So Easy, Even Brian Deegan Can Do It

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Disgraceful so-called “pay driving” has been a part of racing since the very beginning. Whether it’s ABBA drummer “Slim” Borgudd’s Formula 1 career, “Malcolm In The Middle” star Frankie Muniz backmarking Formula Atlantic, or even a lame-ass church guitarist driving in Grand-Am, there’s no getting around the fact that the vast majority of people on most racing grids wrote a check to be there.

Ford has a better idea. Instead of letting dentists, attorneys, trust-fund kids, and other no-talent morons pay them to drive their rally cars, they’ve decided to tarnish the already less-than-stellar reputation of rally “racing” by finding the biggest douchebags in the universe and paying them to drive. First it was Tanner Foust, the guy who really, really doesn’t want you to know he’s almost thirty-eight years old. Then it was Ken Block, a fellow best known for having shoes made overseas in conditions that are, ahem, possibly quite terrifying. Where do you go from there?

That’s right! You hire an extreme motorcycle stunter who can’t spell “militia” correctly!

“One thing I am used to is riding dirt bikes,” Deegan said. “I grew up doing it ever since I was eight years old and I feel comfortable there. I went out and won a lot of medals and (then) won at supercross.”

“However there comes a time in your life where you’re like ‘have I done it all, or do I want to take on the next chapter?’ and I saw four-wheels as the next chapter. When the opportunity came through Rockstar and Ford to race rally car at X Games , I was like ‘It sounds pretty cool and I am going to go for it.’ For an athlete who comes from the top of the game to start at the bottom again, it isn’t easy. You have to kill your ego and your confidence is back to where you have to start over and try to learn this as fast as possible. I feel like my technique from dirt bikes and learning how to be the best at a sport has carried over.”

Somebody explain to Deegan that a full factory ride from a major auto manufacturer isn’t “starting at the bottom”, okay? The implications from Ford’s rally strategy are fairly interesting from a business perspective, however; by hiring drivers who are well-known in other fields and turning them into rallyists, the company is implicitly acknowledging that the best publicity to be had from their motorsports ventures has nothing to do with actually winning in those ventures. What if Ford had followed the same strategy for their GT40 program at LeMans, long ago? We could have had Paul McCartney, Andy Warhol, and Ted Kennedy running 220mph down the Mulsanne Straight…

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Grzydj Grzydj on Apr 13, 2011

    Baruth needs to start a minivan racing series. He constantly fantasizes about street racing them against other "journalists" whilst on the job. Also, Deegan is a pretty decent chap. I've met him at a few rally races and he was a pretty tidy driver.

  • Joe_thousandaire Joe_thousandaire on Apr 14, 2011

    Isn't "finding the biggest douchebags in the universe and paying them" the whole point of the X-games anyways? Nothing there is sport, its sports-entertainment. Guys with bad haircuts and tattoo sleeves preening for the camera, kind of like the NBA except without the athleticism. In fact the only bad thing I can think of about Tanner Faust is that he touts his X-games drifting 'championships' as if they actually mean anything.

  • Syke Kinda liked the '57, hated the '58. Then again, I hated the entire '58 GM line except for the Chevrolet. Which I liked better than the '57's. Still remember dad's '58 Impala hardtop, in the silver blue that was used as the main advertising color.
  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • Ravenuer The rear view of the Eldo coupe makes it look fat!
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
  • JTiberius1701 Middle of April here in NE Ohio. And that can still be shaky. Also on my Fiesta ST, I use Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires for the winter and Bridgestone Potenza for my summer tires. No issues at all.
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