Victory Lane Medallions serve as trophies for crews

Prior to the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway last week, the only trophies given in Victory Lane went to the driver of the winning car. The rest of the folks on the winning team were out of luck, unless you count champagne-soaked hats.

If you've ever been covered in champagne, you'll know that after a while the hats or shirts or towels become slightly less fresh than the day they were soaked. Unless you're able to hermetically seal your collection, your trophy room will take on the aroma of a post-game locker room.

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While at Daytona, however, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced, in conjunction with SportCoins, that the days of a majority of the team going home empty-handed were over.

The Victory Lane Medallion program will award the winning driver, team owner and crew chief with a beautiful three-inch medallion, and 100 two-inch medallions for the crew.

"We know what it takes to reach Victory Lane," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of race tire sales. "It's hard work, dedication and commitment. Our people go through the same things to get Goodyear Eagles to the track each week. So we wanted to honor the efforts of each winning team with something they can cherish for a lifetime, as a remembrance of their accomplishment."

Each Victory Lane Medallion is die-struck on both sides to resemble a mounted Goodyear Eagle racing tire. On one side, the word "Winner" is stamped above the track logo, along with the race date and the left-side tire code from that race. The flip side is stamped with the right-side tire code and is sequentially numbered up to 100.

"We're really happy to be involved with this program," said Goodyear boss Stu Grant. "There aren't too many people in this sport like Goodyear, and not too many can take advantage of a program like this. It made sense for us to do.

"The team guys -- all the people working on the car -- don't get the recognition that they deserve many times, and we can see this as a way to recognize those guys and all they did to get that car to Victory Lane. We're happy to hand something that is meaningful to the crew chief, the owner and the driver as well as those crew guys."

Stucker also announced that program is retroactive to the Daytona 500 in February, which means Ryan Newman and his team and all the winners since then received their medallions during the Coke Zero 400 weekend.

"The one thing we wanted to do was recognize the commitment on the part of the crew members," Stucker said. "We thought this was a great way to do it. The medallion is round, our tires are round, it's kind of a natural fit. We like to have the Goodyear presence in Victory Lane. We think it's a quality piece, something the guys will really cherish and they'll really strive to get them."

Larry Camp of SportCoins tabbed the new program as the coming thing in collectibles.

"Beckett Racing Collectibles said that this was going to be the next fan favorite," he said. "We're excited to be part of it, and it has a fan component as well. The medallions will be available through the Racing Collectibles Club of America (RCCA). It's good for the crewmen, first and foremost, and exhibits Goodyear's commitment to them, and fans can have something that to my knowledge has never been created before. This is a collection of every victory of each year."

Camp also revealed that fans who purchase one of the limited number of complete sets -- dubbed the Goodyear Eagle Race Win Medallion Set -- will receive a leather binder to store their collection that contains storage slots for all 36 medallions.

The limited edition sets are only available through the RCCA at (800) 952-0708.

"We know that every winning team has an extension of their numbers in the grandstands," Stucker said. "We wanted to create a program to give the fans a chance to share in the excitement of each race victory. The coin the fans can purchase is a replica of the medallion awarded to the winning crew members."

Goodyear also presents a gold racecar replica to the series champion at the end of the season, and it is one of the most prized trophies in NASCAR.

"We couldn't give everyone one of those," Grant joked. "But this is a special program and we're proud to be part of it."

Goodyear is the exclusive tire supplier for all three of NASCAR's top divisions and ranks as North America's largest tire company.

SportCoins, which produces the medallions, is licensed by NASCAR, International Speedway Corp., Speedway Motorsports Inc., the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the majority of NASCAR drivers and teams. SportCoins products can be viewed at www.sportcoins.com and at the NASCAR.COM Superstore.