A Bobby Hillin Jr. Suit from his brief career with Moroso in 1991 will be in the spotlight this week.
The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 4-The Grand Finale
By David G. Firestone
The focus group of one has had its meetings, and has made its decisions. Here are all 50 teams that ran the Sprint Cup this year ranked first to last on their paint schemes:
#1-Wood Brothers #21-A classic design scheme that just seems to get better with age. The Henry Ford design combines classic and modern elements for an amazing look.
#2-Hendrick Motorsports #48 Jimmie Johnson went with a very classic look, with a day scheme and a night scheme, which worked very well. Johnson did not have a bad look all year.
#3-Michael Waltrip Racing #55 Simple traditional designs. That is the secret to their success on the leaderboard. Color schemes are great as well. Nothing wrong with these schemes.
#4-Furniture Row Racing #78 When it came down to picking a number 1 for Chevy, for both the Paint Schemie and the Leaderboard, I had to flip a coin to pick a number 1, and Johnson won. Kurt Busch ran a series of very solid schemes, not a lot to comment on and it always looks good.
#5-Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Like Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch on the Chevy side, the Toyota winner for both the Paint Schemie and Leaderboard was decided by a coin flip. More modern than the 55, all these schemes are good, with amazing paint schemes and really good design.
#6-Richard Petty Motorsports #43 This team combines classic and modern looks, and uses Petty Blue very effectively. The Transportation Impact scheme was not good at all, and kept the 43 team out of the top spot. Extra Credit for the Maurice Petty Tribute Scheme.
#7-BK Racing #83 Great designs all around, but the hood needs work. Why is it black when the rest of the car is red?
#8-BK Racing #93 See Above, but the Old Dominion scheme drags it down.
#9-Penske Racing #12-Though only raced for one race, the SKF design worked very well. A great color and great design scheme. If this had been raced for multiple races, I would have ranked it higher, but it is still a solid scheme.
#10-Richard Childress Racing #29 The Bad Boy Buggies scheme is bad, and the Rheem/Budweiser combo scheme is awful, but aside from those, Kevin Harvick has had a very good season, paint scheme wise
#11-Earnhardt Ganassi Racing #42 Get rid of the Axe Apollo scheme and the Camouflage scheme, and Juan Pablo Montoya would have the top spot.
#12-Richard Petty Motorsports #9 This set earned a place in the top 5 because it improved by a lot over the course of the season. It has a great color scheme, but the early schemes were not great, but since Stanley redesigned their logo, and made some changes to the car, it is a very nice set.
#13-Phoenix Racing/Turner Scott #51 Guy Roofing and Hendrick Cars are hideous, but apart from that, they have run a great set of paint schemes. Bonus points given for the Neil Bonnett throwback scheme.
#14-Michael Waltrip Racing #56 The Get Back and Give Back scheme is horrid, but the rest of the schemes are really good.
#15-JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Most of what they ran this year was great, but the Bushes Baked Beans car has an odd overall design, and a weird color scheme. The Clorox scheme has a bad color scheme, as does the Charter scheme, as does the Wounded Warrior Project scheme.
#16-Roush Fenway Racing #17 A pinkwashing scheme as well as the Valvoline NexGen scheme kick Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the top spot. Sad thing too, as Ricky had a very solid year when it comes to paint schemes
#17-Joe Gibbs Racing #81 Alert Energy is awful. Double Mint is awesome.
#18-Penske Racing #2 While I miss the beer colored wheels from last year, Keselowski has had a decent year, the color scheme is great, though there is too much white on the car. The Redd’s Apple Ale scheme was great, but the Fan Mosaic and Patriotic schemes need some work.
#19-Roush Fenway Racing #16 Greg Biffle had a lot of great schemes, but he had a number of awful ones , including a pinkwashing scheme as well. Get rid of the pinkwashing scheme, the Scotchguard, give blood, and Megulars schemes, and he would be in the top 5.
#20-Richard Childress Racing #27 The yellow is too bright, but other than that, the schemes are really good.
#21-Stewart Haas Racing #14 Some of these schemes are good, others not so much.
#22Hendrick Motorsports #88 Dale Jr. runs good schemes most of the time, but Soldiers of Steel, Orange Amp Energy, and Camouflage are just brutal. Additional points lost for a pinkwashing scheme.
#23-Joe Gibbs Racing #20 If the Dollar General was more plain, and did not have the orange back, I would love to give Matt Kenseth a higher spot, and a pinkwashing scheme does not help.
#24-Earnhardt Ganassi Racing #1 Bad Boy Buggies is even worse here, and the Bass Pro Shop schemes are awful. A number of good schemes here as well.
#25-FAS Lane Racing #32 The Oxy Water scheme, and the gray scale C&J Energy Services schemes do not work, but the rest of the schemes they ran do
#26-Front Row Motorsports #38 The template they run works very well when the color scheme matches that of the sponsor. When it doesn’t match, it looks awful.
#27-Front Row Motorsports #35, See above
#28-Front Row Motorsports #34, See above, aside from the CSX scheme, which looks great, and the Peanut Patch scheme which looks awful.
#29-Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 This team looks better without a primary sponsor than they do with one.
#30-Max Q Motorsports #37 Simple, yet attractive. Would be higher if they ran more races.
#31-Joe Gibbs Racing #11 The Jason Leffler tribute scheme and the FedEx delivery manager schemes are great, but the rest are just awful. I miss the Gen 5 schemes
#32-Nemco Racing #87 The word that can best describe this set is dull. Not bad, but not spectacular.
#33-Circle Team Sport #40 Interstate Moving is really good. Moon Shine Attitude Attire is really awful, and their pinkwashing scheme is even worse.
#34-Roush Fenway Racing #99 Geek Squad and Fastenal work well, the rest…not so much.
#35-Richard Childress Racing #31 A few good schemes but most of them are mediocre at best.
#36-Hendrick Motorsports #24 See Above
#37-Stewart Haas Racing #10 Worst shades of yellow in NASCAR, and the pinkwashing scheme is so much worse.
#38-Michael Waltrip Racing #15 Clint has consistently run cars with great color schemes, but awful designs. Except for Duck Dynasty, and pinkwashing, which are just hideous.
#39-Humphrey Smith Racing #19 Another car that just looks better without a primary sponsor.
#40-Germain Racing #13 Nothing really wrong, but nothing really right with these schemes.
#41-Penske Racing #22 Red and yellow is a really great color scheme, but the design is all wrong. This design gets even worse with the AAA scheme, which has an even better color scheme. The Pennzoil scheme is good, but not good enough to save the set.
#42-Stewart Haas Racing #39 I have to give them credit, their schemes are mostly awful, but at least they are creative.
#43-Tommy Baldwin Racing #7 Worst. Door. Number. Ever. The rest of the car isn’t good either, and a pinkwashing scheme doesn’t help.
#44-Phil Parsons Racing# 98 The schemes come in one of two food groups, bland or awful. Great colors, but the designs are horrid.
#45-Levine Family Racing #95 Worst template in NASCAR.
#46-Hendrick Motorsports #5 Innovation can be a bad thing. This, for example is what happens when you let Karl Benjamin design your cars.
#47-Circle Sport/RCR #33 It amazes me how two different teams can use the same car number, and both can put awful designs on their cars. Special credit for the Honey Nut Cheerios scheme, which is just horrific.
#48-Xxxtreme Motorsports #44 Yuck.
#49-Hamilton-Means Racing #52 Paulie Harraka had a great scheme, but Brian Keselowski…not so much.
#50-Swan Racing #30/26 Please tell me this is an experiment on how to make the worst paint scheme in history? Is Swan Racing competing with Travis Pastrana for the most obnoxious paint scheme in NASCAR?
My Thoughs on Shopping Malls…
By David G. Firestone
Admittedly, I do not go to shopping malls all that often. The mall houses the biggest collection of douchebags on the planet, and I try to avoid it at all costs. I’ve gone to the mall 3 times in the last year, and I get annoyed by things every time. This last weekend, I spend the bulk of my weekend at the mall trying to finish my shopping. After spending more time than a human being ever should in a shopping mall, I have a number of observations from my last 3 times…
*To the girl being questioned by security, I hope you have an explanation for the fact that there is a dress clearly visible wadded up under your shirt.
*Jet black pantyhose do not qualify as pants.
*If the pockets on your shorts stick out underneath the end of your shorts, that is proof you did them yourself. I have a hard time believing that stores would sell that
*To the Windows 8 phone display…some free advice:Your display is to sell phones, but you have a guitar leaning on a chair in front of a laser beam background, but you have no phones to be seen…am I missing something here?
*To any store who’s business model is some variation of “Selling things that smell nice,” some free advice:If I can smell you three stores away, or one floor above, tone it down!
*If you pay more that $35 for a t-shirt, or buy a shirt from a store that only sells merchandise with its own name and/or logo on it, please shoot yourself.
*To the dead sea minerals stand, If I walk by you 3 times, and all 3 times, I ignore you entirely, what the hell makes you think anything will change the 4th time? If it was the hot girl with the sexy accent I met last time, I would listen, but a 34 year old man with frosted tips, and an Abercrombe shirt won’t work.
*To the toy kiosk, You know how I can tell you sell knockoffs? The characters names are misspelled on the package. It’s Lightning McQueen, not Lighetning McKween.
*I don’t know where “Hilfiger University” is, but I’m willing to bet it is on the same campus as Douchebag Tech.
*If you are going to go to a mall in a 3-piece suit to get something to eat, aim a little higher than McDonald’s…Go A&W or higher.
*You can get cell phone service on top of Mount Everest, but I can’t get a bar when I am standing next to the Disney Store…
*This one is more of a legit question…To the car dealer(s) who have models on display in a shopping mall…do you do anything to the car after parking it in the mall to keep people from stealing it? I would guess you take the battery out, but anything else?
*To the woman I met outside of Macy’s…if you are that drunk and the sun is out you need help…seriourly.
*If you walk into a Chicago Cubs store wearing White Sox, Brewers or Cardinals gear, please punch yourself in the face as hard as you can.
*To the woman who offered me this new “makeup for men” I really hope you have a backup plan for when this business venture fails.
*”I’m going to the Swatch Store!” said no one in the last 20 years.
*Sears has something called the Kardashian Kollection, because having the Kim Kardashian Kollection doesn’t exactly look good on a sign…
*The Kardashian Kollection…for women who want to dress like skanks but shop at a reputable establishment.
*Cologne sold in a cigar tube…makes as much sense as selling shaving cream in a pink rubber duck.
*Why the fuck does McDonalds have a meeting room? A meeting room at McDonald’s? Why would you ever need a meeting room at McDonald’s?
*Exactly how many soft preztel stands does one mall need exactly? I’m pretty sure 3 is too many.
*Would someone please set fire to the Crocs store?
*Mini golf, with black lights, and spinning flashing strobes…Do they charge extra for getting sick? It must happen a lot.
*To the bimbo who is standing behind me, allow me to answer your question…it is cold outside because it is winter in Chicago. You are the one who chose to wear a mini-skirt so shut up!
*I love how the M&Ms reps handing out samples while wearing NASCAR shirts looked at me funny because I’m wearing a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup NASCAR jacket.
*This mall has 3 pretzel stands, 3 places to get tea, 4 coffee shops, 9 places that specialize in desert, and 35 places in total to buy food, but not one store has a decent big and tall selection.
*3 Sunglasses Huts? 3?
*A used clothing store in an indoor mall? Why?
*To Frederick’s of Hollywood, if you don’t like guys staring in the windows, don’t put pictures of women in erotic lingerie near the windows.
*If I could walk from one part of the mall to another without being asked to upgrade my smartphone, that’d be great.
*J. Crew is still in business? I haven’t heard of that brand in years.
*I love how in the description of Lush there is an asterisk after “organic”
*It’s funny how the laundromat down the street from my house has a bill acceptor that can accept $5 bills, yet the newest, most advanced vending machines this mall has to offer can only accept singles…especially for a $2.25 soda.
*Males should never shop in a women’s clothing store for a wife or a girlfriend. One of two things will occur. Either they will buy something in the wrong size, or something that the owner of the store never dreamed they would sell to someone who has working vision.
*To the youth of America, underwear belongs INSIDE your clothes…that is why they call it underwear. I should never have to see anyone’s underwear in a public situation. Learn how to dress.
*There is nothing illegal about not wearing shorts when it is cold outside. Saturday was 16 degrees outside, why are you wearing shorts?
*To Bath and Body Works, The Body Shop, L’Occitane, or any other store that sells scented things, is there a clause in your lease that forces you to pay to have the space cleaned after you leave? If I can smell your store from the floor above, or 3 stores away, I’m willing to bet the scent doesn’t leave quietly.
*Who’s bright idea was it to have the 10th largest mall in the United States to only have 4 public bathrooms, one of which can only hold 3 people at a time?
*Free stuff rules no matter how old you are!
*So you brought your elderly mother to a shopping mall on a Saturday during the Christmas rush, and you are shocked she was overwhelmed?
*A group of young teenage girls ran up to a man in his 40’s and asked to take a picture with him because they like his shirt, and they couldn’t understand why he was uncomfortable.
*$300 for a pair of sneakers, $150 for a shirt, a pair of earrings for $200, this is why I don’t shop at Nordstrom.
*Could someone explain to me why Abercrombe and Fitch does not have windows in their stores? Do they want someone to see their clothes from outside and come in and buy them?
*Why does Auntie Anne’s have a Twitter feed?
*Guys, your shirts come with a top button for a reason, no one wants to see your chest. Please start using them.
*Since when did remote control helicopters become a hot item?
*Windows has a retail store? All we need is an Android store and the trifecta will be complete!
*I can upgrade to an iPhone 4 for $35 or buy a cracked one for $65…what will I chose?
*and finally…The Nestle Toll House Cafe has awesome cookies, why aren’t there any more of these in Chicago?
The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 3- Toyota
By David G. Firestone
The Paint Scheme Leaderboard continues with Toyota today. This has been a stressful series, and it will be even more so next week, when I rank all 50 teams in order from best to worst. Enough complaining, on to the schemes.
#1 Michael Waltrip Racing #55 Simple traditional designs. That is the secret to their success on the leaderboard. Color schemes are great as well. Nothing wrong with these schemes.
#2 Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Like Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch on the Chevy side, the Toyota winner for both the Paint Schemie and Leaderboard was decided by a coin flip. More modern than the 55, all these schemes are good, with amazing paint schemes and really good design.
#3 BK Racing #83 Great designs all around, but the hood needs work. Why is it black when the rest of the car is red?
#4 BK Racing #93 See Above, but the Old Dominion scheme drags it down.
#5 Michael Waltrip Racing #56 The Get Back and Give Back scheme is horrid, but the rest of the schemes are really good.
#6 JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Most of what they ran this year was great, but the Bushes Baked Beans car has an odd overall design, and a weird color scheme. The Clorox scheme has a bad color scheme, as does the Charter scheme, as does the Wounded Warrior Project scheme.
#7 Joe Gibbs Racing #81 Alert Energy is awful. Double Mint is awesome.
#8 Joe Gibbs Racing #20 If the Dollar General was more plain, and did not have the orange back, I would love to give Matt Kenseth a higher spot, and a pinkwashing scheme does not help.
#9 Joe Gibbs Racing #11 The Jason Leffler tribute scheme and the FedEx delivery manager schemes are great, but the rest are just awful. I miss the Gen 5 schemes
#10 Nemco Racing #87 The word that can best describe this set is dull. Not bad, but not spectacular.
#11 Michael Waltrip Racing #15 Clint has consistently run cars with great color schemes, but awful designs. Except for Duck Dynasty, and pinkwashing, which are just hideous.
#12 Humphrey Smith Racing #19 Another car that just looks better without a primary sponsor.
#13 Hamilton-Means Racing #52 Paulie Harraka had a great scheme, but Brian Keselowski…not so much.
#14 Swan Racing #30/26 Please tell me this is an experiment on how to make the worst paint scheme in history? Is Swan Racing competing with Travis Pastrana for the most obnoxious paint scheme in NASCAR?
Next Week, The big finale, all 49 teams ranked from best to worst!
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Jody Miller 2005 Race Worn Driver Suit
A uniquly designed Jody Miller Toyota Tundra race worn driver suit from 2005 will be examined this week.
DGF2099 Proudctions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Kenny Wallace 1999-2000 Race-Worn Driver Suit
Kenny Wallace is in the spotlight this week, as we look at a race-worn driver suit circa 1999-2000, which he has boldly autographed across the front.
The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 2- Chevy
By David G. Firestone
Last week, I ranked the Ford teams based on their paint schemes, and this week I will do the Chevy teams and next week I’ll rank the Toyota teams, so without further ado all the Chevy teams ranked from best to worst:
#1 Hendrick Motorsports #48 Jimmie Johnson went with a very classic look, with a day scheme and a night scheme, which worked very well. Johnson did not have a bad look all year.
#2 Furniture Row Racing #78 When it came down to picking a number 1 for Chevy, for both the Paint Schemie and the Leaderboard, I had to flip a coin to pick a number 1, and Johnson won. Kurt Busch ran a series of very solid schemes, not a lot to comment on and it always looks good.
#3 Richard Childress Racing #29 The Bad Boy Buggies scheme is bad, and the Rheem/Budweiser combo scheme is awful, but aside from those, Kevin Harvick has had a very good season, paint scheme wise
#4 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing #42 Get rid of the Axe Apollo scheme and the Camouflage scheme, and Juan Pablo Montoya would have the top spot.
#5 Phoenix Racing/Turner Scott #51 Guy Roofing and Hendrick Cars are hideous, but apart from that, they have run a great set of paint schemes. Bonus points given for the Neil Bonnett throwback scheme.
#6 Richard Childress Racing #27 The yellow is too bright, but other than that, the schemes are really good.
#7 Stewart Haas Racing #14 Some of these schemes are good, others not so much.
#8 Hendrick Motorsports #88 Dale Jr. runs good schemes most of the time, but Soldiers of Steel, Orange Amp Energy, and Camouflage are just brutal. Additional points lost for a pinkwashing scheme.
#9 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing #1 Bad Boy Buggies is even worse here, and the Bass Pro Shop schemes are awful. A number of good schemes here as well.
#10 Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 This team looks better without a primary sponsor than they do with one.
#11 Max Q Motorsports #37 Simple, yet attractive. Would be higher if they ran more races.
#12 Circle Team Sport #40 Interstate Moving is really good. Moon Shine Attitude Attire is really awful, and their pinkwashing scheme is even worse.
#13 Richard Childress Racing #31 A few good schemes but most of them are mediocre at best.
#14-Hendrick Motorsports #24 See Above
#14 Stewart Haas Racing #10 Worst shades of yellow in NASCAR, and the pinkwashing scheme is so much worse.
#15 Stewart Haas Racing #39 I have to give them credit, their schemes are mostly awful, but at least they are creative.
#16 Tommy Baldwin Racing #7 Worst. Door. Number. Ever. The rest of the car isn’t good either, and a pinkwashing scheme doesn’t help.
#17 Hendrick Motorsports #5 Innovation can be a bad thing. This, for example is what happens when you let Karl Benjamin design your cars.
#19 Circle Sport/RCR #33 It amazes me how two different teams can use the same car number, and both can put awful designs on their cars. Special credit for the Honey Nut Cheerios scheme, which is just horrific.
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Scott Vieira Chicago Cubs Jersey
Scott Vieira wore this jersey during Chicago Cubs spring training from 1999 to 2000. It has been signed by a number of former MLB players after the fact, and we will examine it in detail this week.
The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 1-Ford
By David G. Firestone
I started ranking all the teams last week, with the Paint Schemie Awards, and I figured I would continue this week with the Paint Scheme Leaderboard. The concept is that over the next 4 weeks, I will rank all the drivers by team. The rules are the same as the Paint Schemies, and I will rank the teams, first by Manufacturer, and then by all the teams running the Sprint Cup Series. A random drawing has Ford going first, followed by Chevy next week, and then Toyota the following week. The last week, will be all 50 teams that ran in the Sprint Cup Series this year.
So, without further ado, let’s look at how Ford’s NASCAR teams fared in the paint scheme world this year:
#1-Wood Brothers #21-A classic design scheme that just seems to get better with age. The Henry Ford design combines classic and modern elements for an amazing look.
#2-Richard Petty Motorsports #43 This team combines classic and modern looks, and uses Petty Blue very effectively. The Transportation Impact scheme was not good at all, and kept the 43 team out of the top spot. Extra Credit for the Maurice Petty Tribute Scheme.
#3 Penske Racing #12-Though only raced for one race, the SKF design worked very well. A great color and great design scheme. If this had been raced for multiple races, I would have ranked it higher, but it is still a solid scheme.
#4 Richard Petty Motorsports #9 This set earned a place in the top 5 because it improved by a lot over the course of the season. It has a great color scheme, but the early schemes were not great, but since Stanley redesigned their logo, and made some changes to the car, it is a very nice set.
#5 Roush Fenway Racing #17 A pinkwashing scheme as well as the Valvoline NexGen scheme kick Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the top spot. Sad thing too, as Ricky had a very solid year when it comes to paint schemes.
#6 Penske Racing #2 While I miss the beer colored wheels from last year, Keselowski has had a decent year, the color scheme is great, though there is too much white on the car. The Redd’s Apple Ale scheme was great, but the Fan Mosaic, pinkwashing, and Patriotic schemes need some work.
#7 Roush Fenway Racing #16 Greg Biffle had a lot of great schemes, but he had a number of awful ones as well. Get rid of the pinkwashing scheme, the Scotchguard, give blood, and Megulars schemes, and he would be in the top 5.
#8 FAS Lane Racing #32 The Oxy Water scheme, and the gray scale C&J Energy Services schemes do not work, but the rest of the schemes they ran do.
#9 Front Row Motorsports #38 The template they run works very well when the color scheme matches that of the sponsor. When it doesn’t match, it looks awful.
#10 Front Row Motorsports #35, See above
#11 Front Row Motorsports #34, See above, aside from the CSX scheme, which looks great, and the Peanut Patch scheme which looks awful.
#12 Roush Fenway Racing #99 Geek Squad and Fastenal work well, the rest…not so much.
#13 Germain Racing #13 Nothing really wrong, but nothing really right with these schemes.
#14 Penske Racing #22 Red and yellow is a really great color scheme, but the design is all wrong. This design gets even worse with the AAA scheme, which has an even better color scheme. The Pennzoil scheme is good, but not good enough to save the set.
#15 Phil Parsons Racing# 98 The schemes come in one of two food groups, bland or awful. Great colors, but the designs are horrid.
#16 Levine Family Racing #95 Worst template in NASCAR.
#17 Xxxtreme Motorsports #44 Yuck.
Next Week, the Chevy Leaderboard!
Vintage Item Spotlight-Richard Nixon Bill Signer Pen
By David G. Firestone
We have discussed so called “bill signer” pens a couple of times, and for this article, we will shift gears. Richard Nixon’s entire Presidency can be summed up with the word Watergate. Prior to that, he was a popular president, who did a lot for the country.
On October 20, 1972, while the scandal was beginning to heat up, and with the elections in sight, President Nixon was in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, and while at Independence Hall, signed “H.R. 14370 To provide fiscal assistance to State and local governments, to authorize Federal collection o£ State individual income taxes, and for other purposes.” He did so using this custom Parker 45 pen.
The pen is blue in color, and has Richard Nixon’s signature on the side of the blue plastic. 
The pen shows heavy use, with cracks on the blue plastic. The tip is also destroyed. Given what was going on in Washington at the time, that makes sense. Just 10 days earlier, the FBI had announced that the Nixon re-election committee had been involved in a huge ring of illegal spying and surveillance. Nixon had to be on edge, and it is very likely he very aggressively signed his name on the document. 
The pen still has the original pen box, customized with the Presidential Seal and Nixon’s signature emblazoned in gold on a white background. The inside has red felt, and holds the pen very snugly.
Accompanying the pen is a card the length of the pen box with a description of the signing in blue script on a tan background. 
It was one of the last moments of pride for a presidency that would see its end in scandal less than two years later. It did change our society, but the man who used the pen would also change our society.
DGF2099-Main Page 