Fan Favorites

If you’re a NASCAR fan, the odds are good that your home is cluttered with memorabilia and merchandise devoted to your favorite driver, or a special race. This new column here at Skirts and Scuffs is dedicated to those favorite pieces of merchandise, regardless of what it is or what makes it special.

Some of you may have held onto an old program from the first race you attended, or that Dale Earnhardt tee-shirt your dad bought you when you were a kid. It might be something a driver signed, something you got from another fan or something you worked your butt to track down. For the first column, I’d like to go ahead and tell you about my favorite piece. Take a look at the picture and see if you can guess what it is.



Give up? That ladies and gentlemen is called a cowl. It was purchased at Richard Childress Racing, which occasionally sells race used merchandise in the gift shop. When I found it, I had no idea what it was, but knowing that it possibly came from Kevin Harvick’s car, was worth the $10 price tag.

That same night my best friend Katy, who also writes for the site, had the opportunity to meet Jamie McMurray and I decided to cart my cowl to the event. Little did I know that three different people would ask me what the dang thing was, where it came from and what it did. By the time I got to the front of the line, I was more than a little exasperated.

With a grin, I dropped the thing on the table and told him not to ask me what it was because I couldn’t tell him. Jamie Mac smiled, laughed and said, “it’s a cowl”. Katy asked what it was because she couldn’t hear him over the crowd and he repeated himself. The woman behind her asked the same question and Jamie started laughing again. This time he yelled out the name and wrote it on the piece, complete with an exclamation point at the end. He then went onto tell us more about where it goes on the car and what it does.

The following morning we attended another autograph signing with McMurray, Ricky Steinhouse Junior and Matt Kenseth, all of whom signed the piece. Jamie remembered us from the night before and before even seeing the piece, stated “it’s a cowl again”, which endeared him both to us.

The cowl is also signed by Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch. Bowyer and Kevin Harvick both had a laugh over the piece when they learned where it came from and were looking for signs of damage, which would prove that it came from the other’s car.

The cowl is easily one of my favorite pieces of memorabilia and something I plan on holding onto for years to come. It proudly sits against my entertainment center and everyone who sees it, wants to know the story and who signed it. I’ve even had friends bring other friends into my apartment just to see it! It holds a lot of meaning for me because of the stories I have regarding the drivers who signed it and the experience of carrying it around uptown Charlotte for five hours.

If you’d like to share a story about your favorite piece, please send a picture to random.girl28@gmail.com. Include your name and a story detailing what it is and why it’s so special to you.
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Photo Courtesy of Jenn Eblin
Fan Favorites Fan Favorites Reviewed by Jenn on Monday, November 16, 2009 Rating: 5