Category: friday feature

By David G. Firestone

This is the final installment of The Vest Project. I know, I’m happy too. I enjoyed this when I started, but now I’m glad it’s over; I promise that you won’t see the word “vest” on this blog for a long time after this post. The three-piece firesuit is a quirk of racing suit design that made sense, but never really caught on.

This last vest is from The Sprint Cup Series, and is the only vest I’ve come across from the Cup Series. It was from BAM Racing in 2006. BAM stands for Beth Ann Morgenthau, the owner of the team. Their racing team started in 2001 racing Fords part time. In 2002, they switched to Dodge, which they raced until they folded in 2008. Their driver lineup included Ken Schrader, 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, and former Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday. Though they had 3 top 10’s with Schrader over the course of three seasons, 2003, 2004, and 2005, they never scored a top 5, or a win.

2006 would be a forgettable year for BAM Racing. Though they tried to start 33 races out of the 36 race season, they failed to qualify for 8 of them, and the ones that they did qualify for. One of the four drivers that raced for BAM was former US Air Force E-3 AWACS Air Surveillance Technician Brent Sherman. As his Air Force career is winding down, Sherman went to the Jim Russell Racing School in Sonoma, California, and eventually won a scholarship to race. He has raced in Indy Lights, ARCA, and NASCAR. He won an ARCA race, the 2006 Hantz Group 200 at Michigan. He raced 6 races in 2006 for BAM Racing, and tried to qualify for two more, with his dedicated sponsor Serta Mattresses. During those 8 races, a crew member wore this Simpson vest.Issued to a crew member named B Benton, the vest shows light use.

The collar has no logos on them. The old Simpson warranty label is sewn into the cowl, along with an identification tag stating that the vest is issued to B Benton. Benton is also written on the tag in Sharpie. The right chest features a NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES logo, a SIMPSON logo, and a GOODYEAR logo present.The left chest features a BAM RACING logo and a Dodge logo.The front torso has a SERTA logo embroidered in white and yellow in the blue background material.The bottom hems don’t feature comfort straps, unlike Impact vests. The shoulder epaulets feature Simpson logos, but are otherwise unadorned.  The back of the vest doesn’t show any real wear.The back of the neck is unadorned, but just below the neck, there is WWW.BAM49RACING.COM embroidered into it.The back torso features a SERTA logo above a BAM RACING logo. That’s it! The Vest Project is officially over! I don’t have to discuss vests anymore! Next Week, I’m going to discuss a form of trophy that all drivers want and often get!

By David G. Firestone

Not all drivers are full-time drivers. There are many drivers in many national racing series who have real jobs, but race because they love to race. NHRA Pro Stock driver V Gaines races his shark-toothed Dodge Dart on weekends, but for the remainder of the week, he is Vieri Gaines, and he is the CEO of Western Distributing Transportation Corporation. Another example is Matt Hagans, who raced in ARCA, ASA, and NASCAR, but is also the owner of Indianapolis-based Eagle Creek Aviation Services.

Eagle Creek Aviation Services is a private aircraft sales and service company founded in 1982. Since then, they have become a national company, with a number of locations across the country. Hagans has built the business well, and has a lot of dedicated customers. He has built his business, and earned his wealth. He enjoys racing stock cars in his spare time.

Although he has worked with fellow businessman turned enthusiast Todd Braun for a few races, most of his races were with his own team and his own sponsorship. As he bounced around in ARCA, racing in a few events each season over the course of 5 years, raced in 20 events. During those seasons, one of his crew members wore this very plain Impact size M vest.The vest shows light use, not uncommon for a vest used for as few as 20 races.

The collar has no logos of any kind, nor is there a cowl tag present. Though the vest would have been used during his ARCA racing, there are no logos of any kind on the chest areas. The only logo of any kind on this vest is a large HAGANS RACING logo, which, for some reason, is blue on a slightly lighter shade of blue.The warranty label is located next to the zipper inside the vest, behind the front logo.The all-familiar comfort straps are present on the sides of the hem. The shoulders have epaulets, that aside from Impact logos are unadorned. The standard vest sleeve holes are present as well. The back of the vest doesn’t show wear, and has no logos of any kind on it at all. Over 13 different articles thus far, The Vest Project has covered a number of different vests, and the issues surrounding them, and pit crew firesuits as well. We’ve covered vests from the Camping World Truck Series, and The Xfinity Series, but next week, for the final article in The Vest Project, we go to The Sprint Cup!

 

By David G. Firestone

I had planned for the continuation of The Vest Project with an ARCA vest, but I’m going to hold off on that, because I’ve decided to go in a different direction this week. As my annual summer sabbatical comes to an end, I look back at the month of fun that I’ve had. Sadly, I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to do, because of weather issues, it was either too hot or full on thunderstorms. But I did get to have some fun.

My good buddy Josh came in, and my old clique from high school got together again for the first time in two years. I’m gonna say that I miss all of the guys getting together and hanging out. One of the things we made a point to do was to go to The Emporium, which is a vintage video game arcade and bar. All the games run on tokens, and each game is one token. If you are in the Chicago area, I suggest you take a visit, it’s worth it.

As I mentioned, I went to the Route 66 Nationals on Saturday July 9, and had a great time. In fact, that’s how a lot of my vacation time was spent, relaxing, and watching racing. The weather was very hot, so hot, that taking the dog for a walk at some points was a risky proposition. Lucy is a very timid creature, and I didn’t want to expose her for too long. So I had a few projects I had to slash, at least for the time being. Other times, thunderstorms dominated the weather, which kept my video feed busy.

I also did a couple box breaks,

and something…well I like it.

I did get a chance to take some pictures with my new camera, but due to a number of issues, such as heat, and restrictions due to events, I didn’t get anywhere near the photos I wanted. One thing I did do was pay attention to racing merchandise. I’ve been following sports and collecting sports stuff my whole life. I’ve seen the merchandise booth take many different forms, and have many different aspects. Officially licensed merchandise has gotten bigger over the years, and I’m not even going to talk about unofficial stuff. It’s not that often I see an officially licensed item that just makes my head hurt, but I’ve found something that has.

In the internet age, people are realizing that there are items for sale that they never knew they wanted. Sports fans are a very easy group to sell something to, in that they will buy most anything with their team logo on it. NASCAR fans are no different. Fans want stuff specific to their favorite driver. NASCAR’s online store is marketing this. It’s a race-used piston rod, with no indication as to which driver used it. You don’t know who used it…so why have it? The whole point of the race-used hobby is that fans can buy stuff used by their favorite driver and his team. Having a generic “race-used” item defeats the purpose of race-used memorabilia entirely. You don’t know which driver used it, you don’t know which team it came from, and you begin to question if it is authentic. Let me pay $70 for something I can’t prove is real…yeah, that’s a good deal.

While the piston rod is generic to the point of absurdity, the polar opposite is true for this Kyle Busch train set. For $299 plus shipping, you have an O-scale engine, three cars, and a caboose, all decked out in Kyle’s #18 paint scheme. As a bonus, the train also has two 1:64 die cast cars. That’s were things get interesting, since O-scale in model railroad translates to 1:48 to 1:43.5, depending on location, in the US it’s an even 1:48. To put it simply, you have a 1:48 train pulling a pair of 1:64 die cast cars. Scale be damned, we have sales to make! If Lionel’s creative team had more sense, they would have the train pull two 1:48 scale cars, which not only would be to perfect scale, but would create a rarer, more desirable version of the car, thus creating incentive for more collectors to buy it.

While those two are amazing, the item that gobsmacked me it this: Yes, that’s an autograph funny car, nothing really unusual about that…but what’s that logo on the front? For reasons I can’t understand, the NHRA decided to license A PLAIN WHITE CAR WITH NO LOGOS! Why? Why would you officially license something that is unpainted, and can’t in any way be connected to your brand? I can’t wrap my arms around this. While I have seen other examples, those do have official logos actually on the car. But looking at the back of the box gets even more entertaining. Ford has used the Mustang for their run in the NHRA, yet for whatever reason, the trademark on the bottom states it a TARUS, despite the fact it’s clearly modeled after a Mustang. Even so, using model names is a moot point, since nowhere on the car does it say anything about what model the car actually is. Nowhere on the car does it say that this is a Ford, nor does it say what model it is. Never mind the fact that it also lists Motorcraft and Areomax as trademarks, which, again, aren’t present on the car in any way. At least Goodyear’s logos are on the tires, so I can give them a pass.

This was made in 2002, which Ertl and Racing Champions were focusing more on quality than quantity in their racing die casts for the first time in the history of ever. Anyone who bought racing die casts in the 1990’s could go to Toys R Us, or Target, or Venture, and buy these for $1. Granted there were better options which were pricier, and Dale Earnhardt isn’t a part of these sets, but they were the cheap kids toys of the die cast market. But when you are trying to give the impression of quality, releasing an unpainted car that is for some reason officially licensed, and has the wrong model on the box doesn’t exactly scream quality goods.

This wouldn’t really work anyway, as the gloss coating increases the chance of the signature smudging before it dries, which when you are a little kid getting autographs from drivers, is a fate worse than death. A matte finish would be much better, and it would be easier to sign at an event. How over-budget and desperate for sales was Ertl that they decided to save the Chinese workers a half-step, and not apply decals, and package and sell this as an autograph car? I would seriously love to know who came up with that, and how it got to the shelves.

As idiotic as this is, they missed a great chance to make this an awesome product. Here is what you would have to do. Change the packaging from “autograph car” to “paint your own car” and add some paints and stickers. If you gave kids the chance to paint their own unique car, without the hassle of having to build the model first, this would be a gem. Even modern autograph cars make it clear that they are good for customization, and this one has official logos painted on the car. Then again, what more should be expected of a toy company that advertised its die cast tractors more than anything else?

Ok, we got off track(pun intended) and next week, that ARCA vest.

[Editor’s Note: I will be on vacation for all of July. I will continue the Vest Project as the Friday Feature while I’m away, as well as videos and Throwback Thursday. Once I get back in August, I’ll do My Thoughts on, and update the Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades.]

By David G. Firestone

Marketing can be hit or miss. Some marketing ideas might seem great, but backfire horrible. Some marketing ideas might seem horrible and work well. Sometimes marketing ideas work, and sometimes they don’t. Auto racing is a good strategy for marketing, because it brings in more people, and gives you a great promotional tool, which can bring in revenue. Your car can be made into a die cast, and sold, which will bring revenue, along with t-shirts, hats, coozies, and other such track souvenirs. Your driver will promote you while racing for the checkered flag.

While auto racing might seem like a top hit, sometimes a marketing idea comes along that just takes a great promotional tool, and takes it down to to a horrible one. The 1957 Chevy nonsense is a great example. Another good example that a lot fewer people remember is the 6 Hungry Drivers nonsense from 2005.

For those who don’t remember, from 1992 to 1999, Ray Evernham was Jeff Gordon’s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports. They had previously worked together at Bill Davis Racing, even though the team hated Evernham. When Jeff Gordon joined Hendrick, Evernham joined him. Together, they won 47 of Jeff’s 93 wins, and 3 of his 4 Sprint Cup Championships. This partnership ended in 1999, when Evernham left Hendrick to pursue his own team, Evernham Motorsports.

Evernham Motorsports was actually a pretty decent on-track success, with 13 Sprint Cup Wins, 66 top 5’s, and 123 top 10’s. In the Xfinity Series, they had 5 wins, 13 top 5’s and 28 top 10’s. In 2005, they were sponsored by Unilever’s brand line, which includes Ragu, Country Crock Spread, Lipton Tea, and, of course, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise. Many of these sponsors were on car #6, and there were 6 different drivers who raced under this sponsorship, Paul Wolfe, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Wallace, Kasey Kahne, Erin Crocker, and Bill Elliott. For this line of sponsorship, Someone came up with the bright idea to have “6 Hungry Drivers” as the slogan for this group of drivers.

There is no better way to say that a team isn’t going to do well than saying “We have six different drivers who are hungry, since they haven’t found any on-track success at all, so don’t expect a lot from us” than using 6 Hungry Drivers. Of those six, Mike Wallace had a top 5, and two top 10’s, Paul Wolfe found a top 10, as did Jeremy Mayfield. The star standout was Kasey Kahne, who was really hungry, earning a win, three top 5’s and three top 10’s. Granted that not all of them came for the #6, but he really was hungry. For the races that these six drivers raced, this Hellmann’s Mayonnaise vest was produced.The vest itself shows some use, albeit light use.

The collar has black DODGE logos on the yellow material. I’ve also noticed the black internal material which I haven’t seen that much in racing suits.The right chest sports NASCAR BUSCH SERIES and VALVOLINE logos.On the left chest, 6 HUNGRY DRIVERS, DODGE, and ALLSTATE INSURANCE logos have been placed.A large HELLMANN’S logo is present on the front torso, along with some odd blue striping.The Simpson warranty label is present inside the vest, behind the main logo, next to the zipper. There is an identification label, but that is in a different location.Unlike later models, this early Simpson vests sports comfort straps. Also unlike later models there is an identity tag…in the tail, as opposed to next to the warranty label. The name TOOD D is written in Sharpie, but no date has been written.The shoulders have yellow epaulets, which are unadorned. The standard vest sleeve-holes are present as well. The back of the vest shows some light wear.The back of the neck sports an Evernham Motorsports logo.The back logo features a HELLMANN’S logo, along with the same odd blue stripe, though in reverse.The 6 Hungry Drivers promotion was a bad idea from the start, and it didn’t last past 2005. Evernham Motorsports didn’t last much longer. In 2007, George N. Gillett Jr. bought a stake in the team, and the team became Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The team lasted until 2009, when it was bought by a new team, and both Evernham and Gillett left the team, thus leaving Richard Petty Motorsports.

Next week, I return from my vacation, I will bring back My Thoughts On, the Paint Scheme Grades and the Paint Scheme Tracker.  Also we will look at a vest from the true definition of a home-grown team.

[Editor’s Note: I will be on vacation for all of July. I will continue the Vest Project as the Friday Feature while I’m away, as well as videos and Throwback Thursday. Once I get back in August, I’ll do My Thoughts on, and update the Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades.]

By David G. Firestone

Last week I discussed a vest with a small-time sponsor, this week we’re going bigger. Founded in 1923, Arkansas Best started with humble origins as a local freight hauler. As time progressed, ABF became bigger, and has gone from a local hauler based in Fort Smith, Arkansas to a large global shipping force. A few employees have grown to over 10,000, and a few thousand dollars have turned in to over a $1 billion.

Like many shipping companies, ABF has had to deal with bad economies, and increased completion. Also, they have turned to auto racing sponsorship to increase promotion, and gain attention. While they were never seen in the Sprint Cup, they did get a decent amount of exposure in the Xfinity Series for, of course, Braun Racing.

ABF’s sponsorship goes back to 2008, where they raced a number of different races for several different drivers. They left in 2009, but made a return in 2010, and 2011 between drivers James Buescher, and Jason Leffler. Lefler raced 7 races with ABF on the car, and had 2 top 5’s and 5 top 10’s in 2010. Buescher raced 4 races and had a top 10 in 2011. For those races, a large crew member with the nickname “Poptart” was issued this Impact size 2XL vest as a part of a three-piece crew suit.The vest shows some light use, not shocking, given that it was used for 12 races in 2 years minimum.

The green collar has yellow ABF logos embroidered, which are difficult to see given the shade of green used. The name Poptart is written on the inside in blue Sharpie. Embroidered in the right chest are NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES and GREAT CLIPS logos.The left chest features BRAUN RACING and TOYOTA logos.A large ABF logo is embroidered in green and yellow is present on the front of the suit.The standard Impact warranty label and identification label is present next to the zipper, behind the main logo on front. The comfort straps are present on the sides of the hem. The shoulders have green epaulets with yellow ABF logos on them, as well as Impact logos. The standard vest sleeve holes are present as well. The back of the vest doesn’t really show any wear.The back of the neck has a yellow Impact Z logo on the collar itself, and a white TOYOTA logo below it.The back torso has the same ABF logo as the front, though somewhat higher, and ABF.COM and UPACK.COM embroidered into it.Though Braun Racing had a good run, it would come to an end in at the end of 2010, when it merged with Turner Motorsports. The team would have some more glory before fading away in 2014. Next we will discuss a vest with a bad marketing idea, used by a team with that met an even more inglorious end. Let me make this clear, we are done with Braun Racing and Turner-Scott Motorsports for the time being!

By David G. Firestone

To say our country has had a dark week would be an understatement. Between the senseless deaths of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Dallas Police Officers who were senselessly gunned down by a madman, our country has had a dark cloud hanging over it for a week. Sadly, not even motorsports could escape from this dark cloud, as long time Champ Car owner Carl Haas, of Newman/Haas Racing, and long time funny car driver Chuck Etchells also passed away this week.

These dark clouds were all around myself and the rest of the country, but for Chicago area motorsports fans, the dark clouds lifted over Route 66 Raceway, where the K&N Filters Route 66 Nationals took place this last weekend. I went on Saturday to the event, and I had a great time as I always do. It’s become my annual summer tradition.

I praise the NHRA for being about the fans, and though I disagree with some of their recent decisions, the fan experience at the track is great! Fans can meet the drivers, get autographs, get pictures, for no extra cost, other than ticket price. No other form of racing that I’m aware of allows this, at least not on the national level, for free. It’s a great value, and a fun way to spend the day! I spent most of my time getting autographs and meeting drivers.

2016 marks the 50^th Anniversary of the Funny Car class in the NHRA, and there were four beautiful vintage funny cars on display. The first of which is the “43 Jr.,” a 1965 Plymouth Barracuda which Richard Petty raced in 1965 and early 1966, after NASCAR banned Plymouth for their successful Hemi engine, One of the first flip-top Funny Cars, Pete Gates 1966 Mercury Comet “Gate Job,” The legendary “Chi-Town Hustler,” a 1969 Dodge Charger and Arnie “The Farmer” Bestwick’s 1966 Pontiac GTO. These are four very beautiful cars, in the perfect setting imaginable.

As I’ve discussed on The Driver Suit Blog in months past, I’m against taking selfies, unless there is a reason to take them. I consider meeting race car drivers a very valid reason to take selfies. There are drivers I like who I didn’t get the chance in years past, and I decided to get those selfies, and while I didn’t get every one I wanted to, I did get: John Hale, Antron Brown, Terry McMillen, Hector Arana Sr. and Hector Arana Jr., Clay Millican, Angelle Sampey, Robert Hight, Leah Pritchett, and perennial Driver Suit Blog favorites TJ Zizzo, and “Fast” Jack Beckman.

As is the case with these events, I brought items to get autographs on. I brought my TJ Zizzo pilot chute, and got Hector Arana Sr., Hector Arana Jr., Clay Millican, Terry McMillen, Leah Pritchett, and Jack Beckman.  I brought a pair of John Hale Gloves, and got them signed by him. Finally, I brought my Bristol #1 Qualifyer hat, and got it signed by John Hale, Antron Brown, Terry McMillen, Hector Arana Sr. and Clay Millican, Hector Arana Jr., Angelle Sampey, Robert Hight, Leah Pritchett, and perennial Driver Suit Blog favorites TJ Zizzo, and “Fast” Jack Beckman.

As the professional categories started their third qualifying round, I made my way to the stands to test out my new camera. I upgraded from a Nikon COOLPIX S100 to a Nikon COOLPIX L840. The L840 is a great camera, which I quickly discovered. I snapped this pic of the Sunoco Vision from my seat zoomed in, and then I snapped one from my seat zoomed out. Can’t see the screen, here it is.I then snapped a series of pictures of the racing action using the zoom, and ALL of them look good! Bob Bode wished his wife/backup girl a happy birthday on his car. Oh to be a fly on the wall of this conversation!I also did a few videos of the action,

and I tried to use the slo-mo feature on my iPhone. It didn’t work as well as I would have hoped…

If you have a chance to make it to an NHRA National event, I suggest you go, it’s worth the trip, and worth the tickets! One last thing, I learned before I went to the track that my favorite Pro Stock driver V Gaines decided to retire from racing, because the fun has gone away for him. I’m sad, I liked Gaines a lot, and he will be missed dearly. On behalf of the NHRA fans…YABBA DABBA DOO, old friend, YABBA DABBA DOO!

[Editor’s Note: I will be on vacation for all of July. I will continue the Vest Project as the Friday Feature while I’m away, as well as videos and Throwback Thursday. Once I get back in August, I’ll do My Thoughts on, and update the Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades.]

By David G. Firestone

Winamac, Indiana doesn’t seem like that big of a racing community. A small town of 2,490 located in Pulaski County, Winamac is a small town. One of their major businesses is BraunAbility, founded by Ralph Braun, a Winamac native. At age six, Braun was diagnosed with muscular distrophy, and at age 14 used a wheelchair. At age 15, he built himself a motorized wheelchair, and modified an old mail Jeep to have a hydralic lift.

At age 23, Braun started his company to help make mobility scooters, and eventually began modifing cars and vans for mobility. As mobility scooters took off, The Braun Corporation grew, and eventually became a recognized name in mobility vehicles. As his wealth grew, Ralph, and his son Todd started Braun Racing. It eventually became one of the bigger Xfinity Series racing teams. Ralph sadly passed away in 2013, having made the world a better place.

From 2003 to 2010, Braun Racing was a mainstay in the Xfnity Series. They have, in total, 4 wins, 84 top 5’s, 185 top 10’s, and 13 poles. Well known drivers who have raced for Braun include Jimmy Vasser, Casey Mears, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, David Stremme, Ron Hornaday, Jr., Jason Leffler, Michael Waltrip, Todd Bodine, Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers, James Buescher, Jacques Villeneuve,David Reutimann, Kasey Kahne, and Elliott Sadler.

One young driver that used Braun to get to a higher place in NASCAR is Brian Scott. Brian son of Joe “J.B.” Scott, the owner of the Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club resorts in McCall, Idaho, and the great grandson of the founders of Albertson’s grocery store. He has raced since the age of 12, racing for his own Truck Series team, Xpress Motorsports, which he won a race in during 2008. The team would turn in which became Kyle Busch Motorsports, which he won a second race in 2012.

Being a part of a multiple team Xfinity Series team in 2010, Braun and Scott had a series of different sponsors. Braun would accept sponsorship from websites of questionable intent. Once such website is BigSpot.com, a market research site that promises that the user will get paid to take research surveys. BigSpot.com was on the car for a total of 5 races, Fontana, Road America, New Hampsire, Richmond, and Dover. They did not have any real results, not even scoring a top 10, or leading a lap. One of the crew members nicknamed Matty was issued this Impact crew vest.The vest shows light use, having been worn for 5 races out of a possible 35.

The collar has BIGSPOT.COM logos embroidered into it, and the name MATTY written in Sharpie in the cowl. The right chest has NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES and GOODYEAR logos embroidered into it.The left chest has BRAUN RACING and TOYOTA logos embroidered.The red and white BIGSPOT.COM logo is embroidered into the black fabric.Inside the vest, just under the front logo, next to the zipper is the warranty and size tag.The standard Impact comfort straps are present on the sides. The shoulders have BIGSPOT.COM logos embroidered into it, and Impact logos present, and standard vest holes. The back of the suit shows some light wear.The back of the neck is unadorned, and has a Toyota logo embroidered into it.The same BigSpot.Com logo that is present on the front is present on the back as well, but is somewhat higher than the front logo.Braun racing is an example of a team that got better as it got bigger. Some of their sponsors are bigger and better. Some of the vests are bigger and better as well. In two weeks I will examine a vest that meets both of those criteria.  This weekend, I’m going to the NHRA Route 66 Nationals, and I will discuss that next week.

[Editor’s Note: I will be on vacation for all of July. I will continue the Vest Project as the Friday Feature while I’m away, as well as videos and Throwback Thursday. Once I get back in August, I’ll do My Thoughts on, and update the Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades.]

By David G. Firestone

The death of Turner-Scott Motorsports came in part due to the mistrust of Steve Turner, and Harry Scott. Their business relationship wasn’t always that bad. In fact, when Turner Motorsports first started in 2010, Scott’s business, AccuDoc Solutions was one of their first sponsors, and continued to sponsor teams up until the death of the team. The two worked together for a while, but then, as does happen, money got in the way. Once that happened, one of the best non-Sprint Cup teams ever met an inglorious end.

AccuDoc Solutions might not seem like likely sponsor for NASCAR, but it is. AccuDoc Solutions was founded in 2004, by Harry Scott. AccuDoc Solutions is a North Carolina based company that provides electronic tools to the medical industry, to increase productivity and accuracy. Turner-Scott was and HScott is Harry Scott’s side interest. Scott was smart enough to know the marketing power of NASCAR, and used it to promote his business quite well.

AccuDoc has sponsored Turner and Turner-Scott cars since the beginning. Since Turner acquired Braun Racing, they have run a number of different manufacturers. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out when a crew suit was used due to this. Turner switched to Chevy from Toyota during the 2010 season, and at in 2011, this AccuDoc Solutions vest was prepared for a crew member.The suit was manufactured in February of 2011. Since Turner became Turner-Scott in 2013, that would indicate that it was used from 2011 to 2012. That means that this was definite used for Mikey Kyle at Nashville and Iowa, the late Jason Leffler at Daytona, both Bristol races, Darlington, and the fall Dover race. It could also be argued that the vest could have been used for James Buescher in 2012 at Richmond, Talladega, Darlingon, Dover, and the fall Charlotte race.

Though it at most could have been used for two years, the vest shows light use.The collar has AccuDoc logos embroidered into them. There is no tag present in this area.The right chest features a NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES logo and a GOODYEAR logo embroidered into it.The left chest features a TURNER MOTORSPORTS and a Chevy Bowtie logo embroidered into it.The front torso has a large ACCUDOC SOLUTIONS logo embroidered into it.Inside the zipper, under the AccuDoc logo are the warranty and identification labels. The identification label has HAMILTON written in for the name, and 2-10-11 written in as the date of manufacture.The bottom hem has the standard Impact comfort straps. The shoulders have ACCUDOC SOLUTIONS logos embroidered into them, as well as Impact logos added under the bottom. The back of the vest doesn’t really show any wear.The back of the neck has an IMPACT Z logo embroidered into it.The back torso has a large ACCUDOC SOLUTIONS logo embroidered into it.While the death of Turner-Scott Motorsports was a sad way for a great team to end, it should be noted that Turner-Scott Motorsports didn’t become a powerhouse until they purchased Braun Racing. For the next few Vest Project columns, we will focus on Braun Racing items.

By David G. Firestone

The Vest Project rolls on with this week’s installment. You often see sponsors who are loyal to drivers, but here is a case where the loyalty is deeper that you might think. Duroline is a maker of brake parts from Brazil. In recent years, they had been in NASCAR, with fellow Brazilian Miguel Paludo. The two groups came together in NASCAR in a big way.

Hailing from Nova Prata, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, Miguel Paludo is a former Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil champion, having won back to back championships in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, he went to The US to compete in stock car racing, starting in ARCA, then moving to the K&N Pro Series East. In 2011, he joined Red Horse Racing for the season, and was sponsored by Duroline.

In 2012, he moved to Turner Motorsports, and Duroline Brakes & Components followed him to Turner. He ran the full season for Turner, and also ran two Xfinity Series races to boot. He didn’t have a great season. He scored a top 5, 5 top 10’s, a pole at Daytona, and led 67 races. During that season, one of his crew members wore this Simpson MTO 23 vest.The vest does show use, although it is in very good condition. It appears to be made out of an older version of Nomex, similar to what was used in the 1990’s.

The collar is red, and is not a Velcro closure.The only tag in the cowl is an MTO23 tag, with an XL flag tag.The right chest has a CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES logo, and a MIGUEL PALUDO logo embroidered into it.The left chest features a TURNER MOTORSPORTS and a Chevy bowtie logo embroidered into it.The front torso features a large DUROLINE logo, which, for some reason, has the name twice, as BRAKES AND COMPONENTS embroidered below it.The warranty and identification labels are present in the zipper behind the large Duroline logo. There is a name written on the tag, but it is hard to read. The bottom hem doesn’t have straps that can be tightened. The shoulders have red epaulets with GOODYEAR logos as well as SIMPSON logos. The standard vest sleeves are present as well. The back of the vest has some light wear present.The back of the collar has the SFI 3-2A/5 certification present.The back torso has the identical logo as the front, and, as with most driver suits, is much higher than the front.Paludo was one of Turner’s many drivers in both the Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. I’ve got one more Turner vest we are going to cover, and we are going to cover it next week’s version of The Vest Project.  Also, starting next week, I’m taking my annual summer break.  I will have videos, Throwback Thursdays, and Friday Features ready to go, but I won’t do My Thoughts On, Paint Scheme Tracker and Grades.  I plan on going to the Route 66 Nationals, and will do a column about it.  See you in August!

By David G. Firestone

When it comes to these vests, I’m not going in any particular order. I’m just picking the vests I’m going to feature. It should be noted that this is a 13 part series. For today’s installment, I am going to focus on a part-time Truck Series vest sponsored by a tasty adult beverage.

It’s no secret that racing fans love to drink. Beer is heavily sold at race tracks, and liquor companies will sponsor racing events and cars. Founded in 1999, Mikes Hard Lemonade is a lemonade flavored malt beverage with 5% ABV. It is much sweeter than beer, and on a hot day, I have to admit, it’s very refreshing.

Mike’s Hard Lemonade is a subsidiary of Mark Anthony Group Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and when they first joined NASCAR in 2011 as a sponsor, they stayed with Canadian driver Steve Aprin who had raced with Bill Venturini Racing where in 2010 in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards, he had three wins, two of which came with Mike’s as a sponsor.

Although he raced in JR. Motorsports in 2010, his NASCAR sponsorship with Mike’s came when he went to the Camping World Truck Series in 2011 for Turner Motorsports. He raced 5 races for Turner Motorsports with Mike’s as a sponsor. Although he won the pole at the Fast Five 225 at Chicagoland, he really didn’t do anything substantial. One of his crew members names Griffin wore this size XL Impact vest.

The vest shows light wear, not surprising for a vest worn for 5 races.

The collar is unadorned and there is no cowl tag present.The right chest features a CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES logo and a GOODYEAR logo embroidered into it.The left chest features a TURNER MOTORSPORTS and a CHEVY logo embroidered into it.The front torso has a large MIKE’S HARD LEMONADE logo embroidered into it.The Impact warranty label, and what I’m going to call the “identity label” are present inside the zipper. The identity label states that this vest was issued to “Griffin” and was made on 05-17-11, a month before Arpin’s first race.There is a small black stain on the front-right, just below the big Mike’s logo.The standard Impact hem straps are present on this suit.The shoulder epaulets have MAKE IT MIKE’S embroidered into them, an Impact logo is below that, and the standard vest sleeve holes are present as well.The back of the vest doesn’t show much wear.The back of the neck is unadorned, but just below that is MIKESHARD.COM embroidered just above the larger MIKES HARD LEMONAD logo on the back torso. The back logo is slightly higher than the front logo.One thing I’ve noticed about Turner and Turner-Scott vests is that the drivers will wear whatever suit manufacturer they choose, but for the most part, the crew wear Impact or Simpson vests. We will examine antother Simpson suit worn by Miguel Paludo’s crew next Friday Feature.