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Tony Stewart Dazzles Barrett-Jackson Auction CrowdAn Opinion
By Kim Roberson
I became hooked on watching the auction a few years ago when I was flipping through the channels while bored in the off-season. I have never been much of a car person per se, however I am the granddaughter of a former GM accountant, and thus have always appreciated the looks of nice cars; if not what makes them go. Over the years, I have learned to tell the difference between a Road Runner, a GTO Judge, a ‘Cuda, and a Nomad. There are your usual Dodges, Chevys, and Fords…along with Bentleys, Buicks, De Sotos, Packards, and Shelbys. In the three years I have been watching the auction; I have seen a lot of vehicles go for a whole lot of money. In 2005, a 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car was sold for $3 Million. In 2006, a 1950 Futureliner tour bus sold for $4 million. Last year, a 1966 Shelby Cobra that was actually Carroll Shelby’s personal vehicle sold for $5 million. A recreation of the original Batmobile went for $185,000; the truck from the Beverly Hillbillies went for $125,000. A stagecoach went for $40,000. Someone took home the MonkeeMobile, another picked up the Robosaurus. The 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible from “Thelma and Louise’ was on the block last night, along with William Shatner's 1995 Harley Davidson motorcycle, Patrick Dempsey’s 2005 Ford Mustang FR500C, a 1969 Dodge Charger used in the “Dukes of Hazard”, a 1996 Presidential Limo, and Carroll Shelby’s 1969 convertible GT500. A Replica of the Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins 1966 L-79 Nova NHRA A-Stock Race Car was sold for $57,000. Several people took home race-used Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup cars. On Friday, a Ford Taurus driven by Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield sold for $37,000. Ray Evernham spent $72,000 on an orange and white 1955 Chevy Bel Aire Custom. Tony Stewart was on hand to buy, and sell. He bought a tangerine orange 1950 Mercury custom 2-door coupe for $85,000, and a black custom 1967 GTO for $120,000. However, what he sold made more than one person tear up with happiness and appreciation. Friday night a 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo #20 burned its way onto the auction stage with Smoke behind the wheel. The car was described this way in the car guide: “This Tony Stewart/Home Depot car has won 3 races including the Banquet 400 at the Kansas Speedway on Oct 1, 2006, the Bass Pro Shop 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 29, 2006, and the Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2006. It also had six Top 5 finishes and ten Top 10 finishes. An awesome racecar with a 358 V8 and incredible history. Tony Stewart will be present to offer this amazing car. All proceeds of the sale will benefit the Darrell Gwynn Foundation.” Everyone in the auction area was on their feet as Tony climbed out of the car. Darrell Gwynn was on the stage to describe what the proceeds from the car would be used for. Next to him, a young man suffering from Muscular Dystrophy was sitting in a new wheelchair provided by Darrell’s foundation. Darrell said he hoped the proceeds from the sale of the car would help buy more wheelchairs for more youngsters who needed them, but couldn’t afford the $10,000 price tag. Lead auctioneer Spanky Assiter took the floor, surrounded by people who wanted to see just how much the car would go for. Spanky said he was going to have to do the auction blind because so many people were around him he couldn’t see the bidders.
Quickly, the bidding hit $100,000. Then $200,000. Tony took the microphone and added a race-worn race suit and helmet to sweeten the deal. $250,000 was bid. Smoke then offered a photo op and autographs. $300,000. Tony then took the microphone again and offered up his championship ring from 2006, valued at $25,000, to anyone who would add another $25k to the bid. Up stepped Reggie Jackson, who offered up $10,000 of his own money to add to the total. Another person added $25,000. Craig Jackson, the son of one of the auctions founders and current CEO of the auction, added $50,000 of his own money. The auction took less than 10 minutes. Every time the bidding stalled, Tony worked to get it going again. By the time the gavel was hammered, $380,000 was raised to go directly to the Darrell Gwynn Foundation. It also turned out that the man who bought the car had already donated $100,000 to the foundation before the car came up to bid. In the end, the foundation came away with enough money to buy not one, not two, not three, not four, not ten, but 38 wheelchairs for those who could not afford them. I had tears in my eyes. Tony had a huge smile on his face. Gwynn had a look of extreme gratitude on his face. Everyone in the room stood and applauded. By the time the last of the cars are auctioned off today, tens of millions of dollars will have changed hands. But for ten minutes on Friday night, a now-obsolete race car driven by a man many people love to hate was used to raise money for those facing devastating injuries and diseases. The final tally brought tears of joy to some eyes, a really big smile to the face of the man who had driven it so well, and added a one-of-a-kind memory to an auction known for dream cars and big pockets.
You can contact Kim at.. Insider Racing News Read other articles by Kim Roberson
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
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