fusion The understated patriotic design scheme works well, and the color scheme works well too. B-

Justin Algaier #51 CSSUSA Chevy SS Looks good, overall design is good, color scheme is good, and I’ll give it an A

Brian Vickers #55 Aarons/Florida State Toyota Camry Good design with a good design color scheme, A

Brett Moffit #66 Toyota Toyota Camry Good color scheme, simple design, looks very good, A

Tommy Drissi #66 Hercules Toyota Camry I don’t even know where to begin…it just looks awful. F

Martin Truex Jr. #78 World Vision Chevy SS Good color scheme decent design, B-

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Kelly Blue Book Chevy SS A decent scheme, but a bit overdeisgned. Color scheme looks good. B

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 National Guard Chevy SS See David Gilliland Love’s above. F

Michael McDowell #95 K-Love Ford Fusion I like the color scheme, and the overall design is another good Levine Family Racing scheme that earns an A

Josh Wise #98 Dogecoin Ford Fusion Good simple design with a good color scheme equals an A grade

Josh Wise #98 Phil Parsons Racing Ford Fusion Since this design is what was raced, I will grade it as such. The color scheme is decent, but it is a tad too overdesigned. It is a D+ look.

A Day At The Races

By David G. Firestone

Every summer, I make a pilgrimage to two places, Jim’s Original and The O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet. This last week, I did both. Jim’s Original is still good, and the Route 66 Nationals are always fun. This year, I went on Saturday and Sunday. Normally I would only go on Saturday, but this year I decided to double the fun. I went with Argie, a friend from work, and I spent Saturday watching racing and wandering through the pits. NHRA tickets promise that “every ticket is a pit pass” and trust me, they more than live up to that claim. You can walk around the pits and watch as the teams setup cars before races and fix cars after races. The wear and tear on nitro cars is such that the entire engine has to be disassembled, repaired, and reassembled between races, sometimes in as little as 45 minutes. Needless to say, speed is paramount.I had been fortunate enough to get a pass to the Don Schumacher Racing hospitality tent. This not only got me the tickets, but also a chance to meet Tony Schumacher, and Ron Capps. I came into the tent a little later than normal, and I got to listen Tony talk to the crowd, and take questions. I got a chance to ask him something that I have always wanted to ask a driver… “What is the weirdest thing you have ever autographed?” Having done autograph signings since I was 5, I’ve seen a lot of odd stuff get autographed over the years, and I was interested in the answer. He responded that he has signed a lot of body parts, arms, legs, etc, and that his wife hates that.

A few minutes later, he mentioned that he wears a 5-layer firesuit, as well as two additional layers of fire protection. That adds up to a total of 7 layers. Most NASCAR suits make up 3 layers, with an additional layer underneath. Nomex is not a lightweight material, and on days like Saturday, when it was 88 degrees outside, that can get very uncomfortable. He is also credited with the aforementioned canopy to Top Fuel dragsters.

One thing I love to do is to buy race-used equipment from dragsters, and I did so this year as well. I bought a couple of valves from Tasca Racing, one large,and one small,Both show tremendous use, and have chips missing from them. Valves like these are used for one race and then replaced. The wear they go through for one run is very evident.

The other race used piece of equipment is a gasket from Morgan-Lucas Racing. It shows a huge amount of wear, and is a very heavy, thick and durable gasket.

It just wouldn’t be a race for me without getting some autographs. I bought a Ron Capps funny car die cast, and had his sign it in person, and it looks really good. I had a pair of gloves I wanted to get signed, and I did, by Tommy Johnson Jr. My favorite item it this brightly painted helmet. It was signed by Robby Gordon when I bought it, and I got it signed by Clay Millian, Terry McMillen, Tony Schmacher, Tommy Johnson Jr.,Ron Capps, and the legendary Shirley Muldowney.

One thing I didn’t do as much this year was take pictures. I did take some, but not as many as last year. I did make a number of videos, as shown below.

That’s all for this week, I’ll return next week with a set of paint scheme reviews, and believe me, there are a lot of them! Hope you are all having a fun summer! Happy Belated Canada Day for our friends up North, Happy Fourth of July to my readers in the USA, and to everyone else, See you soon!

Ron Capps and Tony Schumacher Engine Tests

Ron Capps and Tony Schumacher Engine Tests, Saturday June 28, 2014, Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Illinois.

NHRA Burnouts…In Slow Motion

How better to appreciate the subtlety of NHRA Burnouts than in 120p slow motion.

Weekend Warriors-The SCCA Part 1

By David G. Firestone

While the Sprint Cup, IndyCar, and Formula 1 drivers get all the glory, the overwhelming majority of drivers are weekend warriors, guys and gals who spend their own money on their cars, and race for the love of the sport. These drivers aren’t “professionals” per se, but they still have a love for the sport.

It was on these drivers that the Sports Car Club of America, or SCCA was founded in 1949. It wasn’t about professionals, it was about enthusiasts who loved the sport, and who loved to race. As time went on, however, battles for control of sports car racing, and battles for control over professional auto racing became too great, and the SCCA had to start sanctioning professional events. With help from Curtis LeMay of the United States Air Force, the SCCA started racing at Air Force bases, and they became a nationally recogized auto racing sanctioning body.

Today, the SCCA sponsors many different forms of auto racing, including professional, hill climbing, autocross, rally racing, and club racing, which features unpaid amateur racers. As in all sports, the need for fire protection is constant. So what do drivers wear in the SCCA?

Made in November of 1992, this suit was made for Tommy Nilsson, who raced in a number of events in the SCCA California Sports Car Club Region.

It features a purple and yellow color scheme, with a small number of patches. It shows great use, and has a lot of wear on it. No arm gussets,or design on the shoulder epaulets, cuffed legs, and no logos on the legs,

This is the perfect example of the weekend warrior suit. Not designed for the driver, but bought by the driver. Not customized for the driver, but customized by the driver. An example of the uniforms worn by the majority of the people who make up this sport.

Wheel Reviews

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is more of a goofy racing comedy, featuring Will Ferrell as Ricky Bobby, and John C. Reilly as Cal Naughton, Jr., Ricky Bobby’s teammate. Ricky is a hot driver, winning all the races, while Cal comes in second, and harbors jealousy toward Ricky as such. As Jean Girard, a French former F1 driver begins to challenge him, he pushes himself too far, and wrecks at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He thinks his career is done, but gets back in the car, only to have fear overtake him and is fired by his team. His wife leaves him, and he winds up taking a job as a pizza deliveryman, before his estranged father comes back into his life, and helps him conquer his fear, by having him drive a muscle car with a live cougar inside it, and he starts his own team and fields a car at Talladega.

Ricky patches things up with Cal, Girard, and his team, and then the race starts. Ricky passes the entire field after starting at the back, but Girard retains the lead. After his replacement driver at his old team causes The Big One, only Ricky and Gerard are in contention for the race, due to the fact that their cars are the only ones running. The two crash into each other during the final laps, both cars stop short of the finish line, and both Ricky and Girard exit their cars and run across the finish line. Cal comes out as the winner.

Bascially it is a goofy Will Ferrell comedy, and from a technical standpoint it is really good. The driver suits look really good, and I love what the movie did with sponsors. Wonderbread Old Spice, and Perrier are all primary sponsors, and in terms of the humor of the movie works well. I can’t say anything bad about the movie, so it gets an A+

DIY Driver Suit 101

By David G. Firestone

So let’s ask a hypothetical question. You are a weekend warrior. You have spent all your money on a bitchin’ Chevy Nova, and a plain driver suit. You want to decorate the suit, but can’t afford to give it the professional treatment. What do you do? If your name is James Wells, you get an iron-on and a couple of Sharpies, and you make do!

This unique example dates to the early 1980’s, and shows how a low budget team can have an attractive suit. The front of the suit has a Chevy Bowtie logo with “08 FOLSOM RACING” on the right and 08 JAMES WELLS written in Sharpie on the front. I also love the drop shadow effect that Wells tried to use. On the back, Wells used a NOVA SS iron on. Yes it looks really cool, but there is an issue. This is a single-layer suit. The iron on can clearly be seen on the inside of the suit. I get the feeling that it would negate the fire protection in the event of a fire. It’s a good thing that scenario never took place. I kept this entry short because of this week’s

Wheel Reviews

Released in December of 1966, Grand Prix is one of the best racing movies made, and is very accurate in detail of the racing itself. The plot centers around four drivers, American Pete Aron who is looking to make a comeback. Scott Stoddard is an English driver who needs to make a comeback as well. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sarti is an older but wiser driver who is nearing the end of his career. Former motorcross rider Nino Barlini is a bright rookie, who is looking to make his mark on the sport.

The main plot centers around the battle for the 1966 Formula 1 World Championship. The season starts at Monacco, where Pete Aron is fighting both his teammate Scott Stoddard and a damaged transmission. The transmission freezes, causing a crash which sends Aron into the harbor, and Stoddard to the hospital. While this is taking place, Jean-Pierre Sarti wins the race and Barlini comes in second. From there, 4 sub plots, each focusing on one driver start.

Aron is fired from British Racing Motors, and is relegated to a job as a TV interviewer for the Federal Broadcasting Company. At the next event, he runs into Pat Stoddard, Scott’s unhappy wife, and the two of them begin an affair. After one race as an interviewer, he is signed by Yamaha Motors, wins the Belgium Grand Prix and starts his improbable run at the championship.

Scott Stoddard meanwhile is out of the car with his injuries, and spends a number of weeks in a British hospital. He eventually learns of his wife’s affair with Aron, and confronts her about it. She openly admits she wants out of the marriage, and leaves. Later, during the British Grand Prix, Stoddard takes a couple of pain killers to help him with the pain, but they cause him to nearly lose consciousness. He returns to the pits, and Aron takes the lead, but catches fire and Nino wins the race, setting up the battle for the championship.

Jean-Pierre Sarti and Nino Barlini race for Ferarri, and are both heavily involved for the championship. At an after race party in Monacco, Sarti meets attractive American fashion writer Louise Frederickson. The two begin an affair that lasts until the end of the season. Sarti is also upset that the cars are not working to his liking, and suffers some setbacks. At the Belgium Grand Prix, he suffers a suspension failure, and crashes into a barn, killing two kids accidentally. This has an effect on him, as he then begins to realize how absurd his life really is. While watching Nino celebrate after winning the British Grand Prix, he laments “I suppose what’s wrong with me is my life. But I can’t change that…or I won’t. I’ve begun to see the absurdity of it. All of us, proving what? That we can go faster, and perhaps remain alive? Nino, gambling his life for a trophy, then filling it with beer and doing tricks. Stoddard filling himself with drugs to drive, and still passing out from the pain. Don’t you see how absurd it is? Who cares?

Nino is a young single driver who comes from motorcycle racing to Formula 1. After the Monacco Grand Prix he meets Lisa, an attractive woman with no personality, and they start a relationship. Nino is a fun loving playboy, who take racing seriously. In the 2 car Ferarri team, Nino is the second car. After winning at Silverstone, he becomes the points leader. But before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Lisa sees him with two Japanese models, and leaves him for another man. That sets up the final race of the fictional 1966 season, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Before the race, Sarti’s car is late from the factory, and Louise has told him she is going back to America. Sarti’s wife shows up, and is none too happy about the affair.. Nino is sad about Lisa, but is able to put it behind him for the race. After a divorce seems inevitable, Scott and Pat fix their relationship. Pete has been watching footage of his previous races to help him get an edge. When Sarti’s car finally shows up, it is not to his liking. He argues with team manager Agostini Manetta, who says that he will decide to retire Sarti after the race. Sarti leaves, visibly disgusted by the proceedings.

The race starts, and Sarti stalls the car. He is able to get it fired, but loses a lot of time. Nino jumps to an early lead, with Aron and Stoddard, behind him. Sarti makes up a lot of time. During the last race, each driver is heard in voice overs and flash backs explaining why they do what they do. Toward the end of the race, Sarti makes it up to fourth, but then a piece comes off Aron’s car, hits Sartis car, and Sartiis involved in a fatal crash. His wife is shaken, Louise is horrified. Agostini does what no team owner ever wants to do, and shows the black flag to Nino, calling him into the pits as a result of Sarti’s death. Nino sadly complies with the order, visibly shaken. Stoddard and Aron are unaware of what has happened to Sarti, and battle for the win and the championship, with Aron coming out on top. While celebrating the championship, Aron calls Stoddard up, and the two rivals celebrate together. As they celebrate, the track announcer states that Sarti has died, and the celebration is cut short. The movie ends with Aron walking through the now empty race track, and looking at the starting grid, and hearing the engines, and the crowd on race day.

Overall this was a great movie, but it did have some issues. The in-car camera angles were revolutionary for the day, but there were a lot of needless visual effects during races. The use of race footage was a great move, and it looks really good. The schedule for the fictional 1966 F1 racing season, differs significantly from the real 1966 season, but it still looks good. Interestingly, Nomex was mentioned by a track announcer after a firey crash. It was likely added during editing, since in 1966, Nomex was being tested as a material for driver suits. I give this movie an A+

Wheel Reviews-Days Of Thunder

By David G. Firestone

If you ask people what the quintessential NASCAR movie is, most would say Days of Thunder. Certainly it is a good movie. It stars Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, who is based on Tim Richmond, and Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, based on Harry Hyde. The movie starts with the Daytona 500, which features Rowdy Burns, played by Michael Rooker, wrecking Richard Petty, and while this is going on, Tim Dalland, based on Rich Hendrick, recruits Harry Hogge, a former crew chief who left the sport after the death of a driver was linked to his methods. Dalland talks Hogge into meeting Cole Trickle, a sprint car driver with no stock car experience. Rowdy sets up a car for a test, and Cole proves his talents fast.

Hogge and Cole don’t agree on much during their first races, and they meet little success. Finally, Hogge takes Cole to a track and tells him that if he races Hogge’s way, he can win, but if he races Cole’s way, he won’t. He is quickly proven right, and Cole becomes a winner. Rowdy and Cole develop a fierce rivalry, and at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona in July, they get into a crash, and both are seriously injured.

As they recover, they become good friends. Cole meets Dr. Claire Lewicki, and the two begin a romantic relationship. Dalland hires Russ Wheeler, based on Rusty Wallace, to fill in for Cole. Cole is back in the car before the end of the season, but Rowdy’s injuries are career ending. Russ proves himself to be a dirty driver, and wins at North Wilksboro after wrecking Cole on pit road. An understandably upset Cole wrecks him after the race, and is fired by Dalland.

Rowdy asks Cole to race for him in the Daytona 500, and Cole agrees. Russ gets dirty again, and damages Cole’s transmission. Cole comes back and wins the race. Standard Hollywood ending. But what makes this movie really good is that there are a lot of things that happened in real life. There is a scene where Cole wants to pit, but because the crew is eating ice cream, he can’t. That happened to Benny Parsons in 1987. A subplot where Rowdy and Cole must drive together to have dinner took place with Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine in the 1980’s. The scene where Cole and Rowdy race a pair of rental cars to the breaking point was a common occurrence between Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly.

The 1990’s uniforms are amazing, but the really odd thing is after Cole wins the Daytona 500, his uniform is heavily soiled, and has a large tear in the leg. I still don’t understand how a brand new suit can get that level of damage, after one race. I still love this movie, and I highly recommend it.

I did this as a stand alone post because I came across something that I felt deserved to be on the blog. I found this:

That is an eBay listing for a suit worn by Carl Elwes while playing Russ Wheeler! The suit looks really good, and I would buy it provided it wasn’t so expensive! It has a classic late 1980’s/early 1990’s look, and the Hardees color scheme looks really good.

Editor’s note, for the next 3 weeks, I will be taking a badly needed vacation, so while I have articles ready to go, I won’t have any paint scheme reviews until I come back.

Bill Brach Vintage Suit

By David G. Firestone

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed the events in 1964 that led to the invention of the Nomex driver suit. I also briefly discussed what one of these pre-Nomex suits looked like. Well that was meant as a Uni-Watch article, and was written differently than I would normally write it. It didn’t run on Uni-Watch for a myriad of reasons not worth getting in to. So for this week, I will analyze the suit in Driver Suit Blog style

Before Nomex became the standard for driver suits, racing was living in the dark ages. Drivers would race in whatever they were wearing when they came to the track. Little if any consideration was given to fire safety. As such, many drivers perished in on-track fires. Even when the fire retardant suits began to spring up, they were of little value. Prior to 1967, and for some time after, your standard driver suit was little more than a cotton or polyester suit dipped in borax and other chemicals. This made them fire retardant, but very uncomfortable to wear. Nomex made the driver suit safe and comfortable to wear.

But what did these suits look like? Well this is an example of a polyester suit. It was worn by an Indianapolis based driver named Bill Brach. He was a member of the Murat Shrine in Indianapolis, and he raced in this suit. The suit itself dates to 1972 at least, because of an Archie Bunker For President patch.It has a tag that says “Untreated, will burn,should be dipped.” The polyester material is very flimsy, and is ripped in one part.It has a classic racing stripe up the side, similar to what Paul Newman wore in LeMans.The belt has a metal-clasp to close it, unlike most suits, which use VelcroThe sleeves can be unzipped for comfort, which compromises the fire protection. The back has MURAT 500 SHRINE CLUB in chain stitching on the back.

This is an example of a suit from yesteryear. One that has been made obsolete. It is delicate, thin, and in a fire was of limited value. Nomex has become the standard, and suits like this are now simply relics.

Paint Scheme Reviews

Jamie McMurray #1 Keurig Chevy SS Great color scheme, simple design, A+

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion Too overdesiged. Not a good look. Good color scheme. B-

Brad Keselowski #2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford Fusion Black and Red is always a good scheme, and the overall design is good. The sticking point for me with this scheme is that APPLE ALE is almost invisible on the quarter panel. So for a final grade, it gets a B-

Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevy SS A good patriotic scheme. A

Denny Hamln #11 FedEx/Autism Speaks Toyota Camry This is, by far, the best design Denny has run all year! I can’t say anything bad about it! A+

Clint Bowyer #15 RK Motors Charlotte Toyota Camry Same bad 5 Hour Energy scheme, but with an even worse color scheme. F

Greg Biffle #16 Fastenal Ford Fusion What’s worse than camo? Blue camo! F

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fastenal Ford Fusion A mediocre scheme, that is much too overdesigned. D-

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Cargill/Winn Dixie Ford Fusion Great color scheme, and I love the flame design on the side. A+

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry Good color scheme, good design, A+

Ryan Newman #31 Quicken Loans Chevy SS Good design, great color scheme, A

Ryan Newman #31 Wix Filters Chevy SS Awful design, and awful color scheme, F

Alex Kennedy #33 Dream Factory Chevy SS Yeah it is a tad overdesigned, but it is for a charity to help children with life-threatening illnesses. So I’ll give it a B

Reed Sorenson #36 Click it or Ticket Chevy SS Another potentially good design with a great color scheme ruined by an overly complex design. B-

David Ragan #38 The Pete Store Ford Fusion Good color scheme, great design, A+

Landon Cassill #40 CRC Brakeleen Chevy SS Good design, good color scheme, Solid A.

Landon Cassill #40 NBS Chevy SS Great design, and a good shade of green…something not seen in NASCAR much. A+

Kurt Busch #41 Haas Chevy SS If the black were blue, and the red and white stripes were kept, I would like it more, but this scheme earns a C.

Kyle Larson #42 Cottonelle Chevy SS The blue looks decent, but the target logos on blue look awkward. The 42 would look better in white than dark blue as well. C+

Aric Almirola #43 Nathans Hot Dogs Ford Fusion As much as I like Nathans Hot Dogs, this is awful! The clash between the green and blue is horrific, and I can’t give this a passing grade.

Justin Allgaier #51 Hendrickcars.com Chevy SS I like the color scheme, but the car is a bit too overdesigned. Still it earns a C

Dave Blaney #77 Fochler Veterans Law / Valor 4 Vets Ford Fusion Really good patriotic scheme here, nothing wrong, A+

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 National Guard/Superman Chevy SS I love the red and yellow numbers, and the overall color scheme is great. The design is a bit overdesigned though, and it brings it down to a B.

Michael McDowell #95 JPO Absorbents Ford Fusion Levine Family Racing keeps cranking out good schemes, and this A scheme is no exception. Good color and design schemes.

Michael McDowell #95 JTS/Black Dragon Ford Fusion See Above…A

Michael McDowell #95 K-Love Ford Fusion Good design, but the sky blue is awful. It just looks awful. B-

Josh Wise #98 Reddit/iRacing Ford Fusion Good design, great color scheme, A

Carl Edwards #99 Fastenal Ford Fusion See Ricky Stenhouse Above…D-

Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-2013 Drag Boat Worn Helmet

In conjunction with Behind the Scenes, this is the ITSM episode produced in that video.