Month: April 2016

The Driver Suit Blog-My Thoughts On Hiring Failed Talent

By David G. Firestone

I’d like someone, and I don’t care who, to explain to me, why when a player, coach, or a radio personality is fired, they quickly get signed by a rival? Why does this keep happening? Why do losing coaches, and awful radio people keep getting jobs? I just don’t get it! I don’t understand how people can fail horribly at something, and yet be able to quickly get a job?

Here is why I’m wondering about this. Earlier this week, I noticed that Chip Kelly was making statements as head coach of the San Francisco 49’ers. I don’t really follow football, and I really don’t care about the off-season, so I missed his signing. But given how much of a controversial disaster Kelly was during the 2015 season, I have to wonder how desperate the 49’ers are.

In 2015, Kelly alienated many players with his personnel moves, took a 10-6 team down to 6-9, and was fired before the season was even over. He was in charge of football operations, and had free reign to sign and release players. The team did not perform well for most of the season. Yet Kelly, for reasons I can’t even begin to understand, he denies any and all responsibility for everything that went wrong in 2015.

Kelly made it clear that, despite the fact he was in charge, he did the best he could. I don’t thing that for a second. When you are in charge of something, and you make the decisions, the blame lands on you. When you flat out say that you aren’t the problem, often times, you are. Kelly thinks that by doing this, it means he isn’t showing weakness. That may be, but he is showing stupidity. He is the criminal, who was a victim of circumstance, even though all the evidence makes it clear that said criminal is guilty.

Listening to what Kelly said, I can’t understand why the 49’ers would be willing to work with him. He threw the Eagles owners, players, and coaching staff under the bus to make himself look better. If I were one of the players, one of the coaches, or the owners, I would be very worried right now. Because if he did that in Philly, he’ll do that in San Fran. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Also, why is it that in local radio markets, the same people keep getting hired and fired? How bad does someone have to mess up to never be back on the radio again? Ok, let me rephrase that, how bad does someone have to be, without being racist, sexist, or homophobic, to never be on radio again? I’ve been trying to listen to radio when I’m at home, but the DJ’s SUCK! Furthermore, on air talent will change periodically, but nothing improves. I’m thinking, at this point, I should just throw my radio out, and just watch BBC America.

The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Grades-April 2, 2016

By David G. Firestone

Regan Smith #7 APC Chevy SS-It’s a good scheme with a smooth look, and a great color scheme. A+

Regan Smith #7 AIPAC Chevy SS-See above. A+

Chase Elliot #24 Sun Energy Chevy SS-Think they overdid this scheme just a bit? Wow! Like most J.J. Abrams films, it has too much flare. F

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Libman Chevy SS-I’ve said that Menard’s templates can be everything from great to awful depending on what color the hood sponsor has. In this case, the template looks good, because the green works very well. A+

Josh Wise #30 Toyota Camry-Not a bad look at all. A+

Brian Scott #44 Von’s Ford Fusion-Same scheme as Albertson’s, same A+ grade.

Brian Scott #44 Goody’s Ford Fusion-Get rid of the yellow scheme B+

AJ Allmendinger #47 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevy SS-The shade of red really looks good, and the fame motif works well with a hot sauce brand. A+

AJ Allmendinger #47 Kroger/Coffee Mate/Butterfinger Chevy SS-Same as Kroger, same A+ grade.

Cole Whitt #98 Rinnai Ford Fusion-It’s a good scheme with a smooth look, and a great color scheme. A+

The Driver Suit Blog-Race Rock…Not the Musical Kind

racerockBy David G. Firestone

I’ve talked about the promotional advantages of driver suits and racing suits before. True, a racing sponsorship can pay a lot of dividends. According to this article from Fox, “A new study conducted jointly by the Los Angeles-based media agency Wasserman and Buffalo, New York-based Nervve showed that Denny Hamlin’s Daytona 500 victory was worth $1.9 million in earned media value for his primary sponsor, FedEx.”

But where racing suit design differs than regular work design is that the sponsor or team can design the suit in ways which most normal companies wouldn’t be able to. Denny Hamlin’s suit can be designed for maximum sponsor exposure. While Denny for some reason doesn’t wear TV logos on the sleeves, if any FedEx employee were asked to wear a uniform similar to Denny’s suit or the teams pit shirts, the company would be a laughing stock.

While racing suit design for promotional appeal is a new concept in marketing, mechanics in auto racing have been around since day one. Mechanics make the cars run, and keep them running. They have to work on cars and wear special clothes, as the fluids in the car can ruin most street clothes. This Race Rock Racing team suit is a perfect example of the fusion of both.racerockAs much as I have searched, I haven’t been able to find any information on Race Rock as an auto racing team. However, they were apparently a racing team. This suit was a mechanics suit designed for them. The suit is made from Jupiter, Florida based RJ’s Racing Equipment. It feels like it’s a single layer of Nomex, but could also be polyester. It isn’t SFI certified.

The front has a CART patch and RACE ROCK RACING TEAM embroidered into the chest,a checkered flag stripe, and a yellow stripe across the chest with a PPG patch and a BILSTEN SHOCK ABSORBERS patch sewn into the yellow stripe.racerock-rchest racerock-lchest racerock-flogoThe belt, and legs are unadorned.racerock-belt racerock-legs

The shoulders have yellow unadorned epaulets, racerock-rshoulder racerock-lshoulderand short sleeves with MOPAR PERFORMANCE RACING TEAM and CHAMPION SPARK PLUG patches on the right sleeve, and VALVOLINE RACING and HOLLEY patches on the left sleeve.racerock-rsleeve racerock-lsleeveThe back of the suit has a giant RACE ROCK RACE TEAM logo embroidered into it. Other than that, there are no designs present at all.racerockb racerock-blogoWhile racing has been used as a promotional tools for decades, the innovation of the driver suit as a promotional tool is something that has taken the racing world by storm. Hell, you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t find racing suit design interesting, and I wouldn’t be writing it. Next week, we will look at the signature of an innovator who created a product known throughout the world, and revolutionized a whole industry.