The Driver Suit Blog

By David G. Firestone

NASCAR has a lengthy history in the United States. Founded in 1948, 72 years ago, NASCAR has taken stock car racing to new heights. Once a regional promotion, NASCAR is now an international powerhouse. NASCAR and their various series have logo histories that are interesting.

Let’s start with NASCAR itself.

1948-1968

The first NASCAR logo features a track-inspired oval design, with checkered flags, and two streamlined cars heading toward each other. NASCAR INTERNATIONAL is printed in black on the greenish-yellow oval.

1968-1978

A newer version of the logo is introduced. The oval is gone, the colors have changed from black and greenish-yellow to blue and white. The checkered flags have a much more pronounced, and a line motif is added to the back ground. NASCAR is on top of the cars, INTERNATIONAL is underneath them.

1978-2017

A brand new logo is introduced in 1978. A rectangle with NASCAR in white lettering, with various different colors in the negative space replaces the old school NASCAR International logo. A series of colored vertical bricks are on the left side of the logo.

2018-???

A much more toned down version of the previous logo, with different font is introduced during 2017, with much fanfare.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has a unique tradition that stretches back to the 1970’s, the Series Logo. Series Logos are now commonplace in most forms of racing The evolution of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series logo over the years in interesting.

1972-1981

This logo is designed in classic 1970’s design, and can be seen on driver suits, as this Dale Earnhardt Sr. example from 1980 clearly shows.

1982-1988

The “1 Car” logo was a major redesign, and features a logo, with NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL SERIES embroidered, and a 1980’s car. Very visible on driver suits from the era.

1989-1992

A simple Winston logo, which, while underwhelming is very visible on this Bobby Hillin Jr. Suit, and this photo of Dale Earnhardt Sr. from 1992…and look who is next to him!

1993-1996

Again an underwhelming yet attractive series logo. The interesting thing about logos from 1993-2001 is that there are two designs, red with white lettering that displayed better on light driver suits, and white with red lettering that displayed better on dark colored driver suits. Though the rule was rather ambiguous for a while.

1997-1999

This design went through some changes when Winston changed the design of their packaging. Starting in 1998, Winston went from a rounder typeface to a narrower and straighter typeface, as a young Tony Stewart is modeling.

1998:

Every team and driver ran the NASCAR 50^th Anniversary logo on their cars and driver suits. Not bad at all.

2000-2001

A square design with an oval logo was used from 2000-2001, with the color-flipping returning. At this point, the discussion of who would replace Winston started, as due to legislation, cigarettes would not be allowed to sponsor auto racing within the next few years.

2002-2003

The transitional oval logo. The Busch Grand National series had adopted an oval logo in 1995, and since the series would change sponsorships in 2004, this new logo would be the bridge between the old and the new.

2004-2007

New sponsor, new colors, new shape. Nextell Communications took over in 2004 and it became the Nextell Cup Series. This logo would remain constant until Sprint and Nextell merged, which led to:

2008-2016:

Same color scheme, same shape, same basic design.

The logo has become a marketing point for NASCAR teams and NASCAR itself. Die casts, driver uniform coats, t-shirts, pit crew shirts, and many other items carry these logos.

2017-2019

Monster Energy takes over the series sponsorship from Sprint, initially for only one season, though two seasons were eventually announced. The new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has a logo based on the new Xfinity Series. It’s a black rectangle, with the current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

2020-?

Starting in 2020, the Cup Series took a different direction with its sponsorship. Instead of one company sponsoring the Cup Series with exclusive rights for their field, four companies, Busch Beer, Coca Cola, Geico, and Xfinity sponsor the new Cup Series. Another welcome change is that the exclusivity aspect of the sponsorship is gone.

Now on to the NASCAR Xfinity Series

1982-1994

These two logos were used for the Busch Grand National series. The plain Busch logo worked better and was used more often than the Busch Beer Series logo.

1995-2004

An oval logo with the sponsor name, and GRAND NATIONAL SERIES added below. It was very marketable and worked quite well as a logo.

2004-2007

Grand National Series has been removed, and some minor redesigns to BUSCH and the NASCAR logo as well. 2006 featured the 25^th Anniversary logo.

2007-2014

Complete redesign for the NASCAR Nationwide Series which began when Nationwide took over the titular sponsorship of the series. Uneven oval with a Nationwide logo, and a NASCAR logo, with a new overall design and color scheme.

2015-2017

Xfinity takes over the series sponsorship, and release an off-center oval logo, black outline with cutting edge designs on the black outline. The center is white, and features a NASCAR Xfinity Series logo.

2018-Present

With the new NASCAR logo came a new Xfinity Series logo, this one a black square with red designs and a NASCAR Xfinity Series logo replaces the oval.

Last but certainly not least the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

1995

For the first season, the Truck Series was referred to as the “Super Truck Series by Craftsman.” It featured a decidedly early 1990’s logo. It lasted for only one season.

1996-2002

The Craftsman Truck Series is a better name and the logo, while still bearing a 1990’s style design, is more refined and professional.

2003-2008

The entire logo is inside the oval, some minor color and typeface changes are present as well. 2005 featured the 10^th Anniversary logo.

2009-2018

The same off-center oval design as the Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup logos, with a sponsor redesign for Camping World, who took over for Craftsman after 2009.

2019

Gander Mountain takes over from Camping World. They are both owned by the same company. This results in a new name, The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, and a logo, this one with a black rectangle, outlined in blue, with a blue rectangle with white lettering.

2020

The series makes a slight change, going from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, complete with new logo, adding RV into the logo.

Next week, the first of a couple of random suits.

By David G. Firestone

Founded in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1978, A & A Truck and Auto Center, Inc. or AATAC was at one point a prime supplier of tow truck and wreckers for auto racing. Though the company hasn’t been around since 2003, their website still exists.

In addition to wreckers, AATAC also supplied skilled workers who were contracted to clean off the car and debris from the track. Not only did this help the tracks, it also brought AATAC publicity and exposure. As was the rule at the time, AATAC workers wore firesuits. One such example was worn by a worker named Chris Rodgers at least in 2000, but possibly from 2001-2003. This single-layer Simpson firesuit shows some use, and custom modifications.The collar doesn’t have a Velcro closure.The cowl features a vintage Simpson warranty tag.What dates this suit in 2000 is the two logos on the right front chest. The Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series logos. Both are of the vintage from that time frame.The left chest features a NASCAR logo, a AAA logo, and CHRIS ROGERS embroidered.The front torso features a blue AATAC logo on a white stripe between the red material.The belt separates the blue legs from the red torso. It is unadorned.The legs are unadorned, from a logo perspective. There is a tool pouch sewn in to the legs. The legs have standard cuffs.The shoulders have white epaulets with AATAC logos embroidered in blue. The red sleeves have SIMPSON and PENNZOIL WORLD OF OUTLAWS logos embroidered. The back of the suit doesn’t show that much wear.What also dates this suit to at least 2000 is the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series patch haphazardly sewn into the back near the AAA near the neck. The last year of the series being the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series was 2000, after which it became the ARCA RE/MAX Series.The back of the torso features the same AATAC blue over white logo as the front.Next week, the Series Logo feature returns!

By David G. Firestone

NASCAR is closely associated with a lot of things. One thing it isn’t typically associated with is Cuba. The typical driver profile that most people all drivers are Caucasian males. In recent years however, NASCAR has been working to increase diversity in the sport. The Drive for Diversity is a program that has brought a lot of diverse talent into NASCAR, including Paul Harraka, Darrell Wallace, Jr., Natalie Decker, Kenzie Ruston, Mackena Bell, Sergio Pena, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suárez, and Aric Almirola.

Born in Flordia to Cuban parents, Aric Almirola began racing karts at age 8, eventually racing nationally at age 14. In 2002, he started racing in NASCAR, eventually joining Drive for Diversity in 2004. In 2005 he began racing in the Truck Series, eventually becoming the 24^th driver to win races in all 3 of NASCAR’s top 3 series. During his career, he wore this undershirt. This Sparco X-COOL Silver lightweight undershirt shows a little use.The cowl has a small size tag, and SPARCO is embroidered in gray lettering.The front torso is unadorned.There is a rubber X-COOL Silver patch on the left side.The shoulders and sleeves are unadorned. The back of the shirt shows some very light wear.The back of the neck is unadorned.Aric Almirola’s twitter handle @aric_almirola is printed on the back, as opposed to the front for some reason.I like this, and hopefully, I can get this signed at some point.

I wasn’t going to do another one, but I tried this, and I wanted to share this recipe. So, it’s…

TAILGATING TIME

Shrimp de Jonghe

4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups dry white wine

1 cup butter, melted

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups fresh bread crumbs

1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions:

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 11x 7 inch casserole dish.

2-Place shrimp evenly in the casserole dish.

3-Pour wine over the shrimp.

4-Mix together butter, garlic, cayenne pepper, paprika, parsley and bread crumbs.

5-Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over the shrimp. Refrigerate now if desired.

6-Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until shrimp are firm and topping is golden brown. Serve immediately.

Next week, a firesuit from an aspect of racing that isn’t really discussed.