DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Press Kits-Mark Martin 1995 Roush Racing/Valvoline Press Kit.

In 1995, Mark Martin had a great season. He had 4 wins, 13 top 5’s and 22 top 10’s. This press kit, complete with season information on Mark Martin and Roush Racing’s season and career, is in great condition.

The Driver Suit Blog-My Thoughts On The One Thing That Unites Us All

By David G. Firestone

What do Dale Earnhardt Jr., the Chicago Cubs, the Cleveland Browns, religion, and the lottery have in common? At first, it might seem like nothing. None of those things might seem to have anything in common with each other, but it isn’t the things themselves, it’s the hope of the people who support them.

The Chicago Cubs have gone 107 years without winning a World Series. The Cleveland Browns have never been to a Super Bowl. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has never won a Sprint Cup Championship, but all three are united by the undying hope of their fans. Human beings all have hope, but human beings need something to hope for, and something to inspire hope. For many, religion is that outlet. For others, it is their sports teams. For many, the hope that they could win millions in the lottery is that beacon of hope.

The history of the lottery in the United States dates back to the 1600’s, while Europe was colonizing North America. Many colonies saw gambling as harmless fun, but as English investors waned to profit from the New World, this changed quickly. As time went on, each of the 13 original colonies had a lottery system in place to help fund the colonies. It became a civic duty to play the lottery. Recessions, scandals, and corruption had almost eliminated the lottery in the United States by 1868.

In 1934, Puerto Rico, then a US colony, started a legal lottery. It would take 30 years, but in 1964, New Hampshire started a lottery. Since then, 44 of 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and the US Virgin Islands have lotteries. Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah don’t have lotteries due to religious objections. Nevada has the gambling industry, and they don’t want competition, and Alaska and Hawaii, not being mainland states, aren’t worried about losing tickets out of state.

The lottery takes several forms. Scratch off tickets, first introduced in the 1970’s, are a very popular method of playing the lottery. There are many different kinds of games, with different rules. Pick 3, pick 4, main drawing, and Powerball have their origin in “numbers games.” Numbers games were popular in poorer areas of the country, especially urban areas. The game works by drawing balls that had numbers to pick the winner. A similar game was popular in South Florida and Cuba called “Bolita” or “little ball” was where betters would bet on which number would be pulled out of a bag containing 100 numbered balls.

All the pre 1934 lotteries had one major drawback that kept them from being as accepted as it is today. They were easily rigged, and people lost money on the racketeering that took place around them. Today, the equipment, the drawing, the tickets, and every other aspect is heavily supervised and regulated so that this kind of cheating is not possible.

Anyone who thinks that lottery balls are ping pong balls has another guess coming. Lottery balls are specifically purpose designed. Made by Beitel Lottery Equipment, or Smartplay International, the balls are kept very secure at all times. According to Lotto Life, they are kept in safes, with 24 hour surveillance equipment focused on all aspects of the drawing. It isn’t known which of the machines, and which set of the lotto balls would be used until 90 minutes before the drawing.

After their life in the machine is over, what happens to the multi-colored balls that so many have placed their hope in? In many cases, they are kept by the lottery. In very rare instances, they are sold to the general public, like this example from the first Colorado Lottery.lottoball-6 - Copy (2)

The Colorado Lottery started on January 24, 1989, the first Colorado Lottery Drawing took place. It took place on Saturdays, and 42 numbers were drawn. In total, there are 1,405,006,117,752,879,898,543,142,606,244,511,569,936,384,000,000,000 different combination. This ball was one of at least two sets used.lottoball-1 It was made by the Beitel Lottery Products company in Trenton New Jersey, and their logo is still embedded in the ball. lottoball-6 - CopyTo protect the secrecy of the makeup of the balls, it has been encased in Lucite. It has a plaque stating it was from “Set B” and was used from January 24, 1989 to March 4, 1995, just over 6 years of use. These were given to former employees, media members, and players.lottoball-1 lottoball-2 lottoball-3 lottoball-4 lottoball-5 lottoball-6

Hope binds us all, we all have hope, and we all need something to hope for. Without hope, we truly have nothing. No matter where it comes from, it binds us all. So whatever hope means to you, I wish you the best.

By the way, if you, like me, are curious as to how they encase something like this in Lucite, this video should help explain it.

The Driver Suit Blog-NASCAR Napkin Rings Part 2

[Editor’s Note: I’m on vacation for July, and I will not update the tracker or paint scheme grades until August. In the meantime, I’ve got articles ready to go on Fridays. DGF]

jarretring1-7By David G. Firestone

In January, I discussed NASCAR race winner napkin rings. These were brass rings that were given to crew members at banquets after the season. I had only seen Bobby Labonte, and Jeff Burton, but I came across a couple of Dale Jarrett rings recently. Dale Jarrett is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, having won in 1999. He won 3 Daytona 500’s, in 1993, 1996, and 2000. He won a total of 32 Sprint Cup and 11 Xfinity Series races.

In 1993, he won the Daytona 500, the race came down to the white flag as Dale Jarrett passed Dale Earnhardt in what became known as “The Dale and Dale Show.” With his father Ned in the broadcast booth calling the race, Dale Jarrett won the race, his second career victory. His first, incidentally, came at Michigan in 1991, while driving by the Wood Brothers. This ring was made for the banquet. jarretring1-1It shows some wear on the inside. The top is a traditional design, jarretring1-1one side has a picture of Dale Jarrett, his signature and #18. jarretring1-2The other side has a picture of the car sandwiched in between INTERSTATE BATTERIES RACING and JOE GIBBS RACE TEAM. jarretring1-4The inside shows some wear in the form of spots.jarretring1-3 jarretring1-5 jarretring2-6

In 1994, he won his third race, the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won after an engine failure claimed Geoff Bodine and a late crash destroyed the cars of Ricky Rudd and Jeff Gordon. This ring, almost identical in design to the Daytona 500 ring was prepared for the banquet. The only difference is that the #18 in the center of the top of the ring is in yellow, as the race was sponsored by Mello Yello. jarretring2-1 jarretring2-2 jarretring2-4The small spots on the Daytona 500 ring are present here as well.jarretring2-3 jarretring2-5 jarretring1-6

I’m still on vacation, but I’ve got something fun prepared for next week…stay tuned!

The Driver Suit Blog-Cory McClenathan Hero Cards, Press Kit, and…Tire Covers?

[Editor’s Note: I’m on vacation for July, and I will not update the tracker or paint scheme grades until August. In the meantime, I’ve got articles ready to go on Fridays. DGF]

McClenathan-1By David G. Firestone

Cory McClenathan has raced in top fuel since 1991. Within that time, he has 34 wins, in 71 final round appearances. In 2015, he is making a comeback after disappearing from the sport for the last two seasons. Cory raced for Joe Gibbs Racing for many years, but now is racing for Chris Dakin and Dexter Tuttle.

I recently purchased a fan pack with two hero cards, one from 1999, which he has autographed, McClenathan-1 McClenathan-2and one from 2011-2012 when he was racing for Rapisarda Racing, an Australian-based team. McClenathan-3 McClenathan-4These are standard items. As is this press kit from 1999, which has driver, and team stats and news, and sponsor information from MBNA, who used to be a huge racing sponsor.McClenathanpresskit-1 McClenathanpresskit-3 McClenathanpresskit-13 McClenathanpresskit-26The highlight of the collection are these tire shades. McClenathanCover-3Unlike Formula 1, these are meant to protect the tires from the shade. Why is this important? Well tires are 36 inches tall by 17 inches wide. These races often take place in bright sunlight on hot days. If there was no shades, tire pressures could be very uneven, and as a direct result, the tire wouldn’t race as well, and there could be safety issued. These are designed and marketed by Jeg’s, who in addition to being a major seller of racing parts to many professional and amateur teams, is also a sponsor and team owner. These are designed for top fuel dragsters. Funny cars have a square piece that covers the wheel on the body.McClenathanCover-1 McClenathanCover-2 McClenathanCover-3 McClenathanCover-4

This pair is unused and in great condition, and has CORY MCClLENATHAN printed on the side. They appear to be made out of insulated plastic.  These are interesting items, and they come up for sale every now and again.

The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Grades-June 27, 2015

By David G. Firestone

Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/Beechcraft Chevy SS-Same scheme as Cushman, same A+ grade.

Austin Dillon #3 Weather Tech Chevy SS– Great color scheme, the stripes on the sides are a tad over designed, but they do look good, so I’ll give it an A-.

Kasey Kahne #5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevy SS-Not a fan of the color scheme, but the shark tooth motif on the front and rear makes up for it. B+

Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Jacob Companies Ford Fusion-Good color scheme, but it’s too over designed, and at best can earn a B-.

Jeff Gordon #24 AARP Member Services/United Health Care Chevy SS-A good color scheme and a great design scheme will always earn an A+.

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Richmond Water Heaters Chevy SS-The Menard’s template works well with black, and works very well with red and black. A+

Cole Whitt #35 Uponor Plumbing Products Chevy SS-Great design with a great color scheme earns an A+ every time.

Landon Cassill #40 Interstate Moving Services Chevy SS-Patriotic schemes are getting better every year, and this is an example. It looks good and I’ll give it an A+.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Windows 10 Chevy SS-I expected something much worse than this scheme. The blue works well, as does the stripes. The logos look good on the car, and it earns an A+.

Josh Wise #98 Dogecoin Ford Fusion-Such colors! Very design! Much good! OK, all joking aside, this is a really good looking car. The Doge on the rear works well, especially on in-car cameras, and the smooth design gives it an A+.

The Driver Suit Blog-Replica Helmets and Why We Need Them In Racing Part 7

By David G. Firestone

Recently, I came across some helmets this last year from a company called BrandArt. I’d never heard of the company before, and I looked them up. I thought at first that they were a memorabilia company, but it turns out they are an “Global Sourcing and Licensor Co-Branding Services in North America and Asia.” Looking at some of their helmets on eBay, their helmets range from accurate versions of helmets, as sold on Lionel’s website, to more plain versions. I’ve been saying we need more of these, and now BrandArt is leading the charge.

I got one of these helmets for Christmas. This Ricky Stenhouse Best Buy helmet.17-stenhouse-1

Let me say, right off the bat, this helmet is very well made. If there wasn’t a strap inside the helmet warning you it is for decoration, you would swear that it was a protective helmet. The quality is part of what makes these helmets good. The design on this helmet is good too. This plain helmet with the sponsor and bare design works well for getting autographs at the track or sponsor events. I also like the driver name on the visor stripe. The font they chose is really good. I don’t normally talk about fonts, but this one is really good. This makes a really good display item too. It would work well in an office, or rec room. It’s also perfectly designed to fit on a bookshelf.17-stenhouse-1 17-stenhouse-2 17-stenhouse-3 17-stenhouse-4 17-stenhouse-5 17-stenhouse-6 17-stenhouse-7

The second helmet I got is this Carl Edwards Aflac helmet. edwards-1 edwards-2 edwards-3 edwards-4 edwards-5 edwards-6 edwards-7When Carl made the jump from Roush Fenway to Joe Gibbs, Subway went with Carl, but Aflac chose not to stay. This Aflac helmet works well because black is a good background color. The green doesn’t work, blue can work sometimes, but not always, but black works well as a background color. This is another instance of a helmet that would be good to collect autographs on.

These are an older version of the helmet. Newer replica helmets have a more elongated shape, and are much more faithful in design to their on-track counterparts. BrandArt is hitting it out the park with these replica helmets, and I will get some more soon!

Editor’s Note, Next week, I’ll be starting my month long vacation.  I will have Friday Features, but I won’t update the tracker or paint scheme grades.