Keeper of the Darlington Stripe
Posted on May 9, 2012
By Hunter Thomas
Contributing Writer
Darlington News & Press
When you sit in the grandstands at Darlington Raceway during pre-race ceremonies, have you ever wondered how all of those logos get painted on the wall? They are perfect and look just like the logo youd see on the Internet or on a t-shirt.
Well, believe it or not, nearly every logo at the raceway is not only hand painted, but most of them were painted free hand. Thats right, no templates, just pure measurement orchestrated into a flowing rainbow of art that makes the walls at Darlington Raceway so unique.
Theres no other track on the NASCAR schedule where the walls become the storyline before and after the weekends events.
In fact, the individual that creates this masterpiece over and over again is a local, someone that youll probably pass in the grocery store. For 15 years Jimmy Jolly and his crew have painted the logos and cleaned up after the most evil Darlington Stripes at Darlington Raceway. Residing just outside of the Darlington city limits, Jimmy has always been infatuated with the art of logo painting.
The 55 year old has been painting for an astounding 42 years. He actually owns a business in town thats called Custom Signs & Graphics. For 22 years, Jimmy worked at Nucor Steel, but even before then, he was painting. Jimmy use to paint little model cars eventually making his way up to top-notch facilities on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. Hes probably the only person in the world that cringes when a car slams and rides the historic wall at Darlington Raceway.
I painted signs before I went to Nucor, Jimmy Jolly said. Its an addiction. You get addicted to it, and you just cant leave it alone. Once it gets in your blood, its over with. Thats why you dont see too many sign painters quit their job. You got to smell the thinner and feel the brush.
For six grueling weeks, Jimmy will lie on the high banks of the raceway and paint the logos that bring the facility to life. As he dips his brush into the Dixie cup thats holding the paint, his heels and hips will begin to bleed due to the tracks infamous rough surface. Sweat will pour down his face, and the sun will bear down on him until the night consumes the raceway. Its a rough profession, but its the passion that brings a smile to his face after every project.
Dale Jr. said all you got to do is roll your tires around the pits, and you scuff them, Jimmy said. This racetrack will scuff you. My hips are raw when I leave here. Ill have a big ole burn on my hip. The hills are probably the roughest part, and these safer barrier walls have these cracks in them. Id rather have a smooth wall.
He does all of this work just to redo it all once more right after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race thats held on Friday night before the historic Bojangles Southern 500 on Saturday night. As soon as the cars hit pit road and the winner of the race finishes his burnouts, Jimmy and the crew will take off into the night and start repainting the logos that were destroyed by drivers who couldnt tame the old Lady In Black. As the sun breaks the horizon over Darlington County on Saturday morning, Jimmy will just be finishing up after the long chaotic night.
Its tough, Jimmy said. As soon as the race is over, we pull out. The cars havent even cooled off. All night long, we are walking up and down these hills. One thing Ive learned is instead of walking straight up and down these hills, you got to walk it at an angle. Your legs will be a lot better for you when you get off work that morning.
After a job well done, Jimmy will take a break and watch the Bojangles Southern 500 from his seats in turn four. He enjoys going to a race and seeing cars spinout and hit the wall just like most other fans, but one thing that really agitates him is when the winner tears his ground logos up. He says that the driver has the entire track, and theres no reason to hit every single logo that took six weeks of his life to complete.
Jimmy learned how to do all of this on his own. He had a few heroes, but for the most part its just straight talent. Very few templates are used during the entire process. Jimmy said by far his greatest moment was about five years ago when his son was on the track painting the walls with him. There was even a picture of the two in the raceways program that year.
I dont know if I have talent or not, but its just a lot of hard work, learning how to lay it out and doing a lot of measuring, Jimmy said. If you dont have an eye for measurement, and you know you have to measure a foot, or two feet, or three feet, I can kind of look and see it, because Ive done it so much. Thats the way we do it. We take a picture, and they give it to us. We scale it, and sometimes we will have what they call a pounce pattern.
So, when youre at Darlington Raceway this upcoming weekend and see the massive Bojangles emblem painted on the asphalt at the exit of turn four, the Darlington Raceway emblem in the turns, or Royal Purple and Coca Cola logos around the entire track, remember, Jimmy did that. Theres a lot of work that goes into making each visit to Darlington Raceway as memorable as possible. Its not just about the cars that drive in circles. Instead, its about the unique individuals that make everything flow on race weekend, everyone from the individual that takes your ticket stub to Jimmy pulling an all-nighter to make the facility look brand new for the next morning.
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updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
