Driver Personalities (1 Viewer)

[tomcat]

After following the Hot Rod/Whit thread, it reminded me about something I have thought for a while. Let me know if I'm alone on this. While sponsors are the lifeblood of this sport, it seems like we have finally reached the point where drivers individual personalities have completely disappeared from public view, except in cases like the Bazemore incident(s). Not that I'm a Whit fan, far from it. I remember when he started driving the Fast Orange car and I really wanted to see him do good, it was such a great story of perserverance and effort, but then one thing after another turned me away. No big deal, you aren't gonna like everybody. But even when he started, not so long ago, you still saw glimpses of a drivers personality on the car in the way of the cars name, or a drivers nickname. This sport has had a great string of drivers and personalities over the years, and most all are identified by a great nickname or on-track persona. I knew that age was over when Force took the "Brute" out of his name on his car. I would have loved to see Robert, Eric and Ashley continue this tradition, as I think that team has the influence to bring this trend back. I really believe that if the drivers could find a way to still show some personality other than the usual PR speech, it would pay dividends in more fan loyalty. Just remember what it did for the Snake vs. Mongoose days. I like the fact that most all drivers appear to get along, I just think if there was some way to get some personal identity to show through, the sport would benefit. Even if its as small a deal as Skuza trying to work the "Secret" word from his crew into an interview. Sure was fun listening to him try to work "Aardvark" or "Buffalo" into his top end interview. Anyway, my rant is over. If you don't think I'm crazy, let's start a trend to give out nicknames to drivers again and get some personalities showing that are not sponsor issued.

 

[afx421]

good post. i agree that the nhra should focus more on the drivers. thats why nascar is so popular. its about the drivers. do you think all the soccer moms care how fast they go? they like thier driver, and the guys too. nascar is all about the jeff gordon haters and likers, dale jr, jimmy johnson, kyle bush ect ect, i didnt mention anything about performance or the cars because they focus mainly on drivers and thier personalities. it would be great if not only the drivers but the cars also had nicknames like in the old days. the only time drag racing is exciting is when theres drama, like a burndown, ericas double bulb, whit going off on someone ect ect. the wayne county / w.j fueds were awesome, we need excitement, nicknames and names on the cars that would be great! and nicknames on cars would sell more diecasts

 

[yoda]

Was it Karl and Ray (when they were cool ) and doing the audiocast race coverage that were the masters of the nickname? Wildthing, Princess, etc. were pretty common in that thread- did any of the names stick outside of here?

My favorite so far is "Mrs. Minick"

 

[Dale]

good post. i agree that the nhra should focus more on the drivers. thats why nascar is so popular. its about the drivers. do you think all the soccer moms care how fast they go? they like thier driver, and the guys too. nascar is all about the jeff gordon haters and likers, dale jr, jimmy johnson, kyle bush ect ect, i didnt mention anything about performance or the cars because they focus mainly on drivers and thier personalities. it would be great if not only the drivers but the cars also had nicknames like in the old days. the only time drag racing is exciting is when theres drama, like a burndown, ericas double bulb, whit going off on someone ect ect. the wayne county / w.j fueds were awesome, we need excitement, nicknames and names on the cars that would be great! and nicknames on cars would sell more diecasts

OH.... O.K., now I get it.
Tony Stewart spins out the leader of the race Denny Hamlin (Teammate) and Tony states it's Denny's fault.
Whit leaves on Rod with a faster reaction time, looses and states it was Rod's double-bulb (pre-throttle action).
.
Thought about throwing out some "nicknames" for Whit's car but with all the Maters on here that have Blinders on to the obvious.......... I'll leave it alone.
.

 

[Turtle]

After following the Hot Rod/Whit thread, it reminded me about something I have thought for a while. Let me know if I'm alone on this. While sponsors are the lifeblood of this sport, it seems like we have finally reached the point where drivers individual personalities have completely disappeared from public view, except in cases like the Bazemore incident(s). Not that I'm a Whit fan, far from it. I remember when he started driving the Fast Orange car and I really wanted to see him do good, it was such a great story of perserverance and effort, but then one thing after another turned me away. No big deal, you aren't gonna like everybody. But even when he started, not so long ago, you still saw glimpses of a drivers personality on the car in the way of the cars name, or a drivers nickname. This sport has had a great string of drivers and personalities over the years, and most all are identified by a great nickname or on-track persona. I knew that age was over when Force took the "Brute" out of his name on his car. I would have loved to see Robert, Eric and Ashley continue this tradition, as I think that team has the influence to bring this trend back. I really believe that if the drivers could find a way to still show some personality other than the usual PR speech, it would pay dividends in more fan loyalty. Just remember what it did for the Snake vs. Mongoose days. I like the fact that most all drivers appear to get along, I just think if there was some way to get some personal identity to show through, the sport would benefit. Even if its as small a deal as Skuza trying to work the "Secret" word from his crew into an interview. Sure was fun listening to him try to work "Aardvark" or "Buffalo" into his top end interview. Anyway, my rant is over. If you don't think I'm crazy, let's start a trend to give out nicknames to drivers again and get some personalities showing that are not sponsor issued.

Great post. I think that the whole thing with Whit on the weekend was good. It got people talking (just look at the 'Congrats Hot Rod' thread) about the drivers personality. Whit is probably one of the most out-spoken and emotional racers out there, and love him or hate him, it gets people interested. It add 'spice' to sport.
I know this isn't drag racing, but over here in Aus our local touring car series (V8 Supercars) used to come down very hard on drivers that pointed the finger at other drivers, or had a dig at other teams. At the last round the directors of the series came out and told the drivers to be more 'out-spoken' and gave them some freedom of speech, as they felt that by fining the drivers they had made the racing 'boring' and it did not let the drivers show off there personalities, thus loosing the spectators interest in the sport.
Maybe its something the NHRA could look at, cos like many people I get tired of the usual top-end interviews where its just a big sponsor's plug, and you dont feel you are hearing how the drivers really feel.
Just my 2c

 

[vegasnitro]

You Aussies have always done things differently, and usually in a good way. There are 2 sides to it, I would love to see drivers jump out of their car and shoot off their mouths however they choose, but the sponsor wants them to jump out of the car and sell the product. No bucks, no buck rogers so the sponsor plug normally wins out. Someone brought up the Tony Stewart deal from Daytona, how happy do you think FedEx wass that their teammate was calling them an idiot on one of the highest rated races of the year? Joe Gibbs had to leave Washington to go to Joliet and calm everybody down, I am sure FedEx was all over him.

BTW, I love the Aussie V8's, I was really hoping Marcus Ambrose would have shown better over here than he has.

 

[BF]

good post. i agree that the nhra should focus more on the drivers. thats why nascar is so popular. its about the drivers. do you think all the soccer moms care how fast they go? they like thier driver, and the guys too. nascar is all about the jeff gordon haters and likers, dale jr, jimmy johnson, kyle bush ect ect, i didnt mention anything about performance or the cars because they focus mainly on drivers and thier personalities. it would be great if not only the drivers but the cars also had nicknames like in the old days. the only time drag racing is exciting is when theres drama, like a burndown, ericas double bulb, whit going off on someone ect ect. the wayne county / w.j fueds were awesome, we need excitement, nicknames and names on the cars that would be great! and nicknames on cars would sell more diecasts

Unfortunately, nicknames went out pretty much when the sponsors came in. Not enough room for a nickname and a sponsor. Besides, I think all the "cool" nicknames were taken. Have you heard some of the cheesy nicknames the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series has. Somebody was working overtime to come up with those.

 

[Bazzil]

Speaking of Australia, a little while back on our drag racing show a Fuel driver (Phil Read) had a not so subtle dig at another team. Personally, even though I'm more of a fan of Dobbo and Santo (whom he was taking the shot at), I thought it was great that a driver was showing a bit of arrogance and personality. Whether you like what he's saying or you don't, either way next time those come to race each other it adds a bit more interest to it, as I'm sure will be the case with Whit/Fuller as well.

 

[r2]

Personalities?? YES, and we have quite a few... Not all drivers in NHRA are cardboard cut-outs, that's for sure...

Scelzi
Capps
Whit
Both Force's
Robert Hight
Jim Head
Jerry Toliver
Warren Johnson
Larry Morgan
Larry Dixon
Clay Millican
I really miss Eric's interviews...

The list is long of driver's who are personalities in their own way... I don't think in this era 2007, nicknames are the best idea to come along, as far as trying to sell our sport... Or to bring in a new untapped group of people...

One thread does not make this the WWE...
And it took me two months to figure out why Karl called Ron Capps "Stinky"

Ron Stinky Capps brings his Brut Charger to the line, in a match up with Clay Motormouth Millican... This is Motormouth's first appearance in his brand new Honda VCX flopper sponsored by Bob's Big Boy and Chet's liquor stores... Stinky has to be rated the #1 seed here Paul, Motormouth has been slurring his words all weekend here at the Dungeon of Death Dragway in the beautiful desert of, nowhere Tucson... Please don't make me call a round of this noise...

Nitro's Child was bad enough, and really made no sense to me... I wonder why that never stuck...

These guys and gals can sell this sport on the personalities they have... Take the rod out of some of their a$$' and figure out how to give the sensation of speed, noise, light show, etc. etc. and force feed it to the masses like NASCAR has, and you may take it to the next level... But when you have been on the ground floor for so many years, the next level is really not much vision in my opinion...

But it does beat the basement and or the streets...

Ask Shirley how she liked "cha-cha" sometime...
And the "Mongoose" scares the living sh!t out of me... I DONT TINK SO!!

Nice try, but I think if they evolve like "Fast Jack" or "Hot Rod" then whatever...
But I don't think it's a good thing or necessary... IMO

 

[gerrymack]

I know this isn't drag racing, but over here in Aus our local touring car series (V8 Supercars) used to come down very hard on drivers that pointed the finger at other drivers, or had a dig at other teams. At the last round the directors of the series came out and told the drivers to be more 'out-spoken' and gave them some freedom of speech, as they felt that by fining the drivers they had made the racing 'boring' and it did not let the drivers show off there personalities, thus loosing the spectators interest in the sport.
Maybe its something the NHRA could look at, cos like many people I get tired of the usual top-end interviews where its just a big sponsor's plug, and you dont feel you are hearing how the drivers really feel.
Just my 2c

Tim, I put forward to the V8 organisers in Sydney two years ago the very argument, saying their threats of fines were stopping many drivers from speaking out and costing the series coverage...

It was ironic that following that meeting in Darwin when they announced drivers could say what they truly thought (about other competitors, but not the officials) an accident happened in the very first race and two drivers involved in the multi-car pile up, Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall, spoke out about the drivers who caused it and got extensive national coverage.

The organisers put this up as an example of what could be achieved, but both Murphy and Ingall would have spoken out regardless of any fine in the past ...

What this gets back to is that you can't implant a personality into a cardboard cutout and threats of fines won't curtail people like Murphy, Ingall, or in drag racing's case, Bazemore.

I met Bazemore when he was with Gary Evans in the early '90s and I didn't really like him much, his first impression wasn't great.

But I have grown to really like him as a drag racing personality, regardless of whether I want him to win or not. He wears his heart on his sleeve, says what he thinks and, sometimes, says things before thinking about it too much.

Some people can't handle that and there's plenty who will 'boo' him, but the sponsors - Matco Tools - clearly like it and he obviously doing a tremendous job for them.

All power to Bazemore I think, he's terrific for drag racing and an individual - too often people try and be mirror images of someone else, such as Force.

 

[MM]

My favorite so far is "Mrs. Minick"

mine too!!

 

[cephus]

Good post, I mentioned this a while back in a post and didn't get many responses, i actually like the Whip he doesn't hold back like a typical NHRA
driver kissing up to the suits and i know you have to present your sponsors but we need some controversy to much of the same ole humm drumm, a to b
best crew in the world they are gonna be good they get paid to be good,
i have met a couple of drivers behind the scenes want mention but they treated me like crap & i would have popped them in the mouth like Capps did
if would have been in different location they are bunch of fake #@%$suckers and i don't like a fake put it straight up, that is what help roundie rounds we want to read about the drivers real deals, the Bama Boys have always been out there guess that's why we haven't attracted any backers but so be it. rather be known for being real Give'em hell the Whip by the way body slam
Fuller the munchskin!

On the sidelines in Bama:

 

[r2]

I'm waiting for FedEx, so here are a few... Some are already givens...

Hot Rod Fuller
Clay Motormouth Millican
Brandon Bud Prince Bernstein
Larry Smilie Dixon
Cory Mac
Dougzilla
David Aussie Grubnic
Whit Babyshoes Bazemore, maybe Binky
Bobby Brown Vandergriff
Tony Sarge Schumacher
Morgan Oildry Lucas

Robert Try the decaf Skipper Hight-
Robert Shooter Hight- Karl's name
Ashley Dreamy Eyes Force
Tony T-Ped Pedregon
TJ Troxel Jr
Fast Jack Beckman
Ron Stinky Capps
Mike Moneybags Ashley
John Brute Force
Gary Wildthing Scelzi
Tony T-Bone Bartone

Names that need no nickname-
JR Todd
Doug Kalitta
Hillary Will
Jim Head
Jerry Toliver
Cruz
Del
Scott Kalitta

And I can't figure one out for Jeff Arend...
One that I would feel comfortable printing anyway...

Your turn...

 

[Terry]

I'm waiting for FedEx, so here are a few... Some are already givens...

Hot Rod Fuller
Clay Motormouth Millican
Brandon Bud Prince Bernstein
Larry Smilie Dixon
Cory Mac
Dougzilla
David Aussie Grubnic
Whit Babyshoes Bazemore, maybe Binky
Bobby Brown Vandergriff
Tony Sarge Schumacher
Morgan Oildry Lucas

Robert Try the decaf Skipper Hight-
Robert Shooter Hight- Karl's name
Ashley Dreamy Eyes Force
Tony T-Ped Pedregon
TJ Troxel Jr
Fast Jack Beckman
Ron Stinky Capps
Mike Moneybags Ashley
John Brute Force
Gary Wildthing Scelzi
Tony T-Bone Bartone

Names that need no nickname-
JR Todd
Doug Kalitta
Hillary Will
Jim Head
Jerry Toliver
Cruz
Del
Scott Kalitta

And I can't figure one out for Jeff Arend...
One that I would feel comfortable printing anyway...

Your turn...

I would give it a try, Ray, but how can you top Morgan Oildry Lucas!

 

[r2]

I kinda liked Babyshoes and Binky...
Some will say Bonehead and much worse...
And I'm a huge Whit fan...

Karl is pretty good with this stuff...
I just crunch numbers...

 

[d'kid]

I still like Jeffy Blue (don't care if it's the Mad Man car)
Special K for Dougie K
Princess Ashley (Force-Minick)
Herman in the "Monster" car
Teach for Gary D
Head is enuff said
Scoot K IS BigBird
Mel is Troxy
Come on Ray... I thought Stinky was Obivious (not a speelling mistake)
Rockin' Jerry T
Hot Dawg is
Eric was/ always will be The Cowboy
Robert is The Shooter
Papa is Papa
The Famous Bobby V in the UPS Car

More Later if ya'll want
Tony P
Cruzzer
The Clay RATT

 

[tomcat]

Those are great Ray. I really like the "Oildry" one, but I bet we won't see that one on a t-shirt. Reminds me of the "Blazemore" days. That was a fitting name at the time, but never made the shirts, lol. I remember the "Untouchable" days in the Force camp and some of the stuff they had on their shirts at the time. I guess what I was getting at is that some of these guys, and the NHRA as a whole, seem to be missing a marketing opportunity that they need to promote these guys. Scelzi has promoted his personality thru the "Scelzi Says" segments on TV, and while some are real cheesy, I bet there aren't a lot casual viewers that don't remember some of them, and know him as "The Guy that does Cartwheels" when he wins. I just think it's good for the sport for these guys to be able to show something other than the standard commercial for the sponsors when they are interviewed.

 

[r2]

Word has it When Lucas fired the car, the Safari GMC's would fire as well, then it got to where they put them in gear with their foot on the brake, then it got worse and they started laying sweep down as the tree flashed yellow... I think they are back to idling for now...

Come on Morgan, if you can't laugh... Nevermind, sorry bro...

 

[d'kid]

Opps
Fergots

Double E
Ashley the Beard

And Ray... went I was a Teenager.... ya always put Stink'um before a date...
Aqua-velvet, Old Mice, Pute, then every year my kids got me black swede until they figured out I had 7 half used bottles of it... then they switched to Pute and Mice... I have a 20 year old bottle of Brut and a 15 year old bottle of Spice on my dresser still... only wear stinky stuff to funerals and weddings... sometimes I think they're the same thing...

 

[r2]

Is it any wonder Karl did the color with that last line, and I stuck to whatever Bob saw fit for me to report...

Been a while since we did a show, so I forgot Herman, and a few other obvious names... But I never had much time to go back and read your posts with those silly cycles doing such tiny burnout's...