This week’s episode features something that countless racing enthusiasts wore this Richard Petty Driving Expirence suit to race in real race cars on real tracks.
Tag: nascar sprint cup series
The Driver Suit Blog-2015 Paint Scheme Tracker
By David G. Firestone
From here on out, I will publish a complete list of 2015 paint schemes that have been announced, on Wednesdays. I will grade them as normal on Saturdays. Again these should be taken with a grain of salt as they can and often are changed between now and the next season. So without further ado, the first 2015 trackers!
Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion–Same basic design as 2014, but with no gold stripe, vintage Miller Crest, or hop designs on the side.
Austin Dillon #3 Cheerios Chevy SS–No change
Austin Dillon #3 Dow Chevy SS–No change
Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Chevy SS–No change
Kevin Harvick #4 Jimmie Johns Chevy SS–No change
Kevin Harvick #4 Outback Steakhouse–No Change
Kevin Harvick #4 Ditech Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, blue, and white is the primary color scheme
Kasey Kahne #5 Great Clips Chevy SS–No Change
Kasey Kahne #5 Time Warner Cable Chevy SS–No Change
Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy SS–Complete redesign from last year, black, and dark blue replaces light blue and silver, and the design has been completely revamped.
Trevor Bayne #6 Advocare Ford Fusion-New team, new sponsor, red, white and blue is the color scheme.
Danica Patrick #10 Aspen Dental Chevy SS–Same basic design as last year, but the blue ovals on the white are more pronounced.
Tony Stewart #14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy SS–Same color scheme as last year, but with a new design on the side.
Tony Stewart #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevy SS–Same color scheme as last year, but with a new design on the side.
Tony Stewart #14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil1 Chevy SS–No Change
Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Fire Ant Killer Ford Fusion–No change
Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Bug-B-Gon Ford Fusion-New sponsor, new design, red, black, and white is the primary color scheme.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fastenal Ford Fusion-New primary sponsor, blue, and white is the color scheme.
Carl Edwards #19 Stanley Toyota Camry-New team and new sponsor, yellow, black, and white is the color scheme.
Matt Kenseth #20 DeWalt Toyota Camry-New sponsor, black, green, yellow, and white is the color scheme.
Joey Logano #22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion–No change
Paul Menard #27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menard’s Chevy SS–No change
Ryan Newman #31 Cat Chevy SS–Same color scheme, but the car as a whole has been redesigned
Ryan Newman #31 Quicken Loans Chevy SS–No change
Ty Dillion #33 Yuengling Brewery Chevy SS-New sponsor, red, white, and blue is the primary color scheme.
Kurt Busch #41Haas CNC Chevy SS–Same color scheme, but the car has been completely redesigned.
Kurt Busch #41 Slate Water Heaters Chevy SS–No change
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Bobby Labonte Replica Suit
A replica Bobby Labonte suit from his days with Ask.com in 2009, which has been made by Simpson
The Driver Suit Blog-Commemorative Patches…and Why I HATE Them!
By David G. Firestone
Derek Jeter has had his number retired. Several teams this year have various anniversaries they are celebrating. All of them are wearing commemorative patches on their uniforms. Why is this important to The Driver Suit Blog? Because too much salt will ruin the soup. What does that mean, well, I saw that Jeter was wearing a patch to commemorate his upcoming retirement, and, well it got me thinking, and I’d like to talk about this issue, which has been getting on my nerves for a while. Sports uniforms in 2014 are designed to move merchandise, and this is the case in racing. I can’t begin to put the blame for this on NASCAR, so I won’t. But I do think that what happened in 1998 is a perfect example of why it doesn’t really work.
In 1998, NASCAR turned 50. In 1948, Bill France Sr. saw the potential for a unified stock car racing series, so at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, a series of meetings took place. France was in charge of the National Championship Stock Car Circuit or NCSSC, which was founded in 1947, but when the AAA refused to fund the series, France had to make do. Fonty Flock would win the 1947 NCSSC Championship. In December, the meetings took place at the Streamline, and the Series was supposed to be renamed the National Stock Car Racing Association, or NSCRA, but that name was used by a rival organization, so on December 14, 1947, the name NASCAR or National Association of Stock Car Racing Association. NASCAR itself was founded on February 21, 1948.
On February 15, 1998, almost 50 years to that day, the 1998 racing season began in great style with Dale Earnhardt Sr. winning the Daytona 500. NASCAR as a whole celebrated the anniversary in grand style, with NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers being named, and the sports history was celebrated. For an event like this, you need a good logo for it, so this design was utilized to commemorate the 1998 season.Derek Jeter has had his number retired. Several teams this year have various anniversaries they are celebrating. All of them are wearing commemorative patches on their uniforms. Why is this important to The Driver Suit Blog? Because too much salt will ruin the soup. I saw that Jeter was wearing a patch to commemorate his upcoming retirement, and, well it got me thinking, and I’d like to talk about this issue, which has been getting on my nerves for a while. Sports uniforms in 2014 are designed to move merchandise, and this is the case in racing. I can’t begin to put the blame for this on NASCAR, so I won’t. But I do think that what happened in 1998 is a perfect example of why it doesn’t really work.
Every driver suit had this patch somewhere, as this Ted Musgrave example from that season shows.
Decals would up on helmets as well. 
NASCAR used this to move merchandise, but it was so overused in telecasts and car designs, that I intentionally didn’t buy that much NASCAR stuff during that time. I could not wait for the season to end, and I didn’t have to look at that logo again. Sports uniforms as a whole are using more of these patches to sell merchandise, and frankly it’s now completely out of control. Sports jerseys retail about $100 on the low end, and these patches are used to sell more of them. Is a logo like that really worth shelling out $100 for a new jersey, or shirt, or jacket? I’m gonna say no.
After the 1998 season, the logo did go away, but not before another major issue with these types of logos come up. When these logos are being used, merchandise sells. When the season ends, and a new season begins, the logos aren’t selling as much, and the retailers who sell merchandise have a lot of this stuff that they have to put on sale to move it. This is not a small issue for retailers, as many of them are mom and pop stores whose profit margins are razor thin enough. In many instances, these items will be sold at a loss to make room for new merchandise. People will say that these are “collector’s items” but prices on eBay would lead me to believe that this is not the case. They make money for a short time, and lose money in the long term. This has become the case in general with commemorative logos on merchandise.
If this logo had been used on merchandise, but hadn’t been used in the telecasts as much as it was, I would be willing to work with it a bit more, but even in 2014, 16 years after the fact, my hatred for this logo is still with me. Words can’t say how much I hate seeing this logo again. What I’m about to say next might seem odd, but it is the truth…I don’t think it’s a bad logo. In fact, I think it’s a good logo, but I was so sick of seeing it, that I hate it. When you as a fan would watch a 3 hour long race, and had to see this logo in the corner while the race was on, and at every commercial break, it got really old, really fast.
It’s a problem with sports uniforms that’s endemic. It started with anniversaries, and moved on to number retirements, old stadiums closing, new stadiums opening, announcers retiring, players about to retire, and even anniversaries of tragic events. It has gotten out of hand. It moves merchandise in the short term, which is good, but too much salt will ruin the soup every time. Commemorative patches need to be toned down…way down.
Editor’s Note, we are now in October, and now starts the Pinktober, Pinkwashing, call it whatever you want, but for the next month, sports teams across the country will be using pink on uniforms and equipment to raise money for in support of breast cancer. Much of this does not go to serious research, but to more “feel good” charities that don’t really help. Toward that end, all pinkwashing schemes will earn an automatic F. If someone is bold enough to try pinkwashing and camo, it will earn them a one rank loss on the Paint Scheme Leaderboard, and automatic disqualification for the best paint scheme set in the Schemies.
First, we have some 2015 Schemes…
Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy SS It has a good color scheme, and while it’s overdesigned, it still looks better than the current scheme. I’ll give it a C+
Ty Dillon #33 Yuengling Brewery Chevy SS I love the faded glory design, I think it works well, and I’ll give it an A+
Now onto the 2014 schemes…
Jamie McMurray #1 McDonald’s Monopoly Chevy SS Overall design is good, I like the color scheme, and it is a great looking car, A+
Michael Annett #7 Cypress Chevy SS Overdesigned and has a goofy color scheme earns an F every time.
Clint Bowyer #15 Five Hour Energy Pink Lemonade Toyota Camry Pinkwashing earns an automatic F.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Cargill Beef Ford Fusion I like the black flames on the blue background, but the orange and white stripes take away from it. It kills a great look with a great color scheme, and takes it from an A to a B-
Timmy Hill #32 US Chrome Ford Fusion Great simple design with a great color scheme earns an A+
Josh Wise #98 Vapor Station Ford Fusion Good design, good color scheme, A+
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Tom Johansen Firesuit
Pit crew member Tom Johansen was involved with this prototype suit from 2006.
The Driver Suit Blog-Two For One! Steve Lorenzen and Miss Winston
By David G. Firestone
Gonna do a two for one this week. Two suits this week, in a good mood, gonna spread the love. Our first week is my first Stand 21 suit, a 2000-2001 Toyota Atlantic series suit worn by Steve Lorenzen. The Toyota Atlantic Championship was a racing series in Champ Car that ran from 1977 to 1988 as the Formula Atlantic Championship. It then became part of Champ Car from 1989 to 2005, then it became Champ Car Atlantic from 2006-2007. After than from 2008-2009 it was unaffiliated with any major racing series, and is currently on hiatus.
This particular suit was worn by driver Steve Lorenzen. Lorenzen raced in the Toyota Atlantic Championship from 2000-2001 for 6 races in total. He did not have any success, and left the series after 2001. 
The suit shows light use, having been raced for only 6 races, and is FIA certified. The collar has a Stand 21 logo on either side.
A warranty label is present on the inside of the collar in French and English. 
The front of the suit has a YOKOHAMA and MCI WORLD COM logo on the right side,
and on the left is a TOYOTA ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP logo,
and nothing except stripes on the torso.
The shoulders have no epaulets,
no logos on the top of the sleeves 
and STAND 21 logos on the ends, just below an arm restraint on each sleeve.
The second item is a jump suit worn by Miss Winston in the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.
Miss Winston was an idea thought up in the 1970’s. The idea was to have a beauty queen with the drivers in Victory Lane after races. The idea died after the Winston Cup turned to the Nextel Cup, but when Sprint took over in 2009, the idea was revived. It is a simple red polyester jumpsuit 
with a Winston logo on the chest,
a white belt, 
straps on the legs, 
and short short sleeves. 
Miss Winston was an idea thought up in the 1970’s. The idea was to have a beauty queen with the drivers in Victory Lane after races. The idea died after the Winston Cup turned to the Nextel Cup, but when Sprint took over in 2009, the idea was revived.
Now we move on to…
PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!
Kasey Kahne #5 Design the 5 Chevy SS This is an awful scheme, even by Kasey Kahne standards. I can’t say anything good about it, so I will just give it an F
Greg Biffle #16 3M/W.B. Mason Ford Fusion Another terrible Greg Biffle scheme, another D grade.
Ryan Newman #31 Quicken Loans Fan Designed Chevy SS Great scheme, I like the black and gray effect, and the color scheme is good, A+
David Ragan #34 Wendell Scott Tribute Ford Fusion There is nothing wrong with this paint scheme. Color and design are perfect and it earns an A+
David Ragan #34 Plimpton Hills Ford Fusion See above, and you know it’s fall when pumpkin chucking ads start popping up. A+
Kurt Busch #41 Haas CNC 500th Start Chevy SS Kurt is starting his 500th race this week at Dover, and to celebrate, he is running a special paint scheme. The color scheme is decent, it has a gray scale look, but it is somewhat overdesigned. I wish Kurt would have a scheme for his 500th start that is better than a C, but that is how the cookie crumbles.
The Driver Suit Blog-I Love The Tide Ride!
By David G. Firestone
When I did The Paint Schemies last year, I also did a Top 10 list of Sponsors I Miss In NASCAR. Number 7 was Tide detergent. Tide was a major sponsor of NASCAR from the 1980’s to the mid 2000’s. That orange, yellow, white and blue car was distinctive without going too far. The scheme never evolved because it didn’t have to. It was one of the best schemes ever.
Like The Family Channel and Kodiak, I sometimes buy racing stuff because it is from the Tide Ride. Started in 1987, the “Tide Ride” was a staple in the Sprint Cup Series, and was used heavily until 2006, when the sponsorship left PPI Racing, and wasn’t seen in NASCAR since. Some of the most memorable Tide Ride moments were the 1989 Daytona 500 where Darrell Waltrip did the Icky Shuffle in victory lane, the 1997 Brickyard 400 won by Ricky Rudd, and the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 which is tied as the closest race in NASCAR history, won by Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch.
One of my favorite items is a Bobby Hamilton driver suit circa 2004-2005. 
This design can be seen in photos from 2004 and 2005, so I’m not exactly sure when it was used. Unlike most suits I have seen, it has the car number on the collar.
It has a white top, 
and on the torso logo, there is a yellow and blue stripe in a diagonal arrangement. 
On the back of the suit, the Tide logo is on the same place in the front, with the same stripe pattern as the front. 
The belt has Bobby Hamilton Jr. on the front 
and http://www.ppi-racing.com on the back.
The suit has no TV logos on the sleeves or legs.
Ricky Rudd was Tide’s driver in the 1990’s, and there is a lot of Rudd merchandise. For example, this Simpson mini helmet from the late 1990’s. It is a perfect replica of his late 1990’s helmet, but in a 1/4 scale. 
This Ricky Rudd 1/24 scale die-cast from 1998 goes with it…
The last Tide Ride item I have is this 1:87 replica hauler. This was a perfect replica of what Ricky used during his time with Hendrick and was sponsored by Tide.
Now we move on to…
PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!
Before we start, I have something I need to address, earlier this week, I discussed why I did not like the new paint scheme elements for the Chase drivers. I thought a long time about how I would approach this in the paint scheme grades, and decided that since the drivers were forced into this situation, that I would not hold it against them in the grading rules. So the Chase schemes, unless they are new schemes will not be affected since this was not of their choosing.
We have a couple of 2015 schemes, courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing
Carl Edwards #19 Stanley/DeWalt Toyota Camry The color scheme is good, the side design could be a little more toned down, and again, I’m taking this with a grain of salt, since there can be design changes before the season starts, but this is a solid B+ design.
Matt Keseth #20 DeWalt/Stanley Toyota Camry…The Killer Bees have returned! Good solid design with a great color scheme earns an A+, and like Carl Edwards above, I’m taking it with a grain of salt.
Now on to the 2014 Schemes…
Jamie McMurray #1 Belkin/WEMO Chevy SS Lime green does not work on a race car. It has a good design scheme but the color scheme is awful! I can’t help but give it a D-
Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Designate a Driver Chevy SS Good color scheme, decent design scheme, A
Michael Annett #7 Cypress HQ Chevy SS No. Redeeming. Design. Elements. Whatsoever. F.
Michael Annett #7 Golden Coral/Feed the Children Chevy SS See Above. F.
David Ragan #34 Clean Harbors Ford Fusion Same scheme as The Pete Store, same A+ Grade
David Gilliland #38 Love’s Truck Stops Ford Fusion The only bad thing I can say about this scheme is I don’t like the back bumper design. Other than that, great color scheme and reasonably simple design. Final Grade: B+
David Gilliland #38 Love’s Truck Stops/Jack Czapla Ford Fusion See Above
Justin Allgaier #51 Plan B Sales Chevy SS See Michael Annett above. F
Home Beer Brew Project:Final Update
After two weeks of brewing, and two weeks of carbonation, I finally got to enjoy the fruits of my labor. After work last night, I cracked one of these babies open, and I have to say that it was really good! I will definitive do this again!
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Race-Used Equipment
A collection of NASCAR, and NHRA race used equipment, including parts and sheet metal.
The Driver Suit Blog-Oakley…Not Just For Sunglasses Anymore!
By David G. Firestone
When you say “driver suit” you think of names like Simpson, Sparco, Impact!, OMP, Stand 21, and Momo, you don’t automatically think of Oakley. Oakley started in 1975 as a sunglasses company by Jim Jannard in his garage in Foothill Ranch California. He got the name from Oakley, his English Setter. He went from working in his garage to one of the biggest sunglasses companies in the world. They design eyewear for athletes, the military, skiers, and, starting in the late 2000’s, motorsports apparel.
Oakley makes a number of racing items, the most prominent being driver suits. IndyCar drivers Justin Wilson, Ed Carpenter, Mike Conway, and Josef Newgarden all wear Oakley driver suits as do Alex Bowman, Ryan Truex, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Michael Waltrip, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in NASCAR and Tony Schumacher in the NHRA. While they make suits for the top drivers in the sport, for some reason they don’t seem to sell suits through their own site, you have to go to a third-party site to buy their racing suits…which to me seems odd, because no one else ever does that.
This particular suit was worn by Jason Romesburg, who was the rear tire changer for Paul Menard in 2010. Menard had a decent season, with a top 5, and 6 top 10’s and 17 laps led. The suit shows heavy use, with the right cuff on the pant leg destroyed.
In addition to the damage to the pant leg, what strikes me about this suit is that the material seems so light. While it is safety certified, it does not feel like a Nomex suit. It is very light for a suit of its size.
The suit is a two-piece and the jacket does not show as much wear as the pants, and I understand the reason. The logo about the Menard’s logo is for Mastercraft Doors. 
Paul Menard races with Menard’s on the quarter panel and a rotating set of sponsors on the hood. Mastercraft Doors was on the hood for 3 races in 2010, the Brickyard 400, the Carfax 400 at Michigan, and the Ford 400 at Homestead. While the jacket doesn’t show as much wear, it does show some staining on the sleeves. 
There are stains on the white area of the sleeves. Since Romesburg was a tire changer, this is to be expected.
The two piece suit is very popular with pit crews because it has the same fire protection as a one piece but with less restriction than a one piece. If you have ever worn a one-piece jumpsuit you know that it does restrict movement, as opposed to a jacket and pants of the exact same size. So when you are changing 4 tires in 14 seconds, you need every edge you get. What I don’t see on the jacket are arm gussets. These would be used to add movement without subtracting fire protection. I have two theories on this, either the suit fit well enough that they weren’t needed, or because the crews were switching jackets so often that expense or time dictated that arm gussets couldn’t be used.
One detail I love are the television logos on the sleeves. The dual logos on the sleeves look good and actually work well for both sponsors. The suit actually looks pretty good, but I do not like the quilt pattern on the legs, because it isn’t represented on the jacket, and it does look pretty odd in this respect. It does look like the two were designed and made by different people. I’m also amazed by how lackluster the warranty label is…
That is the shortest warranty label I have ever seen on a modern suit. Let’s compare it to a Simpson tag…
Wow that is a short warranty label, also, I don’t think a skull and crossbones don’t belong on this kind of suit, but it does say what it needs to say, just in a much shorter form than most driver suits.
In short, Oakley is making decent suits, and they are doing what they are designed to do, protect the driver from fire. I think Oakley suit could catch with minor league racers, provided they start marketing them better. The fact that they don’t sell them through their own website, and provide more info on the drivers who wear their suits make it hard to sell them to the general public. Puma, which has a lot of talent on its roster too, does not want to sell through its own website. Why they don’t is a mystery, as there is a lot of money in these suits, and people will pay for high quality suits made by a reputable company.
Before I get to the Paint Scheme Reviews, we have some breaking news on a story I had discussed in my Silly Season post a few weeks ago. I had mentioned at the time that Comcast was in negotiations with NASCAR to become the title sponsor of the Nationwide Series. Nationwide Insurance is leaving the series at the end of the season. Well it was announced on Wednesday that Comcast and NASCAR have come to a deal for a 10 year sponsorship of what will be called the Xfinity Series. It was not revealed how much the deal was worth, but we are talking hundreds of millions of dollars. I will be interested to see the series logo and what Xfinity does with the new deal. Now on to…
PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!
Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Aluminum Pint Chevy SS A bit cluttered, the solid red works well with Budweiser, and it has a classic look with a modern twist. A-
Jeff Gordon #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy SS The front is a bit over designed, the ribbon on the side does work somewhat, and the orange, I’d never thought I would say this, is too dull. I’ll give it a C+
Joe Nemechek #66 Friedman Law Firm Toyota Camry Law firms can be good at what they do, and they are apparently great at designing race cars. Clean, simple, attractive with a good color scheme eans an A+
Clay Rogers #75 Beard Oil Chevy SS Beard Motorsports is making their debut with Clay Rogers at Richmond in the Beard Oil Chevy. Their first time car has a great design scheme and a great color scheme and earns an A+
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Nationwide Chevy SS A great design with a great color scheme and a great simple design. My sticking point with this is that I do not like the silver numbers, the font design just doesn’t work. I’ll give it a B+
David Stremme #90 Junie Donlavey Tribute Chevy SS Junie Donlavey passed away earlier this year, and Circle Sport Racing will run this design based on his 1972 Ford Gran Torino. It looks amazing, and I have to give it an A+
Josh Wise #98 Provident Metals Ford Fusion Looks good, good color scheme, decent design scheme. Too many stripes. I looked Provident Metals up and found that they are a precious metal dealer who make a currency called “Zombucks” which they jokingly market as “currency for the Apocalypse.” I’ll give it an A-
Home Beer Brewing Project Update…
Two weeks ago, I started the work on brewing beer using the Mr. Beer Homebrewing Kit. It fermented for two weeks, and I bottled it this week. The recipe will make 2 gallons of beer, which fits into four 2-liter bottles. I added the sugar to the bottles…
added some liquid to the bottom to get the mixture started…
then I bottled the four 2-liter bottles…
Now I have to wait two more weeks for the carbination to complete….
then I have to chill for two days prior to enjoying…Ugh! Well, I’ll keep you posted, and I’ll have some jam while I wait…
DGF2099 Productions-Introduction to Sports Memorabilia-Racing Figurines
A collection of NASCAR, and NHRA Starting Lineup figures from the late 1990’s.
DGF2099-Main Page 