Month: March 2016

By David G. Firestone

I do a lot of articles about stuff used by drivers. Sometimes the drivers are current drivers, other times, the drivers have retired and moved on to other ventures. Such is the case with this helmet, used by Dave Labs. Dave Labs is a former ASA Champion, who moved to drag racing in the NHRA and IHRA. He is a self taught artist, following in the style of Kenny Youngblood. Labs works out of West Allis, WI, and has designed a number of cars, including NASCAR, ASA, and NHRA. He also designs shirts, and has painted hot rods and airplanes.

During his career, Labs wore this Bieffe helmet.Bieffe is an Italian helmet company that had a reputation for making “cheap” helmets. I’m not even sure if they are still in business, as they don’t seem to have an official website, and it doesn’t appear that they are making new helmets.

This specific helmet has a KENDALL GT-1 sponsor on the visor, and is customized with DAVE on the sides, and Lab’s Racing on the top. This particular design is a motorcycle helmet. It has DOT markings on the back. The red, gold and silver color scheme is one of Dave’s favorites. The helmet is missing one of the visor clips, and has a large amount of scuff marks and scrapes across it. The tags inside the helmet show a large amount of staining.One thing I like about Dave is that he is a hands-on guy. He left the NHRA because “ was spending more time with business, and that didn’t leave me very much time to go Drag Racing. The quicker and faster you go, requires more work and more crew help. I didn’t want to turn the operation over to someone to prep the car, and then I would just drive. I guess I learned it from Don Garlits, but I always wanted to be hands on with the running of my car. I don’t want to be just a Driver. With that in mind, and the ever increasing demands to compete at the NHRA level, I decided it was best to stop Racing.” He likes to know everything about his car, everything it does, every adjustment it needs, and how it all works. I’m like that. I want to be able to handle the items I discuss, not just look at pictures of the items.

This week we’ve discussed a designer, next week, we will discuss the canvas that these designers now use.

By David G. Firestone

I started watching 10 Things in Tucson. For those who don’t know, 10 Things is a show staring comedian Jamie Lee, and it discusses 10 Things you might not know. In one particular episode, I got really upset. The discussion concerns the fact that NASCAR doesn’t require a driver’s license to race. Jamie could not wrap her mind around the fact that NASCAR drivers don’t need a driver’s license to race.

What she and the writers glazed over is the fact that that NASCAR and almost all racing sanctioning bodies issue “competitor licenses.” Competitor licenses are significantly harder to obtain than a standard driver’s license, and the sanctioning bodies make the rules for obtaining them difficult on purpose, so that the average joe can’t buy a race car on eBay, and drive it in a race. As you get higher and higher in the racing ranks, the requirements become stricter, and harder to obtain.

This is not a new phenomenon. This goes back to the 1960’s. As time has worn on, the need for such regulation has become paramount, as auto racing has grown in popularity over the last 30 years. Many fans would love to race with their favorite drivers, but the fact is that due to their lack of experience and skill, this could cause a lot of problems. Race car drivers have skills capabilities that the average joe could only dream of having, and the competitor license makes sure that those who can do, and those who can’t watch.

John “Shorty” Miller was a NASCAR and ARCA competitor in the 1960’s and 1970’s. He was one of the founders of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club, or DARF, and is in the DARF Hall of Fame. In 1976, he was involved with ARCA, and was issued this license.This ARCA license is slightly bigger than a regular driver’s license, is two sides, and folds in half. Issued on December 14, 1974, the license states that “The undersigned hereby acknowledges that he is familiar with, and agrees to abide by the rules and regulations of the Automobile Racing Club of America Inc. in all competitive events sponsored by ARCA. This license is non transferable and is revocable for cause by the Automobile Racing Club of America Inc. It is further agreed that all decisions of the Commission will be final.” It is then signed by Miller, and an ARCA Secretary. \The license also comes with two copies of the “Competitor Liaison Bureau Summary of Plan Explanation and Limitations” which discusses the insurance payouts for accidental death or injury if said driver is killed or injured in an ARCA event. It also comes with a copy of the 1976 ARCA Rule Book, which contains 12 pages of rules, which covers a lot of ground, but leaves so much open, it’s not funny. The competitor license is a necessary tool to make sure that the drivers are capable of racing. That’s why they are hard to get. Next week, we will discuss something that is very easy to get.