Spectators at the DIRTcar Nationals have enjoyed the mascot of Odin Motorsports. The helmet is owned by Steve Spinazzola, who crew chiefs for World of Outlaws Late Models rookie Jacob Ulrich. Before and after the races, Spinazzola places the helmet on the car driven by Ulrich.
“We’re all a bunch of goofballs,” said Spinazzola, of Chandler, Oklahoma. “We’re [called] Odin Motorsports, so that leans on the Viking side, and we found a company that produced these, so we bought one, thrown it on a helmet, and get some laughs and smiles.”
Spinazzola bought the helmet cover from Moto Loot. The company sells a wide variety of covers, from bunnies, to evil pumpkins, to narwhals, to policemen. When Spinazzola isn’t turning wrenches on the dirt late model driven by Ulrich, he races a modified whenever and wherever he can. The helmet cover is not fire-retardant, so when Spinazzola himself hops into his race car, he removes the cover.
“When you’re fuzzy, you’re going to burn,” Spinazzola, a former firefighter, said.
The helmet that represents a Viking relates well to Odin Motorsports. The team owner, Dan Hart, is a U.S. Army veteran and a Norse pagan. Odin is the highly revered Norse king of the gods. Hart cautions against caricatures of his religion, which often serve to mock it and disparage it. However, the team welcomes its Muppet-looking mascot that adorns Spinazzola’s helmet cover. Ultimately, it draws attention to who they are and what they believe in, and poses it in a positive light.
“We’re going to fight whatever we can, try to conquer every mountain we can, go crazy and have fun in the meantime,” said Spinazzola. “We’re all about the kids and the vets. Everybody loves the helmet — they want to pet it and feel it, because it’s fuzzy. It’s all about smiles and having fun.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
