#PrimalNumbers №66: Jim Clark-inspired 2018 Indianapolis 500 Saleforce DRR
This is another in an ongoing series of our #PrimalNumbers project. Read more about the project and see our others here.
№66 is one of the most storied numbers in all of motorsports.
When it came time for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and me to sort out our car for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, there was little doubt in my mind that I wanted the №66. I was pretty excited when Dennis Reinbold asked if I had a number preference — it’s not always something the driver gets much input on.
In IndyCar there aren’t any restricted numbers besides the ‘1’ and whichever numbers are already in use for the 500, so I immediately asked whether №66 was available and we locked it in when we found out it was.
I originally became enamored with №66 seeing it grace Jim Hall’s beautiful and innovative Chaparrals. I loved the cars but also the elegance and simplicity of the styled №66 over that creamy white paint.
№66 is also special to me because it was used by the one and only Mark Donohue, especially at Indianapolis. Though I never saw him drive, his legacy through all the epic cars, the vastness of his success, and not least of which The Unfair Advantage made him a driver I admired from a very young age.
While the obvious thought was the Chaparral №66 or Penske Donohue №66 designs, that would border on sacrilegious for me. So we took a deep dive into the archives to look for a cool and unique №66 that still carried some meaning. This led us to the 2-time Formula One World Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner, the one and only Jim Clark.
Clark did just one NASCAR race in his entire life — the 1967 American 500 at Rockingham — in a beastly 7-liter, Holman Moody-prepped Ford Fairlane, with one very beautiful №66 on its doors. The design team at Salesforce helping me put together my graphics — especially Creative Director Michael Manning — took the number out of source photos we were able to find. Because the design was handpainted, it was actually completely different all the way around the car; we ended up selecting our origin ‘6’ from the passenger side door roundel, seen below.
You’ll notice our №66 is a bit different in two subtle ways. To make it work within the dimensions of my IndyCar, we found we had to stretch it a bit and make it a bit more vertical in nature than the original. Also, in a small nod to my Salesforce sponsors, you will notice the knockouts in the numbers (in other words, the holes within each ‘6’) are actually the same shape as the eyes from Salesforce’s flagship character, Astro. In these ways we made the Clark №66 our own, and I think it looks pretty great.
Tune in Sunday to see us at the Indianapolis 500. You’ll be able to tell your friends a little more about the backstory of this year’s №66.
Keep an eye out for more #PrimalNumbers as we post them. And drop me a line on Twitter if you have suggestions of numbers we should save next.
