January 18, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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You know the racing season is drawing near when things start moving in Scottsdale, Arizona. Normally, it would be when the engines start rumbling in Daytona, however this year they won’t be doing that until the week before the racing starts. So I will count the annual Barrett-Jackson Car Auction….and the non-Dakar, Dakar Rally, as the new kick-offs to the Racing season.
I became hooked on watching the Barrett-Jackson auction a few years ago while flipping through the channels while bored in the off-season. I have never been much of a car person per se, however I am the granddaughter of a former GM accountant, and thus have always appreciated the looks of nice cars; if not what makes them go.
Over the years, I have learned to tell the difference between a Road Runner, a GTO Judge, a ‘Cuda, and a Nomad. There are your usual Dodges, Chevys, and Fords…along with Bentleys, Buicks, De Sotos, Packards, and Shelbys. When I went to Las Vegas last month, I dragged my sister through a car display set up in one of the hotels, and we spent two hours wandering amongst the various cars.
In the four years I have been watching the auction I have seen a lot of vehicles go for a whole lot of money. In 2005, a 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car was sold for $3 Million. In 2006, a 1950 Futureliner tour bus sold for $4 million. In 2007, a 1966 Shelby Cobra that was actually Carroll Shelby’s personal vehicle sold for $5 million. A re-creation of the original Batmobile, which sold for $185,000 two years ago, was back on the block again this year.
Race cars usually bring out race fans looking for a piece of racing history. Last year, a Replica of the Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins 1966 L-79 Nova NHRA A-Stock Race Car was sold for $57,000, and a Ford Taurus driven by Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield sold for $37,000. This year, one of Dale Earnhardt’s black #3’s hit the auction block, as his 1989 road course car was hammered away for $108,000. The best sale of a race car was last year, when Tony Stewart donated one of his #20 Home Depot cars to the Darrell Gwynn foundation for auction. By the time the gavel was hammered, $380,000 was raised to go directly to the Darrell Gwynn Foundation, which helps supply custom electric wheel chairs to those who need them but can’t afford them.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sold one of his personal trucks at the auction this year. “The Dale Earnhardt Jr. "Big Red" Silverado is based on the all-new, 2007 Chevy Silverado crew cab and features custom exterior appointments, an off-road-ready suspension, one-off custom 20" wheels at Dale Jr.'s request, a custom interior and more. This one-of-a-kind Silverado builds on Earnhardt's personal notion of off-road enjoyment, which was previously conveyed in his personal truck - a previous-generation Silverado named "Big Red." Earnhardt collaborated with GM designers on the truck, visiting the GM Design studio in Warren, Mich. to discuss the exterior and interior enhancements, which include all-new front-end sheet metal and rear fenders, as well as a "flying bridge"-type roll bar with integrated off-road driving lamps. The interior is as luxurious as the exterior is off-road-capable, with rich, black leather upholstery and other details.” The truck was sold on Tuesday night. Ironically, it went for $88,000.
Last night, the big NASCAR car of the year went on the block. “This Jeff Gordon #24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo raced 14 times in the '06 and '07 seasons winning 2 races at the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on July 19, 2006, and the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 13, 2007. In addition to the wins, this car had four Top Five finishes and five Top Ten finishes.
This car comes built complete by the Hendrick Motorsports #24 Race Shop and includes a certified Jeff Gordon winning SB2 -- 358cid V8 race engine. The car will come with extensive documentation, Certificates of Authenticity as well as race day photos and videos. Proceeds from the sale to benefit The Hendrick Marrow Program... Today, the Hendrick Marrow Program helps secure private resources to support the National Marrow Donor Program's critical work.” As of the writing of this column, I don’t know what the sale price of the car was, however I will be sure to update the details next week.
You can find out more about all the cars that were auctioned at the Barrett Jackson Scottsdale auction and what they have coming up for their future auctions, by visiting www.barrett-jackson.com.
This weekend also marked the end of the “Dakar” Rally…Dakar being in quotes because it isn’t actually in Dakar any more, but in South America. Robby Gordon took his two Hummer teams to Argentina two weeks ago, and they have been making their way across the wilds of Chile to Argentina, where the race ended yesterday. Robby had a great race, holding tough to a top 5 spot for the majority of the event. He had a few rough patches along the way…rolling the Hummer one day, but still finishing the stage; having a pebble cause his throttle to hang open on Friday, requiring the team to stop and waste 20 minutes trying to diagnose and then fix the issue; and finally, a flat tire on the last stage of the race yesterday.
All that said he was able to finish third overall, giving him his first podium finish in the five years he has been running the race, and getting the United States a 2-3 finish overall, with Mark Miller driving for Team Volkswagen having finished in 2nd place behind Giniel de Villiers. Robby’s second Hummer, driven by Eric Vigouroux, finished the race in 13th overall, leaving the owner/driver a happy man. “I am proud that he is my team-mate. I am even more proud that the Vanguard Hummer is in the top 15. It speaks volumes about the program that we have in place.”
The finish had Gordon feeling like a champion.
"(Team Dakar USA) may not be the overall winner in this year's Dakar Rally, but I can tell you that we are our own winners," Gordon said. "What we did here this year is really amazing. This my highest finish in a Dakar Rally and a testament to the Team Dakar USA program."
Finally, something completely unrelated to racing, but still worthy of a shout out in my mind. There may be some people out there who don’t believe in fate or divine intervention. I don’t know of any better way to explain what happened on the Hudson River Thursday afternoon.
When you fly as much as I do, you tend to have the safety presentation memorized, regardless of plane type, and you have an inherent trust in the people who are paid by the airline to be on that plane with you. But when you see a plane land in the Hudson River, and know that it was done to near perfection, and everyone on board is safe and sound, you have to think that sometimes fate has a bigger role in the big picture than you might think.
Captain Chesley Sullenberger and Co-pilot Jeff Skiles deserve ever ounce of praise they will be receiving. God bless you both, and everyone on that plane.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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