Month: March 2017

By David G. Firestone

I had a thought this last weekend, and I have to ask this question. Does IndyCar know that the race-used memorabilia market exists? Based on the research I’ve done over the past few years, I don’t know it they do. NASCAR, the NHRA, Formula 1, ARCA, and even the SCCA have not only figured out that the market exists, but they’ve embraced it. IndyCar is so far behind, that I’m not sure the league, the teams or the drivers really understand that there is a market for race-used equipment and uniforms.

I wrote about this some time ago, and I wondered then, as I wonder now. What amazes me here is that not only do the teams not seem to understand that fans want race-used memorabilia, they don’t seem to understand that fans want team BRANDED items. HALF of the team websites don’t have store options, and of the ones that do, only one, Team Penske, doesn’t link to IndyCar’s website. Am I missing something here? Why wouldn’t teams want to sell their own merch?

Above and beyond the obvious, one would think that tires, the most expendable part of the race car, would make their way on to eBay. You would think that, but it never happens. I don’t understand this. What happens to all the used tires from IndyCar races? I’m not saying that every tire should be sold, but you would think that one or two might get sold to fans! As of this writing, of the hundreds of race-used tires on eBay, THREE OF THEM are IndyCar tires!

I’d like someone, and I don’t care who to explain this to me! Could someone from IndyCar, one of the teams, or Firestone to get in touch with me, and tell me why the race-used tires don’t get sold as memorabilia to fans. Do NOT try and tell me that you think fans wouldn’t buy them! NASCAR and the NHRA have shown that there is a market for race-used tires! EVEN FORMULA ONE SELLS OFF TIRES!

IndyCar and their teams should be run by smart people, yet whoever is in charge doesn’t seem to understand that there is money to be made from race-used memorabilia. It goes further than just tires. Engine parts, pit crew uniforms, driver uniforms, and damaged body panels all are in demand by fans and collectors, yet little, if anything ever comes to the regular market. Occasionally, teams and/or drivers will donate items to charity auctions and raffles, but a lot of memorabilia never sees the light of day.

This isn’t a situation where teams would lose money either. Race-used memorabilia is in such short supply, and much of the stuff that is on eBay has questionable authentication, if any. Teams could sell used racing parts, and uniforms with good authentication and make a killing! Yet only a few teams take advantage of the market. Do you know how much money you are leaving on the table?

I’m saying this because I’m a racing uniform guy, and a racing memorabilia guy. I would love to have more IndyCar stuff in my collection, but I can’t, because nothing is hitting the market. Every other sport in America has embraced the game-used memorabilia market, yet IndyCar, one of the most technologically advanced forms of motorsports in the United States doesn’t grasp this. If they don’t, it will be just another bad decision from an organization that has made so many over recent years. I really hope someone will wake up…but I’m not betting the farm on it.

By David G. Firestone

Love him or hate him, you can’t disagree with the fact that Robby Gordon LOVES to race. From five SCORE International championships, to three Baja 500 wins, three Baja 1000 wins, two wins in IndyCar, three wins in the Cup Series, and one win in the Xfinity Series, Gordon can win in any series he is in. Gordon also founded the Speed Energy Formula Off-Road series in 2012.

Gordon is the son of Robert “Baja Bob” Gordon, and grew up with off road racing. He got his start in off-road racing, and transitioned into other forms of auto racing. In his early SCORE days, Robby preferred Ford over all others. This continued in to the 1990’s, though he would never be a part of the famed Ford Rough Riders.

I recently acquired two firesuits supposedly worn by Robby Gordon’s pit crew during the early 1990’s. Research on SCORE stats and information isn’t as easy as NASCAR or IndyCar. However, I have reason to believe that these two suits date between 1994 and 1995. I’ll start with the first one, a non Nomex example, which shows some light wear. The front collar is a Velcro design with a FORD logo embroidered into it.The cowl tag is a Simpson non Nomex variation, with two flag tags. One is a size tag indicating M, the other is a made on tag indicating it was made in 8/91.Here is the first indication that this was used in SCORE, the right chest patch features an ULTRA CUSTOM WHEEL patch sewn into it.Evidence indicating that these suits date to 1994-1995 is on the left chest. Sewn into the material, which feels rather unusual, almost like a dipped polyester, is a VALVOLINE patch, and a SHILO INN patch. These two logos are clearly visible in all photos of Robby’s CART rides in 1994 and 1995. All of the chest logos are also visible in what few photos I’ve been able to find of Robby’s SCORE rides in 1995.The front torso doesn’t have any logos adorning it, nor does the belt. The legs are unadorned, and have standard cuffs.The shoulders have no adornment, and the sleeves have three red stripes on the upper sleeve, and nothing on the lower sleeve. The left sleeve has a SIMPSON patch. The back of the suit shows some light wear.The back of the neck has no adornment at all.The back torso has a large FORD blue oval patch sewn into it.I’m fully convinced this is a SCORE suit and not a CART suit. First off, no crew member would be dumb enough not to wear a Nomex suit. Second, the lack of customization is a telling piece of evidence. Between photos and videos, I’ve been able to determine that Gordon wore a blue suit in CART. While there is evidence that Gordon at the very least wore a suit with some customization, for a SCORE crew in that era, it doesn’t seem so far fetched that they would wear a cheap suit with some patches while working on the truck. Based on all of the above evidence, I can safely say that this is a SCORE pit crew suit from 1994-1995, more than likely 1994.

I have a second pit crew suit from Robby Gordon’s SCORE team, possibly from 1995, which we will examine next week.