friday feature – Page 52 – The Driver Suit Blog

Replica Helmets, and Why We Need Them In Racing Part 5

By David G. Firestone

Last November, I discussed replica helmets. Between then and now, I came across a line of replica helmets that were released in the 1990’s. I sincerely don’t know how I missed these growing up. These look like the kinds of things that were marketed in the NASCAR catalog, and Winston Cup Illustrated.

The company that made them was called Sports Cover Up. They are long out of business, and this is the only product I was ever able to find them making. Helmet marketing was interesting back then because Simpson was marketing mini helmets of the drivers who they made helmets for, Bell made some too, but from what I’ve seen, these were done on a team by team basis.

There are two kinds. The first ones were made in 1997, and made of a softer plastic. It almost has a rubbery feel to it. The visor is stuck in place, and can’t be moved up, and they have a thick plastic bottom permanently attached to the helmet. There are 5 holes, one large and four tiny. As for the design, I was able to find three examples, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin. Bobby Labonte was sponsored by Interstate Batteries, and the motif looks good. Previously, Labonte had worn NFL helmet designs, but that went away, and was replaced with Interstate Batteries motifs, and this example looks really good.

Bill Elliott was sponsored by McDonald’s and the motif looks like a real McDonald’s helmet. McDonald’s has a really good shade of red, and it is frequently used on the helmets of the drivers they sponsor. This example really does look like a race helmet, though I don’t know who Serengeti, the visor stripe sponsor is though.

The Mark Martin helmet is great because it really looks like what Martin used to wear in the 1990’s when he was sponsored by Valvoline. The details are good, and the visor stripe is accurate too. One thing I noticed is that on the bottom, it states that Roush Racing was, at the time this helmet was made, located in Livonia Michigan. I never knew that. Apparently, the team was originally a small piece of Roush Enterprises, but has since grown into a racing powerhouse.

Sports Cover Up released a second set of full-size helmets, which we will discuss next week.

The New Pit Crew Uniform Rules

By David G. Firestone

Starting this week at Pocono, all pit crew members will be required to wear Nomex headsocks, underwear, and gloves. This follows a ruling made in response to the Xfinity Series race at Richmond International Raceway, where three of Brendan Gaughn’s crew members were burned in a pit road fire. This is a long overdue change to pit road rules, which had left the door open for injury with the gaps that it left.

I have a couple of thoughts about this. According to ESPN this rule only extends to pit crew members who service the car. This makes sense as there are no longer officials on pit road during pit stops. What I noticed was that this rule didn’t extend to full faced helmets. A number of crew members wear helmets that look like glorified bicycle helmets. These helmets provide no facial protection at all. At least a full face helmet will provide that extra bit of protection.

I’m also wondering if the current pit helmet, like this one will be outlawed.

This is a late 1990’s Champ Car officials helmet, and it is representative of what pit crew members wear. Look at how open the face is. Fire could easily get into that part of the helmet, and burn the area around the crew member’s eyes and he could breathe the fire in. This design is one of, if not the most common design that pit crew members wear. Pit crew suits are designed to take fire, but these helmets are basically not much more than what BMX bikers wear in competition.

My other question is will there be sufficient grip in the gloves? Fun fact about me is that at one point, I worked in Walmart, changing oil and tires. I quit after three weeks. While there, I used Mechanix gloves, which are the standard gloves that tire changers wear. They provide amazing grip, and are comfortable. ~~With the new rules, Nomex gloves will replace Mechanix gloves, and I have to wonder if there are gloves that have the level of grip.~~ I have since learned that there are SFI rated Nomex Mechanix gloves. So I’m striking the previous comment.

I get that these rules will protect pit crew members, but will they impact performance? I can’t say, but we will see. Next week, we will discuss replica helmets again.

Midseason Paint Scheme Grades

By David G. Firestone

I figured that after the Coca Cola 600 I should do an article on how the teams stack up paint scheme wise. Here is how I figured the grades out. Using a grade average, I took each grade a car number gets and averaged out the grades. I will add comments on the scheme sets as I go. Car #41’s driver has been blacklisted for his indiscretion at Dover, and as a direct result, his schemes will be omitted. So without further ado, the grades thus far in the season. This will also be the Paint Scheme Grades for this week.

CHIP GANASSI RACING TEAM #1-A lot of very solid schemes, but the Energizer takes a solid ad down to a B.

TEAM PENSKE #2-A lot of good schemes, but the needless redesigns of some of the throwback schemes is irritating. They were good the way they are. The Penske Template works for some color schemes, but not for Detroit Genuine Parts. All in all it adds up to an A-.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING #3-Another solid B grade ruined by one scheme, in this case, Bass Pro Shops. Still there is a lot of good here, so I’ll give it a C+.

STEWART-HAAS RACING #4-See above, but Hunt Brothers Pizza in place of Bass Pro Shops. B+

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #5-Oddly, Kasey Kahne’s schemes aren’t great, but they aren’t horrible either. Pepsi works well, Great Clips is horrible. C+

ROUSH-FENWAY RACING #6-The regular scheme is great, the camo scheme is horrible, they average out to a C.

TOMMY BALDWIN RACING #7-When the car isn’t sponsored, it gets high grades, when it is sponsored, it gets low grades, which average out to a B.

RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS #9-Twisted Tea is the only good scheme in this group. One A scheme with a bunch of F schemes lead to a solid F.

STEWART-HAAS RACING #10-Horrible color schemes and design schemes seem to be Danica’s strong suit this year. Averaged out, it earns an F.

JOE GIBBS RACING #11-If not for Sport Clips, Denny would have a solid A scheme, but not to worry, the average ends up giving him an A-.

GERMAIN RACING #13-Nothing good can be said about Casey’s schemes this year. F

STEWART-HAAS RACING #14-Early in the season, Tony was running a C+ across the board, but two new recent A+ have pushed his average up to a B.

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING #15-Clint hasn’t had a grade below a B this year, and his schemes look really good, and average out to a B+.

ROUSH-FENWAY RACING #16-If not for Patrick Starr and Safety-Kleen, Greg would have a solid A+, but those two F’s hurt his average, taking it down to a B.

ROUSH-FENWAY RACING #17-Yet again we have a case where a solid A average is taken down because of one scheme, in this case, the Zest scheme is the guilty party. B-

JOE GIBBS RACING #18-Interstate Batteries is horrible, and Snickers Extreme is almost as bad. It’s too bad, because M&M’s Crispy, Red Nose Day, Skittles, and Pedigree were all A+ schemes, it all averages out to a B-.

JOE GIBBS RACING #19-I hate the idea of two different cars having the same paint scheme. Sport Clips is doing this with Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards. If the Comcast Business scheme wasn’t too over designed, it would get a higher grade. It averages out to a B-

JOE GIBBS RACING #20-Two very solid schemes with great color schemes. Can’t say anything about these schemes! A

WOOD BROTHERS RACING #21-One of the only paint schemes in racing that doesn’t evolve because it doesn’t have to. It is simply perfect. A+

TEAM PENSKE #22-A set of awful schemes that has a higher average because of two schemes. The only good schemes were redesigns of Cruz Pedregon’s funny car, and Helio Castroneves’ Indy 500 car. It averages out to a C-.

BK RACING #23-I am not a fan of sublimated designs on cars, but sometimes a blind spider catches a few flies. The I’m A Pepper scheme works very well, and the sublimated designs work well. The rest of the schemes are decent, and average out to a solid B.

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #24-In his final full-time season, Jeff Gordon has raced a series of great schemes, not having less than a B+ grade. The average is an A.

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #25-NAPA has a great color scheme, but the designers felt the need to compensate with a mediocre design that averages out to a B.

BK RACING #26-It was all going so well for Jeb Burton until Estes, which derailed an otherwise solid average down to a B-.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING #27-Paul Menard’s schemes can best be described as all over the place. He goes from great to awful to average from race to race. His grades average out to a C+.

RAB RACING #29-The wood motif works very well, and a great color scheme adds to an A+.

TMG RACING #30-Another example of an unsponsored car looking better than a sponsored car. The average ends up being a C+.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING #31-His All-Star scheme and Wix Filers scheme take a solid A scheme down to a C+.

GO FAS RACING #32-Feast or famine, that’s the way to describe Go FAS Racing’s schemes in 2015. They are either high grades, or F’s. It averages out to a C+.

RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING/CIRCLE SPORT RACING #33-Two teams, same car number, all over the place in terms of grades. Averaging them out, it leads to a B-.

FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS #34-Front Row Motorsports has hit it out of the park this year. The only bad scheme across 3 cars is the #38 camo scheme. A+

FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS #35-See above. A+

FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS #38-See above. B+

HILLMAN-SMITH MOTORSPORTS #40-CRC Knock’er Loose and Cars For Sale derail a series of A schemes, and take the average down to a B.

CHIP GANASSI RACING TEAM #42-Camo doesn’t work on race cars, and red camo REALLY doesn’t work. The Energizer scheme is horrid, but the rest of the schemes are good. The average is a B-

RICHARD PETTY MOTORSPORTS #43-The only awful scheme here is Fresh From Florida, otherwise a series of really solid schemes. B

TEAM XTREME RACING #44-An A scheme, Golden Corral, an F scheme, Phoenix Warehouse, average out to a C.

HSCOTT MOTORSPORTS #46-A series of terrible schemes here, but All-State Peterbuilt, and Pilot/Flying J are great. Those two schemes kick the average up to a D+.

JTG DAUGHTERY RACING #47-Nothing wrong with any of these schemes. A+

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #48-Three C- schemes. This was an A level team last year, but they’ve fallen to a C-.

HSCOTT MOTORSPORTS #51-The Fraternal Order of Eagles scheme is horrid, but otherwise, a lot of great schemes, which average out to a C+.

MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING #55-Get rid of that damn Spongebob scheme, and the 55 would have a solid A+ grade. Spongebob takes the average down to an A-.

PREMIUM MOTORSPORTS #62-No really bad schemes here, a solid B+ effort.

PREMIUM MOTORSPORTS #66-Green has been considered unlucky in racing for many years. Examples like this prove why. The worst shades of green, and an awful design lead to an F.

FURNITURE ROW RACING #78-Perfection is the only word that can sum up this set of schemes. A+

BK RACING #83-3 B- schemes will always average out to a B-.

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #88-Diet Mountain Dew and Baja Blast take a solid effort down to a C+. I do like the door number design.

LEVINE FAMILY RACING #95-Once again, a Spongebob character, this time Larry the Lobster takes an A average down to a B

PHIL PARSONS RACING #98-Nothing bad can be said about this set! A+

Taylor Motorsports Proudcts, An Introduction Part 2

By David G. Firestone

Last week, I covered Shea Holbrook in her Taylor Motorsports Prodcuts driver suit, this week, I’m gonna cover Shane Westerfield in his Taylor Mototsports driver suit. Shane is a former drag boat racer, who has moved to Top Alcohol Funny Car or TAFC. He has a couple of event wins, including two in national events, one at the 2013 Texas Fall Nationals, and one at the 2014 Spring Nationals, as well as a number of regional wins. In 2012, he started wearing a Taylor Motorsports Products driver suit.This is a natural partnership as Westerfield and Dennis Taylor both got started in drag racing and both raced Top Alcohol Funny Car. Dennis was proud of this suit, displaying it on his Facebook page. The suit is an SFI 3-2A/20 rated. This is a very durable and heavy suit, preferred by drag racers. The suit is very heavy and it weighs about 8 pounds and feels like a 5 layer suit. Westerfield can be seen wearing this design in both his national event wins, but I can’t say for sure he wore them for those wins. It is sponsored by CP Carrillo, which is a high end racing piston manufacturer.

The suit shows light use, with some scuffing of the material.The collar has a Velcro closure design with CP CARILLO embroidered into it. Unlike the Shea Holbrook suit there is a warranty tag.

The right chest features an A1 TECHNOLOGIES PERFORMANCE RACING FASTENERS logo.

The left chest features SHANE WESTERFIELD embroidered into it, and a Taylor Motorsports logo embroidered below it.

The front torso has a CP Carillo logo. I really like this color scheme by the way.

The belt is outlined in a light blue, but has no adornment.

The legs have no adornment whatsoever and they have standard cuffs.The shoulders feature unadorned blue and black epaulets, which are unadorned. The right sleeve feautres an American flag logo, a TAYLOR MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTS logo, and a CP CARRILLO logo, no television logos, and arm restraints built in, to keep his arms close inside the car. This is a popular modification among dragster drivers.

The left sleeve features the same basic design as the right sleeve, but the SFI rating replaces the American flag, and the restraint has an SFI rating on it.

The back of the suit is completely unadorned.

Next week, I’m gonna keep the drag racing train rolling, with a piece on Cory McClenathan…see you then!

Taylor Motorsports Proudcts, An Introduction Part 1

By David G. Firestone

I recently found out about Taylor Motorsports Products. I thought at first they were a new company, but, according to their website, “Taylor Motorsports Products was founded in 1979 by Dennis Taylor. Dennis has been immersed in the motorsports world for most of his life starting with his days at Orange County International Raceway in the late sixties and his time on the road with fuel dragsters and Funny Cars. But, Taylor’s involvement did not stop at drag racing; he has been instrumental in product development for many racing competitors in all aspects of motorsports. For over 30 years, Dennis Taylor has been on the leading edge of safety innovation combining his eye for detail, perfection and quality with the most challenging safety needs of competitors in drag racing to open wheel to off road and more. Today, Taylor Motorsports Products has a comprehensive line of hundreds of custom designed and hand made products from driver’s suits to complete restraint systems.” Indeed, they make a number of different product for racing safety.

A lot of driver suit manufacturers will use driver endorsements to promote their products, but for a while I couldn’t find any driver who wore Taylor stuff, then I stumbled upon this Shea Holbrook driver suit from 2011. Shea developed her interest in racing after attending the Richard Petty Driving Experience in 2006. Since then she has raced in the Pirelli World Challenge in the SCCA, and a jet dragster driver in the IHRA. In 2011, she gained K&N Filters as a sponsor. During that season, she wore this suit.

There are a number of small variations of the suit, but she can clearly be seen wearing this suit in a February 2011 photo. A photo from April at Long Beach shows a different patch arrangement, though she does appear in this suit in several photos. The suit itself is a triple layer suit with SFI 3-2A/5 rating.

The collar has a Velcro-shut collar with a K&N logo. Interestingly, there is no warranty tag anywhere on the suit.

The right chest features a WORLD CHALLENGE and an SCCA PRO RACING logo embroidered into it.

The left chest features a LUCAS OIL PRODUCTS logo embroidered into it.

The front torso features a K&N logo embroidered into it.

SHEA HOLOBROOK is embroidered into the belt, which is outlined in red.

The legs have red stripes up the legs, and small TAYLOR MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTS logos on the legs. The cuffs are standard cuffs.

The shoulders have no adornment on the epaulets. Interestingly there are no Taylor Motorsports logos on the shoulders at all.

The right sleeve features an American Flag design, a TAYLOR MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTS logo, a SUNOCO logo, and a K&N television logo

The left sleeve features the SFI 3-2A/5 rating, a TAYLOR MOTORSPORTS PRODUCTS logo, a RACE KEEPER logo, and the K&N television logo.

The back of the suit has a couple of logos, and some light wear is visible.

The back of the neck itself is unadorned, but just below there is SHEARACING.COM and a K&N logo embroidered into the black material.

I have since found another example of a Taylor Motorsports Products suit, but I’ll save that for next week.

The Driver Suit as A Promotional Tool

By David G. Firestone

The driver suit has become much more than a safety feature. It has become a marketing tool. So much so that it leaves the track and moves to television, magazine ads, and corporate events. If you look at driver suit design circa 1990, the suits have big sponsor logos, and the smaller logos are thrown on any which way they can. Fast forward to today, and, when it comes to race suits, every logo is in a specific place, nothing is left to chance.

Fisher Price makes toys for babies and infants, and apparently they had a race car during the late 1980’s to early 1990’s. This promotional driver suit was made for that team. It’s made of the polyester and has the feel of a wind breaker. There are a number of auto part logos, but they are patches with sublimated logos instead of sewn logos. There was some thought to the design.

There are a number of race suits that were created for promotional purposes. This example comes from AOL circa 2003. AOL hosted an event at Laguna where a number of clients got to drive race cars. Each driver was issued one of these denim suits. It has a small AOL logo on the front chest, and a larger logo on the back torso. Other than that, there are no logos anywhere else on the suit.

When Bobby Labonte was sponsored by Ask.com in 2009, a series of these replica driver suits based on Labonte’s driver suit were produced, possibly for a commercial. This suit was made by Simpson Race Products, but isn’t made of Nomex, and it has a warranty label stating as such. Aside from the Ask.com logos, and the Peel Me design, there are no logos, but it is obvious there was a lot of thought that went into the design.

The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

By David G. Firestone

The 2015 Toyota Pro/Celebrity race is behind us. It was a good one for sure. It had a decent amount of talent, including:

Antron Brown (NHRA veteran, Top Fuel driver)

Brett Davern (2014 champion)

Donna Feldman (model/TV host/actress)

Willie Gault (former NFL WR, Olympic athlete)

Nathan Kress (actor)

James Maslow (musician)

Steve Mason (ESPN Radio host)

Mark McGrath (lead singer, Sugar Ray)

Raul Mendez (actor)

Joshua Morrow (actor)

Dave Pasant (Producer)

Robert Patrick (actor)

Mekhi Phifer (actor)

John Rzeznik (guitarist/Goo Goo Dolls frontman)

Alfonso Ribeiro (two-time race winner)

Dara Torres (Olympic swimming legend, 2002 race winner)

Rutledge Wood (NBC Sports Group NASCAR/motors contributor and 2013 race winner)

In a 10 lap race that saw some crashes and some great racing, Alfonso Ribeiro was the overall and pro winner, with Dave Pasant wining the celebrity category.

When you race in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race, you get to keep your driving gear. I discussed this in my Steve Lundquist article. He won two gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in swimming, then came back and raced in the 1985 event. The competitors are given special training and safety instructions. Even though there have been a decent number of crashes, no serious injuries have occurred.

This single layer suit shows heavy use, with stains and scuff marks on the arms. It has a nice vintage look to it.

The cowl contains an older version of the Simpson warranty label.

the right chest features a VALVOLINE logo and STEVE LUNDQUIST embroidered into it. The left chest features a vintage racing stripe design, with TOYOTA MOTORSPORTS, BRIDGESTONE, GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH and ND SPARK PLUGS patches on the stripes.

As there are no primary sponsors of the cars, there are no logos on the torso as primary sponsors.

The rights shoulder does not have an epaulet, or any adornment.

The right sleeve has an EARL’ S patch and a BLISTEN SHOCK ABSORBERS patch. There are no logos at the end of the sleeve, and heavy wear on the back of the sleeve.

The left shoulder, like the right shoulder does not have an epaulet. The stripe pattern terminates at the hem of the shoulder.

The left sleeve features a SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS patch, and a JIM RUSSELL RACING SCHOOL patch. There isn’t much wear here.

The back of the suit shows no real wear, and has no patches or design present.

This set of orange gloves came with the suit. They show decent use.

These come up for auction every now and again, and I personally like them as they are racing memorabilia and celebrity memorabilia at the same time.

The Infinite Hero Challenge Coin…A New Form of Racing Memorabilia

By David G. Firestone

Launched in 2011, The Infinite Hero Foundation “…is to combat the most difficult front line issues – mental and physical – facing returning military heroes and their families.” Military personnel returning from overseas deployment face long term employment, mental and physical problems that the majority of Americans don’t understand. They work with other non-profit veterans groups and give out grants to help service men and women cope with these long term problems.

Like many veterans groups, Infinite Hero uses auto racing as a way to promote their cause. But unlike most groups Infinite Hero came up with a new and unique way to raise funds. Infinite Hero uses an emblem that, according to their site, “The Infinite Hero emblem incorporates the color purple to honor those who have been wounded in battle, the Greek cross to signify aid, and the infinity symbol to represent the conviction that the sacrifices of heroes should always be remembered. The Infinite Hero Foundation thanks our founding corporate partner Oakley for their leadership and guidance in creating the Infinite Hero logo.”

In April 2014, they started sponsoring Jack Beckman’s funny car. This also began the NHRA coin program. This is a new form of racing memorabilia I have never seen before, though it’s a great idea. When Jack Beckman gets into his funny car to race, he carries at least 5 Infinite Hero Challenge Coins in the pocket of his driver suit. Once the race is over, he will autograph them and sell them at the track and on eBay. They cost $100 with all proceeds going to the Infinite Hero Foundation.

The idea of items carried in a pocket is not a new one. NASA has done this for years. Many space shuttle flights carried first day covers in the storage bay. When the shuttle landed, the covers were removed, and sold to collectors. I’m a little surprised this hasn’t been done before with auto racing, because I think that it would create a new memorabilia market.

The 2014 design is slightly bigger than a quarter, but not as big as a half-dollar. It is quite thick, and has a ridged edge. One side featured “Courage, Honor, Virtue, Heroism,” around a globe design with an Oakley logo. Oakley is a partner with the Infinite Hero Foundation. The other side features an embossed Infinite Hero Foundation logo. The coin was placed in a round, flat plastic container, with black foam braces, which Jack autographed. This particular coin was used at the 2014 Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove in Reading Pennsylvania.

A redesigned coin of the same size was introduced for 2015. The Oakley logos are gone. One side features a design similar to the globe design, but the globe design has been replaced with an American Flag design. “Courage, Honor, Virtue, Heroism” has been replaced with “Duty, Honor, Innovation, Courage.” The new emblem on the reverse side has one of the across bands removed. The new packaging is an upgrade, with the circular plastic cylander replaced with an attractive box. It comes with a card that Jack Beckman autographed, and on the reverse it has the Infinite Hero Foundation Pledge.

The Infinite Hero Foundation is a worthwhile charity, designed to help our nations veterans. I fully support them, and I encourage my readers to try and buy at least one of these coins.

Loaning to the Chicago Sports Museum

By David G. Firestone

When I first went to the Chicago Sports Museum at the Water Tower Place, I was in heaven. The interactive exhibits were amazing, and a lot of fun. The exhibits were amazing as well. I especially enjoyed the microphone flag display near the main hall. The large display in the Hall of Legends features an entire wall filled with memorabilia from many Chicago area teams, past and present. It’s a really fun place.

But when I came to the auto racing display, it was…well…lackluster, to say the least. Two trophies and a champagne bottle didn’t exactly impress me. So on the train ride back home, I began to think, maybe I should loan something to the museum. Upon returning, I started looking into my various driver suits, and deciding which one I should loan to the museum. This wasn’t easy, as I wanted a suit that had a Chicago connection. Chicagoland Speedway opened in 2001, and the majority of my collection is pre-2000.

After some thinking, and researching, I decided to loan this David Stremme suit, which I could prove was worn at Chicagoland. My next step was getting in touch with Harry Carry’s and presenting the offer. They responded quickly and accepted the offer. Paperwork was signed, and then I went to the museum, suit in hand, and handed the suit off to them, after lunch.

Due to the size of the suit, a larger mannequin had to be ordered, and the case had to be redesigned. Several weeks went by and then I got an email stating that the suit was finally on display. I went with mom to Harry Carry’s Seventh Inning Stretch, had a really good burger, and some Frank Thomas’s Big Hurt Beer, and toured the museum and saw my suit in full display. If you have lunch or dinner at Harry Carry’s Seventh Inning Stretch you will get your tickets to the museum comped. If you decide to visit the museum then eat, you will get your ticket price taken out of the bill. It’s a really good deal at a really good museum.