NASCAR follows trend of increased bling for champs

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. (Continued)