Useless + irrelevant + NASCAR merchandise = the below? Maybe.

(Fade in. We find two men standing in the driveway talking; one is moving boxes into his truck.)

"Hey, Bill."

"Hey, Steve."

"Why are you packing up your house?"

"My retirement went down the tubes, and we can't afford to live here anymore."

"Awww, man, I hate to hear that. You lose money in Enron? WorldCom?"

"No ... I bought a warehouse full of Hut Stricklin rookie cards. They even spelled his name wrong, which would normally drive the value up."

"Shit ..... What'd you pay for them?"

"Too much, apparently."

(Fade out.)

****

This is an interesting piece of art, for two reasons:

1) Contrary to the description, that doesn't look like Stricklin putting other cars in the dust so much as it looks like a pretty accurate representation of the end result of Hut's races: either running by himself several laps down, or getting ready to do a barrel-roll down the infield; and

2) An artist was actually commissioned to do a Hut Stricklin piece. (Did someone say "useless" or "irrelevant"?)

Proceeds from the winning bid of $6 went to support Broke-Dick Dog, the Hut Stricklin camp for disadvantaged kids in Alabama.

****

It's not merchandise, but words can't really describe this article, and it is relevant to this post only for the photo and the caption. It's possibly the only recorded instance of Stricklin's name being used in another language.

(Also, I think the phrase "Ward Burton, a quien supero" is quite fabulous. I don't know what it means, though. Probably just a general catch-all for "several laps down." Or "leaving the sport to concentrate on his conservation foundation, but is waiting by the phone for a top-quality Cup ride.")