1997 Maglite Racing Lights and NASCAR Lights

Summary: Maglite Racing lights were introduced in 1997 to capture some sales from the increase in NASCAR popularity. They preceded NASCAR lights and are very rare today. NASCAR lights came later and in many variations. They stopped being produced around 2002.

Maglite has done many licensed lights over the years starting with their earliest Cabela's lights. The most popular are likely the many variations of the NASCAR branded lights. However, prior to acquiring the license to produce NASCAR branded lights Maglite tried capitalizing on the stock car fever that swept America by producing a line of Maglite Racing lights.

During the late 90s and early 2000s NASCAR viewership was at an all time high. Ratings frequently approached the NFL's and for a while NASCAR looked like it could rival America's most popular sport. NASCAR merchandise was seemingly everywhere and many companies took advantage of the increase in viewership with lucrative licensing agreements for NASCAR branded products. This was a natural agreement for Maglite. NASCAR's viewership base, trade workers and outdoorsmen, likely overlaps greatly with folks that have need for a flashlight.

Shown below is my small collection of Maglite Racing lights. There are 3 different D cell models total and I have 2 of them. The 3Ds with the car screen printed on the light are the toughest to find because from what I've heard there were many QA/QCs issues involved with screen printing the details of the car. These issues were so common that 2 different versions produced. The earlier version is on the top and the later version is on the bottom. The car lost some detail on the later version to try to make it easier to print. The third version, that I don't own, simply had the Maglite Racing logo and lacked the car. The third version is the easiest to find but the first and second versions with the car are far more difficult to find and are worth much more. Maglite would later use this same style but with the NASCAR logo and branded as the Victory Series when they acquired the NASCAR license. Maglite Racing lights were also done in AA Mini Maglites and AAA Solitaires in a similar color scheme.

I have a very small collection of NASCAR lights as well but they're not as rare as the Maglite Racing lights because they were produced in greater numbers. I'm not a huge collector of these but I did wind up with a few. Shown below are my Spectrum Series light and 1st and 2nd generation Select Series lights. The 1st generation is very rare. It's hard anodized with a die cut decal. Later Select Series models were anodized regularly with screen printing. Maglite also produced a Victory Series model with the checkered flag like the above Maglite Racing lights.

In addition Maglite produced a number of driver lights. These were their standard 3D lights except they had the driver's name laser etched over the grip and the driver's number laser etched on the head. The rarest and most sought after one is the orange Tony Stewart light because the orange finish was  only produced for a very short time. I have one New In Box (NIB) that I've shown below. There were also many variations done in AA Mini Maglites and AAA Solitaires.

I don't own the other Signature Series models but they are:

#2 - Midnight Blue - Rusty Wallace
#3 - Black - Dale Earnhardt
#8 - Std. Blue - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
#8 - Red - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
#18 - Dark (Std.) Green - Bobby Labonte
#24 - Red - Jeff Gordon
#24 - Std. Blue - Jeff Gordon
#31 - Std. Blue - Mike Skinner
#88 - Midnight Blue - Dale Jarret

As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.