NASCAR follows trend of increased bling for champs
Approximately 37 diamonds added to Daytona 500 ring
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
February 15, 2008
02:54 PM EST
Lucky for Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart wasn't wearing any one of his Cup championship rings when he allegedly threw a punch at Busch inside the NASCAR hauler in the midst of their latest feud.
Fact or fiction, the thought of taking a punch from a piece of NASCAR championship bling would make the toughest man wince.
The rings that grace the fingers of past champions, Stewart and Busch both, are big. And at the Daytona International Speedway, the rings are getting bigger.
While the New York Giants are still waiting for their Super Bowl rings to be made, NASCAR's Super Bowl rings are ready to go.
To signify the magnitude the 50th running of the Daytona 500 holds, Herff Jones, the same company who made the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl ring, increased the size of the Daytona 500 championship ring this year and added a bunch of bling.
An estimated 37 baguette diamonds were added to the one-of-a-kind design set around a tri-oval on top of the ring. The 50th logo is set with checkered flags encrusted in gold and is one and three-eights inches top to bottom.
"It's a very unique design, a very large ring," said Doug Demaree, representative of Herff Jones. "Obviously the winner wants everyone to know what they won."
After the race, Herff Jones will work with the team ownership and develop a ring for team members as well. The driver, crew chief and team owner all receive a ring; a prototype of sorts as each individual chooses their own diamonds and metal type.
Before the ring was created, Demaree sat down with Daytona 500 officials and worked to represent the various elements of the Great American Race including the date, cars running through high banks and the tri-oval. The ring will then go through a casting, engraving, polishing and stone setting process.
Depending on the driver, rings are used and cherished in many different ways. Some pass them down to sons or daughters or give them to fathers, while others stow them away for safe keeping in a vault only to be worn on special occasion.
"Well you can't walk around wearing a trophy," said Curt Bruns of Jostens, NASCAR's exclusive championship ring provider and maker of 27 of 41 NFL Super Bowl rings. "For many of the drivers it's the one thing, a universal symbol, that shows the world you made it."
Or if you're Stewart, auction the thing off for money.
At the recent Barrett Jackson Classic Car Auction, Stewart was auctioning a three-time winning Cup car to raise money for the Darrell Gwynn Foundation who would in turn help purchase wheelchairs for children with muscular dystrophy. So that attendees would spend more money, Stewart pulled his 2005 Cup championship ring from his finger and offered it to the bidding coffers.
The $25,000 ring brought the crowd to its feet, and at the end of the auction the foundation was able to afford nearly 40 wheelchairs at $10,000 each.
Crew members of championship-winning teams receive rings as well.
Before Jimmie Johnson won his second championship, his crew member Chris Anderson, who already won three rings with Jeff Gordon, said he keeps his rings in a safe. He pulls them out every once in a while.
"But I don't wear them much. I always figure if I start putting them on, that means I don't want any more. And I still want to collect more," he said.
And during the 2008 season kickoff luncheon, Rick Hendrick presented every full-time employee at Hendrick Motorsports with a ring to match Johnson's championship ring. That's 550 employees, $445 for each Jostens-made ring. You do the math.
NASCAR bling is gender specific as well.
Drivers' wives also receive a championship trinket of their own -- a charm bracelet to match the championship ring their respective husband wears. And if a Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver wins the Daytona 500 this weekend, Teresa Earnhardt receives a charm replicating the top of the Daytona 500 ring made by Herff Jones.
Bruns said the partnership to make championship rings began about four years ago. Before that, he said, NASCAR used Tiffany.
"They wanted to update their program to the Super Bowl level and NBA," he said.
With black and white diamonds, platinum and stones to match team sponsors, the Cup championship rings rival most NFL Super Bowl rings.
The same design is used each year. The only thing to change is the series sponsor and colors and number reflecting the winning team's sponsor. Art is worked up for a handful of potential championship-winning drivers weeks before the season-ending race.
"The race for the Truck champ was so close we made one for [Mike] Skinner and [Ron] Hornaday," Bruns said. "The championship ended on Friday and the banquet was Monday, we wouldn't have enough time to make a change."
Production takes five to eight weeks to complete.
But if it's a Daytona 500 ring, fans can have those now.
Fans can order a replica of the winning drivers' ring at www.50thrunningrings.com, but that is only if the buyer refrains from punching a Busch or a Stewart fan in the face during the race.
Here is a close up of the ring. This is the one fans can buy, minus the diamonds.
haha I found this about the ring....
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