Kiekhaefer was a NASCAR pioneer

Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd will be there. So, too, will the Tasmanian Devil and several other Looney Tunes characters -- right on the hoods and fenders of several cars. Saturday, Richmond will play host to the Looney Tunes characters as NASCAR goes with some of the biggest and brightest paint jobs in history.

	Gaylen Duskey

Bright paint jobs are nothing new, since sponsor logos have adorned cars for several decades. But it was not always this way.

Way back when, stock cars had only numbers on them. That changed in the mid-1950s when a certain car owner changed the sport. That man was Carl Kiekhaefer; and the ideas he brought to NASCAR are still in use today.

Kiekhaefer brought the team concept to NASCAR. Before Kiekhaefer, every NASCAR driver was a free agent. He introduced team uniforms for members of the pit crew. He was the first team owner to have his cars transported in trucks and vans to each event. And he brought about advertising on the stock cars.

He came onto the NASCAR scene in a big way in 1955 when he formed several racing teams and hired the best drivers, engine builders and pit crew members to work for him. The result was two straight NASCAR Grand National titles.

He bought his teams for the 1955 season and entered them at Daytona. One of his drivers, Tim Flock, won at Daytona. Flock went on to win 18 races and the title that year.

The following season, his teams won 16 straight races while winning 30 on the season. The title was once again his.

The next season, he was out of NASCAR racing.

Kiekhaefer was born in Wisconsin in 1906; and by the age 19 he had moved out of his parents' home and started his career as an engineer and inventor. By his mid-20s, he owned the first of his 200-plus patents and the first of his 100-plus industry firsts.

But it wasn't until 1939 that he made major ripples. That was when he bought a company that built farm machinery and, as a side item, repaired and sold boat motors. The company, when re-launched by Kiekhaefer, was called Mercury Marine.

By 1941, his company was well on its way to becoming the leading producer of outboard motors, when World War II broke out. Kiekhaefer put his company aside during the war and dedicated his time and knowledge to the war effort.

After the war, he was back at the helm of Mercury Marine making outboard motors.

He went into the racing business in the mid-50s to test some ideas and to advertise his outboard motors. So he had his company's name printed on the side of his cars -- sleek white Chrysler 300s. As a result, he sold a lot of outboard motors. But the advertising also seemed to promote Mercury the car.

The premise Kiekhaefer established obviously worked well, and today they paint cartoon characters on stock cars.

Gaylen Duskey's column appears every Wednesday and typically addresses the historical side of NASCAR. The opinions listed here are those solely of the writer.