NASCAR's Top 10 Heroes to Look for at the Race Track

With the Daytona 500 and Speed Weeks in the rear view mirror, it's time to look forward to the wine country of Sonoma, California and Auto Club Speedway.

For the die hard fan lucky enough to score VIP access or a NASCAR hot pass, a trip through the garage is a must.

Looking through the maze of cars, fans, crew and drivers, it's easy to miss items that can enhance the memories of your visit.

Each driver along the garage has a free gift for any fan that wanders by their hauler.

They're called Hero Cards.

Don't worry about where to find these double sided mountains of must-have knowledge, it will be real easy.

Hero Card holders come in all shapes and sizes and have become just as flamboyant and vibrant with colors as the drivers and cars they represent.

Seen here is the famous DuPont Flame Hero Card holder of Jeff Gordon. Even on the darkest of days, it's almost impossible to miss the bright orange and yellow colors of this molded masterpiece.

***Photo Credits: David L. Yeazell ***

All photos are copyrighted to David L. Yeazell

Sign Here Please

Collecting Hero Cards has always been a fan favorite.

Each card contains a studio quality photograph of the driver and car on the front, and a wealth of statistical information on the back.

They're also great for autographs.

We Deliver

As you move along this slide show you will see the difference in designs of Hero Card holders.

The majority of holders are made by the teams with spare parts found lying around. The most popular part used in Hero Card holders is the brake rotor.

Round and heavy, the brake rotor is the perfect base to support the card holders, even during the occasional bad weather.

Here, the No. 6 UPS Ford Hero Card holder for David Ragan shows off a simplistic style using, of course, the brake rotor as a base, a used piece of frame tubing, and a partial piece of a shifting knob.

No Auto Parts Here

Driver of the No. 56 NAPA Toyota, Martin Truex Jr's Hero Card holder seems suited for fans of all sizes.

Made completely of sheet metal, this card holder folds down into a compact briefcase size entity, storing easily for travel.

Borrow a Wrench?

Utilizing the tools of his sponsor, Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, gets creative by using an over sized wrench to support his card holder.

Not to be wasteful though, Logano did use the standard brake rotor as the base for this titan of tools.

Hammer Time

Not to be out done in the creativity department, Lowe's Home Improvement driver Jimmie Johnson's Hero Card holder is also a direct advertisement for his Kobalt Tools sponsor.

This four foot tall hammer is not only very heavy, it can be very versatile in hammering home a fifth championship, or knocking out the occasional body dent.

Bullseye

Returning to the basic styles, we have Juan Pablo Montoya's Hero Card holder.

Utilizing the standard brake disk base with a simplistic design, Montoya does offer up the sponsor logo and his name at the top of the box.

Of course with three names, some space constraints needed to be addressed.

Nice Chairs

Not every driver or team has a selection of Hero Cards or a fancy Hero Card holder.

They do, however, have really nice chairs.

These chairs, found outside the hauler of Kurt Busch (driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) were very comfortable-looking and very inviting after a long day of walking and photographing.

But my dedication to finding the ultimate Hero Card holder kept me going and away from the company chairs.

Futuristic

Probably the most futuristic, and maybe gawdy, looking Hero Card holder was that of Scott Speed, driver of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota.

Made out of aluminum, Speed decided to think outside the brake rotor box and go for the use of a brake rotor spacer instead.

The thought and engineering put into this obviously deserves a "job well done" award.

Empty, But Not Forgotten

Sitting at the back of the hauler looking larger than life was the Hero Card holder of Wood Brothers Racing.

Although the boxes were empty and the structure sat quietly among the mountains of tool boxes and supplies in the garage area, I could still hear the sounds of many Wood Brothers' heroes of days gone by.

Leonard and Glenn Wood were making heroes long before there were Hero Cards.

Quack Me Up

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 AFLAC Ford Fusion, has arguably the most recognizable sponsor in all of NASCAR.

His Hero Card holder is none other than the famous AFLAC Duck.

Perched quietly on his three wings (kinda odd for a duck), this holder ranked among the best of the garage long with Gordon, Johnson, and Logano.