Category: friday feature

By David G. Firestone

Richard Pryor will forever be known as one of the greatest comedians of all time. He started as a clean, middlebrow comic, which was decent, until September 1967, where he walked on stage, exclaimed “What the fuck am I doing here!?” and walked away. This was the jump-start he needed. He started working in profanity, and started doing blue material. This combination, along with a talent for storytelling, raised stand up comedy to a new level. Taboos were broken, lines were crossed, and Richard Pryor became a household name. Pryor’s material was so ahead of its time, that even today, much of what he said on stage still holds up, and is still relevant.

Pryor’s writing talent and acting talent led to television appearances, television shows, movies, and awards. He co-wrote Blazing Saddles, with Mel Brooks, and also won an Emmy for writing a Lily Tomlin special. One of his more serious roles was Wendell Scott in Greased Lightning.

If I told you there was a NASCAR movie written by Melvin Van Peebles, and stars Richard Pryor and Pam Grier, would you believe me? Well the movie does exist. Released in 1977, Greased Lighting is a sports biological film about Wendell Scott, the first African American driver to win in what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

The movie starts off by setting a tone that follows the course of the movie. In Danville, Georgia in the early 1930’s, a young Wendell Scott is challenged to a bike race by some white children. After beating them in the race, and earning their respect, one of them congratulates him with with a racial epithet. The movie then jumps forward to the end of World War II, and Scott comes home from the army.

At a party celebrating his return, he meets Mary Cole, played by Pam Grier. The two fall in love. Mary invites him to dinner at her family’s house. During dinner, he announces he is going to buy a taxicab, and wants to eventually open a garage. Her father asks Wendell if he has any crazy ideas, to which he responds “I want to be a racing champion,” which her father laughs off. After the two are married, the taxi business goes downhill, and Wendell is desperate for money. He witnesses a bootlegger chase, and drives down the driver, asking for a job.

He meets his best friend, who is also working for the bootlegger, and they both start running moonshine. The shine is moving well, the money is good, and Wendell is happy he gets to drive a car for a living. Wendell is so good at driving, that the police spend years trying to catch him. Finally, Wendell is arrested, and while in jail, the local track owner talks with the sheriff, and talks him into a deal. Wendell will race at the local dirt track, and if he finishes the race, Wendell will get probation and a fine. The track owner wants Wendell there because the white drivers will try to kill him, which the white people want to see, and the black people just want to see a black driver race.

The track owner turns the other drivers against Wendell by offering a $25 bounty for the driver that takes him out. Every driver takes him up on it, except one named Hutch. The race starts, the other drivers try to take Wendell out, but he preservers and is given probation. The next race he attempts, he is turned down because of his race.

Eventually he finds a track that will take him, and he finishes 4^th, where he meets up with Hutch. 4^th place earns two steak dinners at a whites-only steakhouse. Wendell and Hutch go there, get their dinners, but are chased out by the locals. Eventually, Hutch joins Wendell’s team as a mechanic. The next race, he finishes first, but racist driver Beau Welles is declared the winner. Wendell is obviously disgusted, and hangs around the track. After a while, one of the officials approaches Wendell and confirms that he did win the race. Wendell demands to know where the trophy, and is told that Beau Welles will give it back.

At a celebratory picnic, Wendell is presented with the trophy, and tells Hutch that there’s an opening at a new race shop. Hutch and Wendell part ways, and Wendell’s career takes off. He is seen racing at many different race tracks, including Talladega, where he is injured in a crash. The crash shown is the actual crash that ended Wendell’s career in real life.

He wakes up in the hospital, where he had a pole inserted into his leg. Mary begs him to retire. He mopes around the house, hearing about how great Beau Welles is as a driver, and decides to enter the “Grand National” at “International Speedway.” Most of his team comes back, the sheriff who wanted him to rot in jail is now the mayor, and he recruits sponsors for Wendell. Wendell’s wife states that she won’t watch him race. Wendell himself visits Beau Welles to try to buy an engine, and meets with Hutch. The two old friends share a few words, and even Beau Welles is cordial to Wendell. Hutch decides to reunite with Wendell’s team.

The Grand National arrives, Wendell is near the back of the pack, Beau Welles is at the front. Just before the race starts, Mary returns. The race starts, and it seems that Wendell is scared, not wanting to race. Eventually, his confidence returns, and he starts passing cars, until he is 2^nd, just behind Beau Welles. Beau and Wendell pit at the exact same time, but Beau leaves first. Wendell drives away, with his right rear wheel not fully tight, and wobbling. The racing is fast, the battle for the lead is great, and eventually Wendell comes out on top, and the movie ends with his family celebrating around him.

This movie is one of the better vintage racing movies I’ve seen. Pryor and Grier’s acting and chemistry are great. Beau Bridges is great as Hutch. Earl Hindman, who will forever be known as Wilson Wilson from Home Improvement gives quite a great performance. There isn’t that much padding, and every scene has relevance. The music and racing scenes work very well, and the race cars look great. All in All, this movie is worth the A I’m giving it.

Next week, a 1990’s NASCAR comedy movie.

By David G. Firestone

Most sports have their own media production company, to produce television or DVDs. NASCAR is no exception having founded the NASCAR Media Group. The NASCAR Media Group has produced many books, television commercials, television programs and DVDs showing the history and the competitors of NASCAR. They are a promotional tool used by NASCAR for self promotion.

One of the DVDs that they produced in 2009 was NASCAR Presents Greatest Finishes & Dominators. This single DVD contains NASCAR Presents Greatest Dominators and NASCAR Presents Greatest Finishes. These are two 37 minute long specials which could have aired on television at some point. The DVD also has 60 minute long versions of the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.

NASCAR Presents Greatest Finishes features a group of picks for the 10 greatest race finishes in NASCAR history. Their picks are:

10-1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500-Jeff Gordon Wins the Winston Million beating Jeff Burton

9-1999 Goody’s Headache Powder 500-Dale Earnhardt is racing for the win. He gets into the back of Terry Labonte, and spins him out, and collects the win.

8-2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500-Kevin Harvick wins a close finish against Jeff Gordon, his first race in what used to be Dale Earnhardt’s car.

7-1992 The Winston-Kyle Petty wrecks Dale Earnhardt to set up a close finish with Davey Allison. Allison would win, but the two cars wrecked, and Davey had to be flown to a hospital.

6-1992 Hooters 500-In the final race of the 1992 season, Bill Elliot, Davey Allison, and Alan Kulwicki were each racing for the championship. Davey Allison got wrecked by Ernie Irvan, and Alan Kulwicki would go on to win the 1992 Championship. Factor in the fact that this was Richard Petty’s last race, and Jeff Gordon’s first, and you have a race for the ages.

5-2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400-The then closest finish in NASCAR history saw Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch in a frantic and physical race to the finish by 0.002 seconds.

4-1986 Miller High Life 400-Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt had a battle for the lead, which saw both drivers wreck, and Kyle Petty winning. Both cars were destroyed, Earnhardt had to pay $10,000,($29,284.19 today) had his neck broken, and was suspended for his actions.

3-1984 Firecracker 400-With President Reagan traveled to Daytona to watch the Firecracker 400. The race came down to Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough race for the checkered flag. Petty would win his 200th, after a wreck forced a late race caution.

2-1979 Daytona 500-Considered the most important race in NASCAR history. Broadcast nationwide by CBS, the race came down to a two car battle for the lead formed between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough in the closing laps. The two would wreck, and Richard Petty would win the race. A legendary fist fight between Allison and Yarborough took place in the infield, which made the front page of the New York Times sports section, thus bringing NASCAR into the national picture.

1-1976 Daytona 500-David Pearson had finished second to Richard Petty in the Daytona 500 on several occasions. In 1976. Pearson would finally get the better of Petty in a legendary wreck, where Pearson limped across victory lane with both cars destroyed.

I can’t say I disagree with their choices, they are all great finishes. They feature some of the greatest drivers in the sport. This is the better of the two features because everything about the program is good. The narration, editing, interviews, and music are all great. NASCAR Presents Greatest Finishes is a great production.

The same cannot be said for NASCAR Presents Greatest Dominators features the top 10 NASCAR Dominators. They are:

10-Rusty Wallace

9-Bill Elliott

8-Lee Petty

7-Darrell Waltrip

6-David Pearson

5-Cale Yarborough

4-Tim Flock

3-Jeff Gordon

2-Dale Earnhardt

1-Richard Petty

The first issue here is that THEY PUT THE LIST ON THE BACK OF THE DVD COVER! Who thought it would be a good idea to spoiler alert the outcome on the back of the DVD cover? I should purchase the DVD to see who made the list, but they couldn’t get that right.

NASCAR Presents Greatest Dominators is also quite dated. The DVD depicts Dale Jr. in Budweiser gear, Jimmie Johnson is never mentioned, the Gen 4 car is the newest car racing, and Rusty Wallace hasn’t retired yet. Another thing is that Cale Yarborough is lauded as being the only driver to win three championships in a row, and the point is driven that this will probably never happen again. This might not seem that bad, but again, it was released in 2009, AFTER JIMMIE JOHNSON HAD WON HIS THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP IN A ROW.

With that out of the way, NASCAR Presents Greatest Dominators is a mediocre showing. The structure for how the segments work is non-existent. Some segments run longer than others, and there are long awkward pauses for no reason. The music is decent though, and I do like the showing footage on vintage stock cars. Ken Squier’s narration is amazing, but Ken Squier could read the legalities of a mortgage, and make it sound amazing.

The two races, the 2007 Daytona 500 and the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, are trimmed down versions of the telecasts, but they are decent, and show some great racing action. I’m a fan of these kinds of things. The DVD is worth it for that alone. The top 10 list thing has been done better, but the races are worth the price of the DVD. Across the board, I’m giving this a B-. It’s decent, some parts are worth the money, other parts aren’t.

Next week, another vintage stock car racing movie.

By David G. Firestone

Before there was Talladega Nights, there was Days of Thunder. Before Days of Thunder, there was The Last American Hero. Directed by Emmy Award winning director Lamont Johnson, The Last American Hero is loosely based on the life of NASCAR Hall of Famer Junior Johnson. The Last American Hero is the name of an essay written by Tom Wolfe that appeared in Esquire Magazine, and was also released in “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.”

The movie starts off with Jeff Bridges playing Elroy Jackson, Jr., who is called “Junior Jackson.” He is a hot shot moonshine runner, who gets his father arrested and his family still blown up because of his hot shot driving. In order to pay for his father’s legal bills and provide for his family, Junior decides to become a racing driver. First, he places third in a demolition derby, where he adds a spear to the front of his car. After that, he decides to try stock car racing.

He races in a number of dirt track races in Concord, North Carolina After winning a number of races, he gets in a fight, where the track promoter gets hurt, and tries to blackball him. Junior travels to Hickory, where he works his way into a race, but his car fails him, and he doesn’t finish the race. When he gets to the speedway, he meets Marge, an attractive woman who takes a liking to him, as she does a lot of race car drivers. A country boy trying to adapt to city life,the pressure of providing for his family and racing takes its toll on him. He is approached by Burton Colt, a team owner with an offer to drive, but he declines.

After his dad is released from jail, he scolds Junior about wanting to work in moonshine. Junior reconsiders the offer, and races one race for Burton. In the climatic scene, Junior ignores the orders from the team, and ends up winning the race. The movie ends with Marge leaving, and Junior going into the VIP area for a press conference.

The movie was a box office bomb, making $1,250,000 on a $2,130,000 budget. The movie is best remembered for the theme song “’I’ve Got a Name” by Jim Croce. In fact, the theme song is really one of the best parts of the movie. The Last American Hero had a decent plot, and really good acting. The cars and racing scenes all look good. Jeff Bridges is really strong in this movie, as are most of the other actors.

The movie could have been much better, but there are quite a few things that bring it down. There is way too much padding in the movie. There is a sequence that takes place at a K-Mart, where Junior tries to call home, but nobody answers. He then sees a booth to make your own record. He records a rambling message to his family, and then walks away. This scene is completely pointless, and could be edited out, and the movie wouldn’t lose anything.

The “romance” that takes place between Junior and Marge is even worse. It’s established quickly that Marge is a race car driver groupie, who will sleep with any and all race car drivers she comes across. The romantic subplot is a waste of time, and it heads nowhere. While all of the characters are somewhat deep, Marge is as two dimensional as it gets. She’s as shallow as a parking lot puddle, and really unlikable.

The ending almost seems as though there was more about to happen. The last scene features Burton and Junior haggling over a racing contract, and then Junior heads into the VIP room. The credits roll, fade to black. This seems like there was another scene that needed to take place, but that scene was either never shot, or edited out. It’s a really odd ending, that leaves a few plot lines unfinished.

All in all, it’s mediocre at best. It’s got a few good things, but overall, it could be a lot better. I’m going to give this movie a C-. Not disastrous, but a lot of room for improvement.

Next week, Wheel Reviews continues with a NASCAR DVD set.

By David G. Firestone

The racing season is over, holiday music is playing in stores, we’ve all had our fill of turkey, and the Driver Suit Blog Paint Scheme Review Committee has met again. This time, I’ve added a third member, Lucy the beagle, in addition to Alejandro the cat. After extensive meetings, we have come to our conclusions for the Leaderboard ranking for Chevy’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series paint schemes. So, without further ado, here we go!

#1-Beard Motorsports #75 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

Beard Motorsports has had a great year, in terms of paint schemes. They have run two races, had two A schemes, and earned a perfect 4 for the year.

#2-Hendrick Motorsports #5 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 11 of 24

While the Farmer’s Insurance and Great Clips schemes are meh at best, Kasey ran a series of A schemes for most of the year. He finishes the year with a respectable average in terms of grades.

#3-Circle Sport/TMG #33 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

Cirlce Sport/TMG had a slew of great schemes for almost all of the year. They all had great A looks…except for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scheme which earned a solid F. This not only knocked out of the first place spot, but down surprisingly lower than what they should have been.

#4-Richard Childress Racing #27 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: of 24

The 2017 Menard’s template has worked very well, with the exception of Knauf, Sylvania, and Jack Links Beef Jerkey. This is another instance of 3 schemes derailing what could have been a perfect season for 2017.

#5-JTG Daugherty Racing #37 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

While the #37 team had a lot of A’s and no really bad schemes, the lower graded schemes took the whole grade from a great position to a dull position. Still, they didn’t get lower than a C, and their GPA was decent enough.

#6-Premium Motorsports #55 Chevy SS/Toyota Camry Rank Last Year: 2 of 24

Aside from Low T, Star Com Fiber, Wind River, the #55 has had a very solid showing in 2017, with a lot of A schemes.

#7-JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 3 of 24

The #47 had a solid B+ year, and with an A graded throwback, they had a good solid showing in 2017. The Kroger looks were all great in 2017, and the throwback is amazing.

#8-Chip Ganassi Racing #1 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 22 of 24

The #1 had a varried season in 2017. They had a decent amount of A’s, but with the number of B and C level grades, it took what could have been a perfect year down to a decent year.

#9-Rick Ware Racing #51 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

Rick Ware Racing has a lot of one and two race sponsors, and, as is prone to happening, the grades for these schemes are varied. However, overall, there are a lot of A’s, and only one really bad grade. But with all the grades averaged, the final rank is much lower than it could have been.

#10-Richard Childress Racing #31 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 12 of 24

The #31 has a lot of different schemes, which have been everything from bad to amazing. While no single scheme has received an F, the Okuma scheme did get a D grade, and the rest of the grades were all over the map in between. The final average is much lower than it could have been.

#11-Premium Motorsports #15 Chevy SS/Toyota Camry Rank Last Year: NA

Low T is a bad scheme, and Michael Waltrip’s D- Aaron’s scheme completely derailed an almost perfect season for paint schemes. The #15 had many one and two race sponsors, but they were almost all great. The #15 could have been higher, if not for the two low scores.

#12-Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 19 of 24

NAPA has a much better look, the Kelly Blue Book and Mountain Dew schemes work very well. The Hooters scheme left a lot of room for improvement, and the Sun Energy scheme is still a disaster. It’s sad the Hooters, and Sun Energy derailed what could have been a great season for the #24.

#13-Leavine Family Racing #95 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 17 of 24

WRL Contractors was awful. Race Wipes, and Devour Frozen Meals were mediocre at best. The rest of the schemes were great. Adding up and averaging the grades from all of the schemes takes what could have been a great season down to a mediocre season.

#14-Richard Childress Racing #3 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 16 of 24

The grades for the #3 were all over the place, with a number of Dow schemes working well, to other Dow schemes not working as well. #3 cars tended to be over designed in 2017, and the lower ranking is evidence of this.

#15-Germain Racing #13 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 23 of 24

Geico Military was the only blemish on the #13’s season. They had 3 A grades, Geico, Twisted Tea, and the Smokey Yunick Throwback. The branded camouflage scheme doesn’t work very well at all. It took a solid A down to a solid C.

#16-Hendrick Motorsports #88 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 10 of 24

Axalta had a series of really bad schemes this year. Mountain Dew-S-A was meh, and the rest of the schemes were great. Every other scheme was great, but the law of averages strike again. A great season derailed by a few bad apples.

#17-Tommy Baldwin Racing #7 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 18 of 24

Tommy Baldwin had 4 A schemes, but the other 4 schemes were either C or D schemes. Averaged out, they had a very low score this year.

#18-TriStar Motorsports #72 Chevy SS/Ford Fusion Rank Last Year: NA

I still hate the door numbers, but TriStar made it work. Many of the schemes range from decent to awful. They had many one and two race sponsors, but unlike Premium, weren’t able to make their schemes work as well, and the overall rankings took a major hit.

#19-Gaunt Bros Racing #96 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NAA B+ and a C- for their two schemes do not add up to a great average. It was a meh year for a part-time team.

#20-Chip Ganassi Racing #42 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 13 of 24

The phrase “all over the map” accuratly describes the year that the #42 had. They had everything from high graded beauty, to low level messes. The grades were averaged, and the final grade is a meh grade, to say the least.

#21-MBM Motorsports #66 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

Three bad schemes, a meh scheme, and a great scheme add up to a low ranking. Carl Long’s return to the Cup Series had a really blah season, both aesthetically, and on track.

#22-Star Com Racing #00 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: NA

A single C rated scheme for this late season entry by Derrike Cope. I don’t hate the scheme, but I don’t love it either. It’s a very forgettable scheme, that could have been a lot better.

#23-Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevy SS Rank Last Year: 21 of 24

The #48 was either feast or famine. The schemes earned either F’s or A’s, but more F’s than A’s average out to a D grade average, the worst of 2017, both for Chevy’s teams and the Cup Series as a whole.

So that is Chevy’s rankings for 2017. Next Week, the Driver Suit Blog Paint Scheme Review Committee will release their rankings for Ford.

By David G. Firestone

With the month of November, and the 2017 racing season behind us, I’m happy to present the 4^th Annual Driver Suit Blog Paint Schemie Awards! Regular readers know about this, but I’ll discuss this again. Every year, I pick the best and worst paint schemes and award them the Paint Schemie. This was done using the Driver Suit Blog executive committee for paint scheme analysis and consists of me and Driver Suit Blog assistant, my cat Alejandro, and uses the following standards:

Color Scheme:How the colors look, and how they work with each other.

Overall Design:How good the design itself looks, is there too much, or not enough.

Primary Sponsor Logos: How the primary sponsor logos look on the car

Originality: How original is the scheme.

All of the above can work for or against a scheme, and all will be taken into consideration.

Let’s get the bad paint scheme awards out of the way.First, the Paint Schemie Award for Worst Regular Season Single Paint Scheme .

The nominees are:

Ty Dillon13 Geico Military Chevy SS

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Sunny D Ford Fusion

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry

Matt Kenseth #20 Tide Pods Toyota Camry

Chase Elliott #24 Sun Energy Chevy SS

Matt DiBenedetto #32 Can Am/Kappa Ford Fusion

The 2017 Paint Schemie Award for Worst Regular Season Single Paint Scheme goes to:

Chase Elliott #24 Sun Energy Chevy SS

The next award is for Worst Paint Scheme Set, meaning the team that is running consistently bad schemes all year. The nominees are:

Starcom Racing #00 Chevy SS

Stewart-Haas Racing #10 Ford Fusion

Go Fas Racing #32 Ford Fusion

Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevy SS

Furniture Row Racing #77 Toyota Camry

BK Racing #83 Toyota Camry

The The winner of the Award For Worst Scheme Set of 2017 goes to…

Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevy SS

The next Paint Schemie Award is for Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes. This category is a little different, as the Schemies will go to the best and worst throwback. For this category, all exhibition race and throwback paint schemes qualify automatically.

The 2017 Paint Schemie Award for Worst Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes goes to…

Gray Gaulding #23 Bubba Burger Toyota Camry

Now after talking about the bad, we discuss the good. Here are the winners in the best category…First, the Paint Schemie Award for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme.

The nominees for the 2017 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme are:

Jamie McMurray #1 McDonald’s Chevy SS

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry

Matt Kenseth #20 PEAK Antifreeze Toyota Camry

Ryan Blaney #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion

Chase Elliott #24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy SS

The 2017 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme goes to…

Ryan Blaney #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion

The next category is Paint Schemie Award is for Best Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes, and it should come as no surprise that the competition was strong this year.

The 2017 Paint Schemie Award for Best Throwback Scheme of 2017 goes to…

Austin Dillon #3 American Ethanol Throwback Chevy SS

The final award of 2017 is the Paint Schemie for Best Paint Scheme Set of 2017. The nominees are:

Hendrick Motorsports #5 Chevy SS

Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Toyota Camry

Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford Fusion

Stewart-Haas Racing #41

Premium Motorsports #55 Toyota Camry/Chevy SS

Beard Racing #75 Chevy SS

The 2017 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Paint Scheme Set goes to…

Beard Racing #75 Chevy SS

That’s it for the Schemies, next week, the Paint Scheme Leaderboard begins with Chevy!

By David G. Firestone

Our last Friday Feature for Minor League Month is a continuation of what I started last week. Last week, I examined a driver suit worn by Center Line Wheels founder Ray Lipper. While the suit was an interesting find, it was only part of a larger uniform set. This week, I will examine the rest of the contents of the uniform set. This has to be the most comprehensive uniform set I have ever seen.

There is a black restraint harness included, which shows some light wear. There is also a set of orange Simpson gloves, both of which show heavy wear on the palms. Ray also wore these white Simpson racing shows, both of which show heavy wear. The right show has a tear in it, and the left shoe has some damage. The soles have dirt caked in them. This white balaclava was also worn, though there is no indication of who made it. This Linea Sport Nomex undershirt, which is thick and shows a lot of use is included in the lot. I’ve been trying to find out information about Linea Sport, but I’ve had no luck. This Italian-made pair of long-johns shows decent wear, as per the shirt, but are not as heavy as the shirt. This is a pair of black Nomex socks. They have no manufacturer indicated, and one is deformed from them being in a ball for some time. Moving on from the uniform elements, the lot also comes with a number of miscellaneous items.Race cars tend to be very loud, so Ray wore this par of earplugs, complete with original box. Cadillac Shoe Products has no affiliation with the Cadillac automobile company. This pair of black Cadillac shoe laces came with the set. This set of (presumably) car keys was used by Lipper at some point.A small, orange Snell Sport Vynl folder is included, and the contents of which are very interesting. This is a paper race result from the 1980 SCCA Formula Super Vee USA Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship. One of the Gold Cup race took place at Watkins Glen on July 5, 1980. Lipper finished 16th, driving a Super Vee. He won $250 for his efforts.In preparation for a race at what is now Sonoma Raceway, Lipper hand drew this map of the track, and added notes as to what he should do in the car while driving in that area.This is a map of Watkins Glen, both the track, and the way to the track. It shows a lot of wear. In addition to racing in the United States, Lipper also raced in New Zealand. This is Lipper’s Motorsports Association of New Zealand(MANZ) license. The Manawatu Car Club is New Zealand’s oldest car club. Lipper was a part of it in 1982, and this is his member ticket. While Center Line Wheels may not be an independent company anymore, their lineage lives on. Ray Lipper has retired, both from Center Line and Racing. He’s been inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame, and is another example of what makes racing great. He’s a businessman who races to help promote his company.

It’s that time of year again…next week…THE PAINT SCHEMIES!

By David G. Firestone

Minor League Month continues, and this week is the first of two articles about a business man who raced to help promote his business.

In April of 2017, Center Line Wheels ceased production after 47 years. In August of 2017, the company was acquired by Corona, California based wheel manufacturer Design Infini. During those 47 years, Center Line had been a well-known aftermarket wheel rim company, which made high performance rims. Since Center Line had been a performance wheel company, it makes sense that they had been involved in motorsports, including supplying wheels to racing teams, as well as sponsoring teams.

Center Line was founded as the Center Line Tool Corporation in 1970 by Ray Lipper. Lipper saw the need for a good performance rim, and soon the company started focusing only on wheels. Lipper was also an avid racer, and raced in SCCA, and CART. His time in CART was not successful, with a DNS at the Phoenix race, and was one of 47 drivers not to qualify for the 1982 Indianapolis 500. He was elected to the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2002. During his racing career, he wore this racing uniform.

The uniform set, which is one of the most comprehensive I have ever seen, includes a suit, gloves, shoes, an undershirt, long johns, a harness, and some other miscellaneous stuff. We’ll look at the other stuff next week, this week, we will focus on the white Simpson driver suit, which shows some light use, and is very thick, and heavy duty.The collar has a Velcro-closure, with no adornment.The cowl tag is an older Simpson warranty label, used into the late 1980’s.While there is no large sponsor patch on the torso, there are a number of smaller patches on the chest and torso. On the right side, there is an older VALVOLINE logo, RAY LIPPER embroidered in a patch, a SIMPSON patch next to the name, and a WATKINS GLEN US GRAND PRIX patch below that.The left side of the front has CART,CENTER LINE RACING WHEELS,SCCA,ROAD AMERICA CAN AM 1981 CHICAGO REGION SCCA,and VW MOTORSPORT patches sewn into it.The suit features an unadorned white belt.The legs have a red stripe running up the white material, and have standard cuffs.The shoulders have red stripes that extend down to the cuff of the sleeves, and white straps that would be used to pull the driver out of the car in case of a fire. The right sleeve has a UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB patch, and has the red stripe extending to the cuff. The left sleeve features a SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS patch, as well as a PPG INDUSTRIES patch.The back of the suit doesn’t show any wear to speak of.The back of the neck is unadorned.The upper back of the suit has a large GOODYEAR patch sewn into it.Ray Lipper is an automotive engineer who has raced all over the world. He was just as focused on racing as he was on making quality wheels. Next week, I will examine the rest of the uniform set.