Edwards' victory brings end to the legend of Yeti
Motor-coach driver can finally shave after 19 long months
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The Yeti is dead.
It died the instant Carl Edwards crossed the start-finish line Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and Tom Giacchi took scissors to the scraggly beast that's lived on his chin for the past 19 months. Soon he'll be able to walk through a grocery store without scaring children, camp in the woods without attracting ticks, and rub a face that hasn't seen a razor blade in almost two years.
"I'm very happy," said Giacchi, Edwards' motor-coach driver and best friend. "I wish I could do backflips. I would have done a double or a triple or something."
The Yeti was born in a moment of bravado after Edwards won two consecutive races near the end of the 2005 season, and dared the 32-year-old Giacchi to not shave until the No. 99 driver won again. So all throughout last season it grew, getting longer and scruffier until Giacchi began to resemble a guitarist from ZZ Top.
Edwards went 52 race weekends without a victory, and the Yeti developed into a monster, spilling down the front of Giacchi's Office Depot jersey like a bunch of Spanish moss. It got so bad that a few weeks ago, while Giacchi was camping, he reached into its grubby maw and pulled out a tick.
"It's changed his life a little bit. People grab their children in Wal-Mart and pull them aside, lock their doors when he walks by on the street. Nobody will recognize him next week," Edwards said.
"It is a nice face. You should see him. He's a good-looking guy. He used to get dates. Women loved him. It's going to be a new day for you, Tom."
He's had it braided, had it straightened, at times plucked out a strand to measure just how long it had grown. Other crewmen on the No. 99 team began to call it the Yeti, after the mythical monster snowman said to resemble Bigfoot. A Web site, nascaryeti.com, was born. So was a sponsorship agreement with Gillette, the razor Giacchi will use when he eventually shaves the beast completely away for good.
Break out the razor and have plenty of blades at the ready. Carl Edwards' victory at Michigan means a clean shave for his friend and motor-coach driver, Tom Giacchi. Here's how it came to pass.
That will happen on television, but maybe not until New Hampshire, two weeks away. Giacchi might skip next week's event in Sonoma, Calif. "New Hampshire sounds good," he said. "I want the week off to enjoy my face again. One more week is nothing compared to what I've been through."
The Yeti became something of a rallying point, a reminder of how much time had passed since Edwards' last victory. Edwards jokes that his friend is preparing a memoir, entitled "Bearded Like Me."
"Tom grew up down the street from me, and some of the older kids in the neighborhood would come by and beat up on you a little bit, wouldn't play football when you wanted to and stuff, but Tom was a good guy to me," Edwards said.
"He's been driving the motor home for a couple of years now, and we're best friends. It's awesome. His brother has been one of my best friends forever. I just hated to see him like that for so long. I'd wake up in the morning, and Tom would walk in, and I'd just laugh at this guy. It's unreal. It means a lot for him to do it."
Soon after Sunday's race ended, Giacchi's Web site featured a tombstone bearing the Yeti's dates of birth and death. During its short life, the Yeti became something of a cult figure; people posted video clips of sightings, and Edwards posed for photos with fans wearing fake, shaggy beards.
So now that Edwards' winless streak is over, will Giacchi wait until his friend's next victory to shave again?
"Oh, no no no no," he said. "Never again will words like that come out of my mouth."
Motor-coach driver can finally shave after 19 long months
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The Yeti is dead.
It died the instant Carl Edwards crossed the start-finish line Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and Tom Giacchi took scissors to the scraggly beast that's lived on his chin for the past 19 months. Soon he'll be able to walk through a grocery store without scaring children, camp in the woods without attracting ticks, and rub a face that hasn't seen a razor blade in almost two years.
"I'm very happy," said Giacchi, Edwards' motor-coach driver and best friend. "I wish I could do backflips. I would have done a double or a triple or something."
The Yeti was born in a moment of bravado after Edwards won two consecutive races near the end of the 2005 season, and dared the 32-year-old Giacchi to not shave until the No. 99 driver won again. So all throughout last season it grew, getting longer and scruffier until Giacchi began to resemble a guitarist from ZZ Top.
Edwards went 52 race weekends without a victory, and the Yeti developed into a monster, spilling down the front of Giacchi's Office Depot jersey like a bunch of Spanish moss. It got so bad that a few weeks ago, while Giacchi was camping, he reached into its grubby maw and pulled out a tick.
"It's changed his life a little bit. People grab their children in Wal-Mart and pull them aside, lock their doors when he walks by on the street. Nobody will recognize him next week," Edwards said.
"It is a nice face. You should see him. He's a good-looking guy. He used to get dates. Women loved him. It's going to be a new day for you, Tom."
He's had it braided, had it straightened, at times plucked out a strand to measure just how long it had grown. Other crewmen on the No. 99 team began to call it the Yeti, after the mythical monster snowman said to resemble Bigfoot. A Web site, nascaryeti.com, was born. So was a sponsorship agreement with Gillette, the razor Giacchi will use when he eventually shaves the beast completely away for good.
Break out the razor and have plenty of blades at the ready. Carl Edwards' victory at Michigan means a clean shave for his friend and motor-coach driver, Tom Giacchi. Here's how it came to pass.
That will happen on television, but maybe not until New Hampshire, two weeks away. Giacchi might skip next week's event in Sonoma, Calif. "New Hampshire sounds good," he said. "I want the week off to enjoy my face again. One more week is nothing compared to what I've been through."
The Yeti became something of a rallying point, a reminder of how much time had passed since Edwards' last victory. Edwards jokes that his friend is preparing a memoir, entitled "Bearded Like Me."
"Tom grew up down the street from me, and some of the older kids in the neighborhood would come by and beat up on you a little bit, wouldn't play football when you wanted to and stuff, but Tom was a good guy to me," Edwards said.
"He's been driving the motor home for a couple of years now, and we're best friends. It's awesome. His brother has been one of my best friends forever. I just hated to see him like that for so long. I'd wake up in the morning, and Tom would walk in, and I'd just laugh at this guy. It's unreal. It means a lot for him to do it."
Soon after Sunday's race ended, Giacchi's Web site featured a tombstone bearing the Yeti's dates of birth and death. During its short life, the Yeti became something of a cult figure; people posted video clips of sightings, and Edwards posed for photos with fans wearing fake, shaggy beards.
So now that Edwards' winless streak is over, will Giacchi wait until his friend's next victory to shave again?
"Oh, no no no no," he said. "Never again will words like that come out of my mouth."
