Nascar Gets Owned

Mercury Marine is the creation of Karl Kiekheafer, a brilliant farm kid/engineer who guided his company to major success. The company's signature black outboard motors are known the world over. They are the prefered engine of pleasure boaters, speed mavens, and, for awhile - Damn you, Honda! - Malay pirates. In 1955, Kiekheafer, flushed with success from the outboard motor business decided to go south and dominate Nascar for awhile. He brought new concepts unheard of to the sport. Veteran drivers who were used to driving their cars to the track and were usually assisted by ad hoc pit crews were shocked by what they saw. Kiekhaefers team arrived at Daytona with car transports, matching uniforms - highly co-ordinated teams of specialists, tools, parts and, most important - marketing saavy. From now on, corporate sponsorship logos would be decaled on the cars. With veteran driver Tim Flock at the wheel, The team entered 38 events. They scored 18 wins, 18 poles, 32 Top-10 finishes and won the first of two NASCAR championships. A year later Kiekhaefer expanded to six drivers and won a combined 22 wins, 47 Top-10s,(you just passed a “French Comma”) and 23 poles in their 64 races. The domination was so complete that other competitors began to accuse the team of cheating. In reality, it was all too easy for the Wisconsinites. One pit crew member was overheard to say, "(winning races is ) like shooting goldfish in a paper cup". NASCAR would never be the same.
"Kiekhaefer quit NASCAR in January of 1957 after battling Bill France over accusations of cheating by the other competitors (though no rules infractions were found under NASCAR's close scrutiny), NASCAR changed the rules to Kiekhaefer's disadvantage, and he didn't want a backlash to affect Mercury sales after fans booed the team."
Here's a short list of "firsts" and other accomplishments that Wisconsin brought to NASCAR -
First to haul cars in dedicated trucks painted with the team colors. First to have five cars running in races.
First major national sponsor to NASCAR (excluding automotive-related companies)
First to do scientific testing of the oil in race car motors to see what was affecting the performance of his motors via contamination.
First professional team - The cars were professionally painted and detailed. Team members wore uniforms. At a time when most drivers drove their cars to the track, Kiekhaefer used the Mercury Marine box or "van" style trucks with the race cars sticking out the back due to their length. Kiekhaefer and his team came to Nascar, took it over, modernized it, then walked away. Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Pictured above are Team Kiekhaefer drivers on the white sands of Daytona.

Posted 26th June 2008 by flasputnik