Category: friday feature

By David G. Firestone

Auto racing has a lot of different elements in it. These include the cars, the track, and all the implements in both. Drag racing has many different elements at the track. The most unique of these is the timing system. The Christmas tree is the centerpiece, and the timing blocks are one of the most critical elements.

In drag racing, sensors and lightweight orange foam blocks with reflectors are placed at 60, 330, 660, 1000, and 1320 feet. These sensors measure speed and elapsed time. They are made of very lightweight foam, so as not to damage the cars of they impact them. This example was cut in half by a nostalgia funny car at Las Vegas. Obviously, it shows very heavy use.

I know that this was a short one, so we will do another…

TAILGATING TIME!

Nothing fancy, going to post a recipe that can give mediocre hot dogs good flavor.

Dirty Water Hot Dogs

12 Servings

Ingredients:

12 Hot Dogs

2 quarts Water

2 tablespoons Vinegar

1 teaspoon Cumin

pinch Freshly Grated Nutmeg

12 Hot Dog Buns (split; toasted if desired)

Instructions:

1-Combine the Water, Vinegar, Cumin, and Nutmeg in a large pot, and bring to a boil.

2-Reduce to a simmer, and add the Hot dogs, cooking until the Hot dogs have heated through, about 5 minutes.

3-Serve on buns with desired condiments.

Next week, auto racing paperwork.

By David G. Firestone

I collect all kinds of memorabilia, not just from auto racing, but from many kinds of sports. One thing that I collect that most people don’t really realize is an aspect of the sports memorabilia market is what is referred to as “stadium memorabilia.” Stadium memorabilia is memorabilia that comes from stadiums as opposed to players or drivers. It has gained new heights since the demolition of Yankee Stadium, Texas Stadium, and Steiner Sports selling memorabilia from the stadium.

This phenomena has spread to NASCAR. With the reconfiguration of Daytona, a slew of memorabilia from the track is now up for sale on eBay and NASCAR.com. Stadium memorabilia comes in several forms. These include seats, signs, scoreboard parts, and playing surfaces, amongst other things. I like to focus on playing surfaces. I have a number of different samples of artificial turf, some baseball infield dirt, and track pieces. This example came from Daytona after the repave in 2011. The entire 2.5 mile surface was removed and the track repaved. The old track was cut into pieces and sold to fans. This is an example of one of those pieces. It is 3 inches by 2 inches, about a third of an inch thick, and has a small plaque on it commemorating that it came from the track. No track is as well-known as Indianapolis. Affectionately known as “The Brickyard” because of the yard of original bricks that make up the start/finish line. The line has had several different paint jobs over the years. This plaque has a piece of an original brick, and part of the start/finish line. The pieces of brick, and start/finish line are 1 ½ inch square, and the whole plaque is six inches by 1 foot. This is a small piece of the racing surface from Talladega. Moving away from racing surface pieces, we move to this piece, which is a banner from the 2004 MBNA America 400 “A Salute To Heroes.” The race took place on June 6, 2004, exactly 60 years after the D-Day invasion. Racing, especially NASCAR holds our military personnel and veterans in the high esteem they richly deserve, and the theme of this race was honoring our veterans. The race had an even more somber note. Ronald Reagan has passed away the previous day. This backdrop, which measures 8 feet tall by 26 feet long was used during the pre-race ceremonies, which included commemoration ceremonies, driver introductions, the invocation, and national anthem. I was able to video match it to the telecast. I normally add a white background to these photos, but I didn’t do that. I wanted to show the size of the banner, and so I had to lay it out on the front lawn, and photograph it from my office window. This last item isn’t stadium used per se, but it falls in line with the banner above. AJ Foyt Enterprises fielded cars in IndyCar, NASCAR, CART, and USAC. While their IndyCar programs were successful, their NASCAR program wasn’t. From 2000 to 2002, Foyt’s #14 was sponsored by Conseco. For that sponsorship, this backdrop was created. It’s about a 1/3 the length of the Dover banner, but the same height. It has a series of NASCAR and Conseco logos. That’s the Friday Feature this week, but next week, I’ve got an interesting little quirk in auto racing memorabilia…stay tuned.

By David G. Firestone

While the preferred autographed item per sport varies, for many sports, the item is obvious. Hockey has pucks, golf has golf balls, baseball has…well, baseballs, other times the autographed item of choice isn’t as obvious. In auto racing there are several items people like to get autographed. These include such things as helmet visors, crew shirts, and hats, but one of the most autographed items by drivers are 1:24 die cast replica cars.

Fans get autographed die casts in one of two ways. The first way is to purchase an unsigned die cast, and have the driver sign it, at a race, signing or sponsor event. The first two examples are Greg Biffle die casts from his days at Roush Racing sponsored by Granger. An employee of Granger was able to get these two die casts signed by Biffle. The first is a Cup Series #16 Ford die cast. The die cast is signed in black, and signed on the hood, as some drivers prefer to hand sign the hood at these events. The second Greg Biffle Granger die cast was also signed at the same event. This die cast is a #60 Roush Ford from the Busch Series. Like the #16, it is also signed on the hood. This is a Ron Capps NAPA 1:24 die cast. I purchased the die cast at the 2013 NHRA Route 66 Nationals, and got it signed by him during Saturday qualifying. Like the previous two, it was signed on the hood area in black ink. The other way fans get autographed die casts is buying them pre-signed. Drivers will sign the windshield, and then it will be added to the die casts. These die casts will come with COA’s. An example is this Carl Edwards #99 UPS die cast. Carl Edwards has signed the die cast windshield in silver ink. This is a Jack Beckman Infinite Hero Challenge Funny Car pre-signed die cast from 2014. Like the Carl Edwards die cast, it is signed on the windshield in silver ink, and comes with authentication. Next week, a video of miscellaneous items in my collections.

Editor’s Note: I have another project to attend to this week, so I’m going to repost a TJ Zizzo feature from last year.

By David G. Firestone

TJ Zizzo is the driver, he’s based in Lincolnshire Illinois, I’m based in Evanston, I’ve purchased a number of items from him.

One of the things that I got was a visor. When I purchased it back in 2014, I’d been wanting to get an NHRA visor from some time, and I got one that had the modification I’ve been seeing. The visor shows some light use. I asked TJ why he had this modification, and he said that he wants to focus on the task at hand. He said that drag racing drivers can notice things, birds, scoreboards, women in the crowd, etc in the car in the moments leading up to the race, and this modification helps the driver by giving him tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is seen by the majority of people as a bad thing, but in something like drag racing, where intense focus for a brief period of time is a mandate, tunnel vision is a good thing. Top fuel dragsters have 10,000 horsepower and can go from 0 to 325 mph in less than 3 seconds. When you are behind the wheel of a car with that much power, you need to focus on the race as much as possible. TJ wears this style of visor because, the less he can see out of the helmet, the more he can focus on the race. TJ even said that this visor is much less covered than his current version, which looks something like this…In 2014, at the U.S. Nationals, TJ suffered a major engine explosion. He still has the blower drive seen flying in the video. I was amazed how heavy it was. He has one shelf in his new shop that has the pieces of the engine, and the damage suffered, from a fan’s stand point. The manifold that blew was made of solid magnesium and was heavy duty. The crankshaft in question was not only broken, but was slightly bent near the break. I wound up getting one of the rear tires from that race. Rear tires from top fuel dragsters are 3 feet tall by 17 inches wide. I’m planning on getting a glass to and making a coffee table at some point. The level of wear on the tires is amazing, with large patches of damage from the explosion. TJ also signed it and personalized it to me! I also got a front tire, which is 22 inches tall, by 3 inches wide. I’m not sure when it was raced, but it does show wear and it has ZIZZO written on the tread. To give an idea the size difference between the two, here are the two of them together in my office…One of my big gets was a TJ Zizzo Peak parachute. Zizzo ran two of these chutes on the back of his dragster from 2010 to 2013., and this example is 12 feet by 12 feet. It shows a decent amount of wear, with stains and holes. There is a hole in the center that allows the chute to be deployed, and there is an inventory tag placed here as well. On the cables connecting the chute to the car, there is some extra protection. This is necessary because on top fuel dragsters, the engine is very close to the parachute attachment, and in the event of a fire, the chute will still be able to function. TJ’s example shows some wear on the silver layer. One thing that a lot of non drag racing fans don’t realize is that many drivers pack their own chutes. Race car drivers are control freaks, and so this makes sense. The logic a few drivers use is that if I mess it up, I don’t have anyone to blame for it except myself.

The pilot chute is attached here as well. Pilot chutes are universally used to deploy parachutes. When the cords are pulled, and the chute is released, the pilot chute deploys, which catches air and pulls the primary chute behind it. The chutes are strapped to a bar at the back of the car, the straps pre-covered in Nomex to prevent fire damage, then packed into a bag, before the race. I’ve discussed the importance of spark plugs, and their prevalence in the auto racing memorabilia market before, so I won’t go into that again. I will show one of TJ Zizzo’s race-used spark plugs, which he managed to autograph. Given the size of the plug, that isn’t easy to sign.Next week, I will discuss autographed die casts.

Editor’s Note: I have another project to attend to this week, so I’m going to repost a TJ Zizzo feature from last year.

By David G. Firestone

TJ Zizzo is the driver, he’s based in Lincolnshire Illinois, I’m based in Evanston, I’ve purchased a number of items from him.

One of the things that I got was a visor. When I purchased it back in 2014, I’d been wanting to get an NHRA visor from some time, and I got one that had the modification I’ve been seeing. The visor shows some light use. I asked TJ why he had this modification, and he said that he wants to focus on the task at hand. He said that drag racing drivers can notice things, birds, scoreboards, women in the crowd, etc in the car in the moments leading up to the race, and this modification helps the driver by giving him tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is seen by the majority of people as a bad thing, but in something like drag racing, where intense focus for a brief period of time is a mandate, tunnel vision is a good thing. Top fuel dragsters have 10,000 horsepower and can go from 0 to 325 mph in less than 3 seconds. When you are behind the wheel of a car with that much power, you need to focus on the race as much as possible. TJ wears this style of visor because, the less he can see out of the helmet, the more he can focus on the race. TJ even said that this visor is much less covered than his current version, which looks something like this…In 2014, at the U.S. Nationals, TJ suffered a major engine explosion. He still has the blower drive seen flying in the video. I was amazed how heavy it was. He has one shelf in his new shop that has the pieces of the engine, and the damage suffered, from a fan’s stand point. The manifold that blew was made of solid magnesium and was heavy duty. The crankshaft in question was not only broken, but was slightly bent near the break. I wound up getting one of the rear tires from that race. Rear tires from top fuel dragsters are 3 feet tall by 17 inches wide. I’m planning on getting a glass to and making a coffee table at some point. The level of wear on the tires is amazing, with large patches of damage from the explosion. TJ also signed it and personalized it to me! I also got a front tire, which is 22 inches tall, by 3 inches wide. I’m not sure when it was raced, but it does show wear and it has ZIZZO written on the tread. To give an idea the size difference between the two, here are the two of them together in my office…One of my big gets was a TJ Zizzo Peak parachute. Zizzo ran two of these chutes on the back of his dragster from 2010 to 2013., and this example is 12 feet by 12 feet. It shows a decent amount of wear, with stains and holes. There is a hole in the center that allows the chute to be deployed, and there is an inventory tag placed here as well. On the cables connecting the chute to the car, there is some extra protection. This is necessary because on top fuel dragsters, the engine is very close to the parachute attachment, and in the event of a fire, the chute will still be able to function. TJ’s example shows some wear on the silver layer. One thing that a lot of non drag racing fans don’t realize is that many drivers pack their own chutes. Race car drivers are control freaks, and so this makes sense. The logic a few drivers use is that if I mess it up, I don’t have anyone to blame for it except myself.

The pilot chute is attached here as well. Pilot chutes are universally used to deploy parachutes. When the cords are pulled, and the chute is released, the pilot chute deploys, which catches air and pulls the primary chute behind it. The chutes are strapped to a bar at the back of the car, the straps pre-covered in Nomex to prevent fire damage, then packed into a bag, before the race. I’ve discussed the importance of spark plugs, and their prevalence in the auto racing memorabilia market before, so I won’t go into that again. I will show one of TJ Zizzo’s race-used spark plugs, which he managed to autograph. Given the size of the plug, that isn’t easy to sign.Next week, I will discuss autographed die casts.

By David G. Firestone

Hailing from Chesapeake, Virginia, Ashton Lewis Jr. was an American driver with a lot of success on road courses. He raced in the Barber Saab Pro Series in 1992, before getting a scholarship in the British Formula Ford Championship. He made his Xfinity Series debut in 1993, and raced until 2006.

In 2004, Ashton raced for Lewis Motorsports, owned by his family. He had a decent season, scoring 3 top 5’s and 8 top 10’s in 34 races. He also finished 6499 of 6684 laps for a lap completed percentage of 97.2%. During that season, one of his crew members wore this Simpson helmet. The helmet is in decent condition, with the radio removed.  The left side shows some scratches.Near the front on the left side is where the microphone was. There are some small holes where it was removed.The front doesn’t have a face shield, but it does have a visor to keep the sun out of the wearer’s eyes.The right side does show some scratches as well.The back has a lot of scratches, and one very large black scuff mark.The top shows some minor scratches.The inside has fire resistant padding, and the radio equipment has been removed. Next week, a Driver Suit Blog favorite returns!

By David G. Firestone

Getting autographs in person, be it at races, conventions, or other signings is fun. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years. I’ve met a lot of athletes in this fashion. For some, autographs are a hobby, for others, they are a business. I personally love collecting autographs.

It’s not uncommon for people to bring items to sports events to sign. Fans bring baseballs to batting practice to get autographs. I’ve done this myself on several occasions. I’ve also brought items to car shows and conventions to get signed. A few years ago, I brought this motorcycle helmet to the NHRA Route 66 Nationals. It was signed by Robby Gordon when I bought it, I still have it and it’s in great condition.The left side is signed by Clay Millican,Tony Schumacher, Tommy Johnson Jr, and Ron Capps. There are no signatures on the front.The right side is signed by Terry McMillian.There are no signatures on the back.It was signed by Robby Gordon when I bought it, and his signature is on the back of the top. At the front of the top is the signature of Shirley Muldowney. The inside of the helmet doesn’t show wear. Ok…with that out of the way, let’s move on to…

TAILGATING TIME!

If you want a delicious, filling recipe that will always go with watching racing, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one than…

Lasagna

8 Servings

Instructions:

1 large finely chopped onions

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 lb ground beef

Black pepper

Oregano

1 28 ounce can Italian-style tomatoes

6 ounces salt-free ketchup

1/3 cup water

1 1/4 lb ricotta cheese

1 8 ounce package lasagna noodles, cooked according to directions

1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced.

1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Instructions:

1-Cook onion and garlic in oil until soft and yellow.

2-Add meat and continue cooking until meat is thoroughly browned

3-Add seasonings, tomatoes, ketchup, and water, and simmer until thickened, about 2 hours.

4-Arrange 1/3 of the cooked noodles in a 13 by 9 1/2 inch baking pan.

5-Top with 1/3 each, mozzarella, ricotta, and meat sauce.

6-Repeat procedure twice.

7-Sprinkle Romano or Parmesan over top layer.

8-Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, cut into squares, and serve.

We’ll stay with the helmet theme for next week.

By David G. Firestone

It’s amazing how many used firesuits are on the market in this day in age. Every one of them tells a story. Some are worn by professional racing champions. Some are worn by weekend warriors. Interestingly, some people who acquire these suits to sell don’t know the true back story behind the suit itself. This week, I will discuss a suit almost identical to last week’s, but with a different back story that is very believable.

While BMW is considered a luxury car brand, they are involved in Australian GT, DTM, IMSA, GT Racing, and FIA Formula E. They have a decent amount of success in the sport, and are a fixture at sports car races around the world. Since they are fielding their own teams, the need for drivers is there. So, like many teams, they field new talent from racing schools such as Skip Barber.

John “Skip” Barber III is a former F1 and SCCA driver.While we won 3 SCCA National Championships in a row, his F1 and IndyCar careers were not stellar. After his racing career ended, he taught four students to race in 1975. 45 years later, Skip Barber Racing Schools owns 130 cars and operates at over 30 tracks over North America. Given the need for racing talent, and the number of different series that BMW races for, it doesn’t seem too far fetched that BMW would work with Skip Barber. That partnership resulted in this single-layer OMP firesuit in decent condition.The collar has a Velcro strap, and an OMP patch on the strap.The cowl has a small flag tag marked 50 sewn into it.The right chest features a BMW logo sewn into it.The left chest is unadorned.The front torso features a black stripe over a red stripe.The suit has an unadorned white belt.The legs are unadorned, and have standard cuffs.The shoulders have black over red stripes. The sleeves have OMP patches sewn into the upper area, but are otherwise unadorned. The back is unadorned.The back of the neck has the warranty label sewn into it.The back torso is unadorned.Next week, I’ll discuss an autographed racing helmet.

By David G. Firestone

It’s amazing how many used firesuits are on the market in this day in age. Every one of them tells a story. Some are worn by professional racing champions. Some are worn by weekend warriors. Interestingly, some people who acquire these suits to sell don’t know the true back story behind the suit itself. This is evident that in the next couple weeks, I’m going to discuss two identical suits with different back stories from the sellers.

One of America’s most well-known sports car races in America is the 12 Hours of Sebring. Located in Sebring, Florida, it was opened on the defunct Hendricks Army Airfield in 1950. The race lasts 12 hours, has several different classes racing, and has had many well-known race winners including Juan Manuel Fangio, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt, Bobby Rahal, Arie Luyendyk, Scott Sharp, Wayne Taylor, and Scott Pruett.

While BMW is considered a luxury car brand, they are involved in Australian GT, DTM, IMSA, GT Racing, and FIA Formula E. They have won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1975, and 1999. At some point in the 1980’s, one of their teams came outfitted in this cream colored single-layer OMP suit. The suit shows some wear, and while I can’t match it 100%, there is an undated photo showing three crew members wearing this same suit design. The collar has a Velcro strap, and an OMP patch on the strap.The cowl has a small unreadable flag tag sewn into it.The right chest features a BMW logo sewn into it.The left chest features GOODYEAR, JEB’S HELMETS, and SKF BEARINGS sewn onto them.The front torso features a black stripe over a red stripe. There is some damage to the red stripe. The suit has an unadorned white belt.The legs are unadorned, and have standard cuffs.The shoulders have black over red stripes. The sleeves have OMP patches sewn into the upper area, but are otherwise unadorned. The back is unadorned.The back of the neck has the warranty label sewn in an off-center manner. The back torso is unadorned.Next week, I’ll discuss an almost identical suit with a different, yet believable back story.