I attended the US Nationals on the Sunday after Labor Day weekend, which was the rain date. I looked around the Doug Kalitta camp which was parked next to Scott's new car, this was his return to drag racing and the car is Co-sponsored by Mac Tools & Jesse James. There were two West Coast Coppers parked in the Kalitta pit........my first, first hand look at one of his bikes. Say what you like about Jesse but the bikes were out of this world awesome. Like all the NHRA professionals, Mac/Jesse also had a trailer selling all the goodies and he was on hand signing autographs, the line waiting to purchase his stuff never slowed down all day long, I watched from the stands. Ball caps were $30.00 and Ts were $35, sweatshirts and jackets were things you would have to finance! A few years back when the Discovery Channel did the documentary on West Coast Choppers, nobody knew who he was, now.....since Monster Garage, NHRA, etc, his name has become a household word. In the beginning, everyone watched him work the English Wheel, weld, anneal metal, etc. and what I heard was, "the kid was awesome", now all of the sudden he's an asshole. I'm not here to judge him or anyone else but I'd have to say the guy is not only a talented builder but also a marketing genius. No, I didn't buy any of his merchandise but I was intrigued by the cash flow through his trailer! Shoe
Well....as long as huge sums of money are being made then everything is A-OK ! That's what makes America great.
The Jalopy Journal
