Sunglasses all the rage in the 'new' NASCAR garage

Where oh where would a driver be without his sunglasses?

An accessory once thought to merely protect your eyes from the sun, is now a considerable source of income and branding tool for nearly all drivers in the Sprint Cup garage.

Sun or sans the sun, inside or out, you're hard pressed to find a driver, and sometimes team owners, without their shades.

Case in point: Richard Petty, I've never seen the whites of his eyes, I couldn't say for sure if he even has eyes.

Certainly he does, but my point is that sunglasses have become a great extension of a drivers' persona and self-promotion.

"I have noticed that the guys are starting to wear wilder and wilder sunglasses. They're also getting bigger," said Martin Truex Jr. who reps the popular Spy brand as does Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Nearly all drivers wear shades incessantly as if to say taking them off would mean their eyeballs would fall right out of their heads. Even your annual downpour at Dover doesn't stop drivers from donning their favorite tinted ornament.

Is it because they fear the flashbulbs on pit road? No. And nor is it because they cringe at the thought of developing crow's feet around their eyes. Most are paid to wear certain brands of sunglasses via high-dollar endorsements and free swag.

Cup driver Jamie McMurray said, "I wear the Oakley Gascan sunglasses. I think the best part about being on the Oakley deal is not only do you get really cool sunglasses, but they are always giving us shirts and sweatshirts, hats, and even khaki pants that I can wear out to the golf course."

But the sunglasses are self-chosen product-lines and selective styles, not just any maker can grace the face of a NASCAR driver. Most of the NASCAR market is covered by high-end brands, such as Oakley, Spy and Wiley X.

You won't see them fashioning knock-off aviators found in the discount bin of a dollar store.

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Kasey Kahne likes to mix his frames up ...

Most of their eyewear rivals the price of an average car payment ranging in the $300-a-pair mark. Note also that designer sunglasses are still immensely popular among the masses; oversized frames and retro styles dominate fashion adds.

Just because NASCAR drivers are behind the wheel of a stockcar 36 weekends out of the year doesn't mean they are impermeable to fashion trends.

And if the hue of a driver's future determined the size of his frames, then perhaps that is why Kyle Busch's enormous, yellow-tinged mirrored shades nearly cover his entire face.

A four-time winner this season, Busch is "Mr. Sunglasses," according to Ray Barnett of Electric Visual, the eyewear company Busch touts for their youthful and trendy styles. Electric Visual gives Busch a base salary as well as monetary incentives to win Cup races and even bigger incentives should he win the Sprint Cup championship.

In exchange, Busch opts to wear Electric's BSG II, 24-karat gold, Bam Margera edition shades (along with the plastic logo'd sticker I noticed) during media appearances, Victory Lane celebrations and other occasions where he may find himself in front of a camera.

Why does he choose that particular pair?

"Because they are our most expensive pair we have, $250," Barnett said. "He's been wearing them for a long time now, they have gold on the lens and the insignia is gold."

Busch also keeps an entire case of Electric-brand sunglasses, like a department store display, at his race shop in North Carolina for good measure.

But why leave the plastic sticker on the lens?

Turns out it's a throwback to the aforementioned Richard Petty; recall, the famous eyes I've never seen.

"Kyle and I were in Orlando having a bunch of sushi and too much Saki one night, and I jested that he should do it like Richard Petty did ... Petty wore the STP sticker on the bottom of his sunglasses," Barnett said. "Kyle thought it was a great idea and has done it ever since that night. It was great marketing back then and still works now."

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... while Tony Stewart sticks with the same pair.

And that's what it's all about, pushing the product. All the endorsed drivers do it; some displays are just less contrived than others.

While Electric Visual chooses only to rep one NASCAR driver, Oakley arguably has the biggest market share in the garage when it comes to product placement as well as endorsements; the company coffers outfit and support drivers such as Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya.

All of which have their own signature specially-made Oakley branded-frames.

Todd Hayes is the motorsports marketing director for Oakley and is often pushing his product in Victory Lane.

He looks to endorse outspoken drivers with strong personalities, leaders that can "move the needle" or sell Oakley sunglasses to the masses because they idolize Stewart and want to look just like him.

Stewart's signature lenses flaunt his Home Depot orange and have his autographed laser-etched into the lens. Over the years, they have been tweaked here and there, but for the most part, Stewart is faithful to his classic look.

Kahne on the other hand changes frames with the same ease in which he changes his hair color; some are big and square while others are sleek and narrow. But regardless of style, the brand is always Oakley.

Even more particular about style, Juan Montoya actually travels to Oakley headquarters in Southern California to sound off on final design plans for his signature frames.

"He is very vocal ... the 'O' in Montoya is actually designed into a Colombian flag," Hayes said.

For Carl Edwards, his eyewear is Wiley X, a line that several drivers endorse including Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Kyle Petty and most recently, Joey Logano.

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Juan Montoya paid tribute to his home country of Colombia with his sunglass design.

Edwards chose the line, known for its work with the U.S. military and other government agencies, for function over fashion.

"They're not just a, you know, a fashionable sunglasses company. They're about true eye protection," Edwards said. "For me it is a good match because, like the sunglasses I wear on race day, they make them so that they have a foam backing so you can wear them riding your motorcycle or snowboarding or mountain biking and you don't get wind and dirt and stuff like that in your eyes."

That and, "They're cooler than anything I could pick out myself at the store."

The rules of these endorsements aren't black and white, but outlined on a case-by-case basis fitted for each individual driver. If the driver is seen caught without his shades, he's not fired and stripped of his eyewear. Sunglass makers are happy as long as the shades are on in Victory Lane.

"There's nothing better than that," Hayes said. "If our driver is wearing Oakley, it legitimizes the quality of the product."

Although, some NASCAR fans argue sunglasses affect the quality of their face time and the framed up culture is leaving a bad impression. Often, I have received e-mails pontificating that wearing sunglasses during interviews is rude and impolite.

Fans contend the tinted lenses are distracting and hide telling emotion only to be found in a driver's eyes.

I can't say that I disagree, although I'd likely wear scuba goggles around the garage if it meant I was getting paid extra for it.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer