Izod is a clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing and sportswear for men and women, also including fragrances, and accessories. Similar to brands such as Gant U.S.A., Lacoste, and Polo Ralph Lauren, it is part of the Phillips-Van Heusen Company, headquartered at 200 Madison Ave., New York City.

History[link]

In the late 1930s, Vincent De Paul Draddy, an American businessman employed by David Crystal Co., needed a strong name to associate with his quality merchandise for menswear. While vacationing with his family in London, England, he encountered Jack Izod's tailoring boutique. Izod (himself a well-respected tailor) produced bespoke shirts and created the Windsor tie-knot for King George V, but was ready to retire, and accepted Draddy's offer to purchase the rights to his distinctive name. The A.J. Izod of London clothing company was introduced to the USA in 1938.

1952–1993: Izod Lacoste Years[link]

Izod of London would become most notable for its pairing with the Lacoste shirt company from 1952 to 1993. Vincent Draddy began to license the Lacoste shirt adding prestige to the Izod line, however he couldn't find a market for the then-expensive $8.00 retail price. After Vincent began giving the shirts away to his famous friends, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bing Crosby, and John F. Kennedy, the shirts soon became popular with department stores. "Izod of London" became a brand known simply as "Izod Lacoste". While the shirts were equally Izod and Lacoste, they became abbreviated and popularized as "Izod" shirts (which led to the ongoing misunderstanding that the famous "Crocodile" is the "Izod" trademark.)

Growth in the 1960s, 70s, 80s[link]

In 1963, Bernard Lacoste took over the management of the company. Significant company growth was seen under Bernard's management. When he became president, around 300,000 Izod Lacoste products were sold annually. The Izod Lacoste brand reached its height of popularity in the US during the late 1970s and became the signature 1980s "preppy" wardrobe item, even getting mentioned in Lisa Birnbach's Official Preppy Handbook of 1980. The company also began to introduce other products into their line including shorts, perfume, optical and sunglasses, tennis shoes, deck shoes, walking shoes, watches, and various leather goods.

In 1977, Le Tigre Clothing was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Izod Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of apparel, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile. Also, During this period Izod's parent, Crystal Brands fell under the management of General Mills, and also purchased the Gant U.S.A. brand.

Different Directions[link]

During the early 1990s, Izod Lacoste struggled to maintain the market dominance it had enjoyed in previous decades. The initial reaction from Crystal Brands was to separate the two names and target two groups of customers at once; "Izod" was re-introduced as moderate pricepoint apparel in department stores, while Lacoste was renamed "Lacoste Chemise", and re-positioned as a luxury lifestyle brand. Eventually this tactic did not provide the financial gain Crystal had hoped and the license partnering ended in 1993. Sportloisirs S.A purchased the Lacoste brand entirely in 1993, while Izod was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in 1995.

PVH IZOD[link]

PVH repositioned and restored some of Izod's previous relevance while introducing a number of products lines and brands. Complete with an Izod "crest" logo, or patch. In addition to its sportswear, Izod designs a full range of suits, shirts, neckties, shoes, outerwear and fragrances, and continues to produce its famous polo shirts. Currently, within the PVH corp. the Izod branded shirt has become part of the biggest shirt company in the USA.

March 15, 2010, Izod's parent company PVH purchased the Tommy Hilfiger brand. There has been some speculation over the merging of both brands to increase exposure abroad.

IZOD Essential[link]

Perhaps the best known and remembered piece for the Izod line is the short-sleeved Piqué polo shirt. Formerly featuring the Lacoste crocodile on the left breast of the shirt, now replaced with a color-matching/coordinating crest and left sleeve embroidery. One variation is the "IZ" patch instead of crest. This shirt, along with Ralph Lauren Polo, was a fashion core-piece in the 1970s and '80s with preppy and Mod sets. Other Izod classics include the Harrington jacket G-9 model, also v-neck & cardigan sweaters.

Brands[link]

Since Izod's first brand, Izod, was launched in 1938, it grown considerably to include a variety of essential and luxury brands. They include:

Clothing for men and women[link]

• Izod Classix: Izod's brand for men and women, and also the most widely available. Izod with a 'blue label' spans from tailored clothing, sportswear, activewear, and fragrances, to leather goods. Available at many department and as well as Izod outlet stores.
• Izod Luxury Sports: Izod's 'red label' premium sportswear brand for men, with premium fabrics and finer attention to detail; such as name embroidery. As with the 'blue label' Luxury Sports spans from tailored clothing, sportswear, activewear, and accessories, to leather goods. Available exclusively at premium department stores.
• Izod Jeans: Denim basics and weekend sportswear from the Izod line, offered at some department stores.
• Izod PerformX: A high-tech sports collection aimed at winter sport gear, golfers, swimming, and IndyCar. Often featuring lightweight microfibers and super pima cottons.

Sports Sponsorship[link]

The former Continental Airlines Arena, in New Jersey, United States was renamed the IZOD CENTER as of October 31, 2007, the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets' season opener. The company will pay $1.4 million per annum for the naming rights during the first two years of the agreement, while the Nets are still tenants, which will drop to $750,000 per year for the balance of the five-year deal.^[1]

In 2009, Izod became the official apparel provider of the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights Series. Izod produces t-shirts, polos, pullovers, hats, and umbrellas for league and team officials and the general public.

The relationship will expand in 2010 with Izod becoming the official title sponsor of the Izod IndyCar Series, a deal worth $10 million a year for 5 years.^[2]

See also[link]

• Izod Lacoste
• Izod Center
• IndyCar Series
• Lacoste

References[link]

External links[link]

• IZOD
• INSIDE IZOD
• Race to the Party
• IZOD Center
• IZOD Shirts Specialized Website

Ryan Briscoe
Briscoe at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1981-09-24) 24 September 1981 (age 30)
2012 IndyCar Series
Debut season	2005
Current team	Penske
Car no.	2
Former teams	Luczo-Dragon Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Ganassi Racing
Starts	61
Wins	6
Poles	11
Best finish	3rd in 2009

Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981 in Sydney) is an Australian auto racing driver who has raced open wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.

In addition to his native English, Briscoe speaks Italian and French. He attended Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill, Sydney, Australia.

He is married to ESPN motorsport reporter, Nicole Briscoe (née Manske) whom he wedded in 2009.

Career biography[link]

Early career[link]

Like many auto racing drivers, he started his career in karting, first racing in 1993. After winning Australian, North American and Italian championships, he moved to Formula Renault in 2000. He won the Italian Championship in 2001 (winning 5 races) and finished 4th running a limited schedule in the Eurocup (with 2 wins in 6 races). In 2002, he became test driver for the Toyota Formula One constructor. He started that year racing in the Formula 3000 series, but struggled and left his ride after 7 races. He finished the year in the German Formula 3 series, taking 3 podiums in the last 6 rounds. He won the Formula Three Euroseries in 2003 (winning 8 races in the process). He became the Toyota F1 team's 'third' driver (i.e., drove the team's test car on Fridays at Grands Prix) for the last third of the 2004 season, after previous third driver Ricardo Zonta was called up to replace Cristiano da Matta.

2005[link]

There were rumors^[1] that Briscoe was set to race for the Jordan Grand Prix F1 team in 2005, due to the team's acquisition of Toyota power. Instead, Briscoe raced for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the Indy Racing League,^[1] including a 10th place finish in the Indianapolis 500. He also made his Rolex Grand-Am debute with Ganassi at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He took pole position at Sears Point, but struggled on the ovals and was involved in several crashes.

On 11 September 2005 he was involved in a violent crash at Chicagoland Speedway, breaking both clavicles among other injuries. His car climbed on top of the Red Bull entry driven by Alex Barron and went airborne into the catch fencing above the retaining wall and snapping in two. He was released from the hospital on 19 September and following some initial treatment in the USA, moved to the specialist Formula Medicine facility in Viareggio, Italy, for the bulk of his rehabilitation. It took 8 weeks for Briscoe to recover from the injuries he sustained in the crash. His official web site announced his return to the USA on 14 November 2005.

2006[link]

Briscoe was dropped by Ganassi for 2006, replaced by 2005 IRL champion Dan Wheldon. During the winter, he tested with fellow Australian and Champ Car owner Kevin Kalkhoven's PKV Racing team. Briscoe also tested for the Mi Jack Conquest team. Briscoe competed in the 2006 24 Hours of Daytona with 2005 Champions Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli and Emmanuel Collard, but the team withdrew due to accident damage before Briscoe's turn to drive.

Ryan Briscoe waits for a qualification attempt at Indy in 2007

In 2006, Briscoe was announced as an endurance driver for Holden Racing Team, set to partner Jim Richards at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000. He also drove in the A1 Grand Prix race at Laguna Seca in the USA for A1 Team Australia, scoring three points. At the Indy 500 he was a surprise late driver of the #48 car for A. J. Foyt Racing – the deal was so late he was still having his seat fitting with less than half an hour of Bump Day qualifying left, and he never got out on the track to attempt a qualifying run. He returned to the IRL the following week and drove the #5 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara to a third place finish at Watkins Glen International, a road course. He returned to the Dreyer & Reinbold team on a three race deal for the short speedways in the second half of the season, but recorded DNF's in 2 of his 3 races with the team. He then was tabbed to replace the injured Cristiano da Matta in the final two races of the Champ Car season for the RuSPORT team, including his home country's race at Surfers Paradise.

2007[link]

Briscoe signed a deal to drive for Penske Racing's Porsche LMP2 car in the American Le Mans Series and was named to a ride in the Indy 500 in a car owned by Stephen J. Luczo and Jay Penske with equipment leased from defending '500' champion Penske Racing.

Driving the #12 Symantec Luczo Dragon Racing machine, Briscoe qualified 7th with a four lap average speed of 224.410. In the race on 28 May 2007, he completed all 166 laps before the race was called due to a driving rain. Briscoe finished 5th amongst the 33 participants earning him $302,305 and 30 driver points.

2008[link]

Briscoe at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2008.

Ryan Briscoe signed to drive for Penske's IndyCar team as a race driver for the 2008 IndyCar Series season, replacing the former driver Sam Hornish, Jr., who started racing full–time in Penske's NASCAR team in 2008.

Briscoe knocked himself out of the Indianapolis 500 along with Danica Patrick when Briscoe came out of the pits and ran into Patrick tearing up her suspension and tearing the front end of Briscoe's car.^[2]

Briscoe earned his first career win at Milwaukee the week after Indy, holding off Scott Dixon and avoiding a late crash involving Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, and Vitor Meira. Briscoe became the sixth driver in IndyCar history to score his first win while driving for Penske, following Mark Donohue (in 1971), Tom Sneva (1975), Rick Mears (1978), Paul Tracy (1993), and teammate Hélio Castroneves (2000). He followed up his first career win with a victory, shortly after the halfway point of the season, at the Honda 200 on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Briscoe also became the first Australian to claim victory at the Surfers Paradise Indy event on 26 October 2008, after countryman and favorite, Will Power, crashed out early in the race.

2009[link]

Briscoe at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2009.

2009 started well for Briscoe, with a restart pass on Justin Wilson giving him the win at the first round of the championship at St. Petersburg. At the second round at Long Beach, Penske were not quick, and that compounded with bad luck pushed Briscoe down to 13th.

At the third round at the Kansas Speedway, Briscoe qualified seventh. He was very quick, and was battling with eventual winner Scott Dixon when a yellow flag got him down the order. Briscoe charged back, and set the fastest race race lap and finished 4th.

Briscoe qualified 2nd for the Indianapolis 500. Briscoe was in the lead after 64 laps, but lost the lead on a bad set of tires. He was forced to make an unscheduled stop which dropped him down to 24th. He could not recover, and finished 15th.

The next round was at the Milwaukee Mile where Briscoe took pole position. After losing the lead to Tony Kanaan on the first lap, Briscoe took the lead on the 26th lap and led until the second round of pitstops when Dario Franchitti jumped him. However, Briscoe passed him 20 laps later and kept the lead at the final round of stops. On lap 201 out of 225, Scott Dixon took advantage of Briscoe stuck behind backmarker Tomas Scheckter and passed him on the inside to win, with Briscoe second.

Round 6 was at the Texas Motor Speedway and Briscoe qualified second. He passed polesitter Dario Franchitti on the 10th lap and pulled away. With no cautions for the next 140 laps, Briscoe pulled away and by lap 150, had a 15 second lead over second placed Marco Andretti. A caution for debris on lap 151 took away all that, and now Brisoce had Andretti, as well as teammate Helio Castroneves and the Ganassi cars of Scott Dixon and Franchitti behind him. The third round of stops took place on lap 176, at another caution. A six second stop for Castroneves got him ahead of Briscoe, and for the remaining 52 laps, Briscoe with the quicker car was unable to pass Castroneves and had to settle for second for the second consecutive race after leading the most laps.

Racing record[link]

Career summary[link]

† – As Briscoe was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete International Formula 3000 results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula 3 Euro Series results[link]

(key)

Complete Formula One results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

* Was entered as Third Driver, but did not run due to bad weather.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

American open wheel results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

IndyCar[link]

* Season in progress.

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.

*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indianapolis 500[link]

Champ Car[link]

Touring/Sports Car Racing[link]

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Rolex Sports Car Series results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

• Season in progress

V8 Supercar results[link]

+ Not Eligible for points

American Le Mans Series results[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ryan Briscoe

• Ryan Briscoe's official website
• Racing Reference - US Racing Stats
• Driver Database - Career stats
• Motorsport.com - Articles & photo's
• IndyCar Driver Page
• Photograph of Ryan's huge crash in 2005
• Photo sequence of infernal 2005 Chicagoland crash (from Paddocktalk).
• IndyCar 11 in '11 video

Graham Rahal
Rahal at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.
Nationality	American
Born	(1989-01-04) January 4, 1989 (age 23) Columbus, Ohio
2012 IZOD IndyCar Series
Debut season	2007
Current team	Chip Ganassi Racing
Car no.	38
Former teams	Newman/Haas Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Sarah Fisher Racing Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Starts	44
Wins	1
Poles	2
Best finish	7th in 2009
Previous series
2007 2006 2005	Champ Car World Series Champ Car Atlantic Star Mazda Championship
Awards
2011	24 Hours of Daytona winner

Graham Rahal (born January 4, 1989 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American race car driver. He currently participates in the IZOD IndyCar Series. He is the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal.

Racing Career[link]

Early racing[link]

In 2005, he won the Formula Atlantic class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth in Star Mazda Series standings. He drove in the last two rounds of the 2005–2006 A1 Grand Prix season for A1 Team Lebanon as he is of Lebanese descent. He moved to a full-time ride in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2006, where he won five races and finished second in the season standings. He also drove in the Indy Pro Series event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix and finished second. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Graham would drive for Newman/Haas Racing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.^[1]

2007[link]

On January 27 Rahal drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona. One of four drivers of the Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley, the car ran into early troubles and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the 12 Hours of Sebring American LeMans Series race for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team. He drove a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with two other drivers, finishing 6th in the GT2 class and 15th overall.

Rahal posing with a show car when he raced in Champ Car in 2007

On March 27 news reports from the previous summer were finally confirmed when he was announced as the second driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the Champ Car World Series^[2] and drove the #2 Panoz DP01 sponsored by MEDI|ZONE alongside his teammate, three-time series champion Sébastien Bourdais.

On April 8 in his debut in the Champ Car World Series at the Vegas Grand Prix, Rahal hit the wall on the front stretch on the first lap. He was knocked out of the race. On April 15 at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach he finished his first Champ Car race, ending up 8th.

On April 22, in just his 3rd Champ Car race, he became the youngest ever podium finisher in Champ Car history after finishing 2nd in Houston. Rahal completed his rookie season in 5th place in series points with four podium finishes but without a race win.

2008[link]

With the creation of a single American open wheel racing series for 2008, Rahal and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team became part of the IndyCar Series, including Rahal's first Indianapolis 500.

He missed the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 due to a crash in testing after which his team could not get his car repaired in time for the race. He made his series debut at the second race of the season, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and despite an early spin in the race, Rahal won the race by 3.5192 seconds from two-time defending winner of the race, Hélio Castroneves. He is currently the youngest person to win a major American open wheel race^[3] and the fourth to win in his first appearance in the IndyCar Series. The best finish Rahal would manage the rest of the year was a pair of 8th places at Watkins Glen and Infineon and he finished 17th in points, 4th among series rookies.

2009[link]

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, taking over the #02 car with Mc Donald's as his sponsor. He began the season by taking pole position at St. Petersburg, his first in his IndyCar career and the youngest ever polesitter at 20 years and 90 days old. This was the first time a Rahal had won an IndyCar pole since his father started first at Toronto in 1992, which was Bobby's third in a row that season.^[4] He finished seventh after damaging the car in a first lap clash. His season was also undermined by bad relations with his team-mate Robert Doornbos – when the Dutchman left midseason, Rahal commented "We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player."^[5] He finished the season 7th in points with two podium finishes.

Rahal was linked with USF1, the American based Formula One team set to debut in the 2010 World Championship. The team's sporting director, Peter Windsor, has mentioned Rahal as a potential candidate for a seat with the Charlotte based outfit.^[6] However, Windsor later decided against hiring either Rahal or Marco Andretti due to fears they may not be able to get their F1 Superlicenses in time for the 2010 season. Eventually, the team failed to answer the bell for the 2010 Formula One season.

2010[link]

Graham Rahal did not return to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, due to McDonald's discontinuing their sponsorship to focus on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

On March 10, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced Rahal would pilot Fisher's #67 Dollar General car in the first two North American events of 2010, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Sarah Fisher was originally planning on driving the races herself (in addition to seven ovals) before deciding that putting Rahal in the car could be a benefit to everyone, including her sponsor Dollar General, whose home office is in Goodlettsville, Tennessee (near the Alabama track).^[7] On April 6, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced they will be adding the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Rahal's schedule. Rahal's placing in those three races were ninth, 17th, and 22nd (retired) respectively.

After the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Rahal was signed to drive for his father's team, Rahal Letterman Racing, in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Graham qualified in the seventh position for the race, and finished 12th.

On June 10, 2010, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced the signing of Rahal for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway, filling in for the injured Mike Conway in the #24 entry. It was his only start for the team.

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas Racing for 6 of the remaining 8 races of the 2010 season, starting with Toronto and returned to Sarah Fisher Racing for the Kentucky Speedway race. Rahal's 2010 totals include 12 starts for four different teams and a 20th place finish in points.

On October 10, 2010, Rahal finished runner-up at the RoboPong 200 all-star kart event at the New Castle Motorsports Park with teammate Conor Daly.^[8]

2011[link]

Rahal has signed to drive the #38 car for Chip Ganassi Racing with Service Central sponsorship beginning in 2011 as the team will expand from two to four cars.^[9]

Rahal, co-drove the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car to victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona along with Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, and Joey Hand. It came 30 years after his father, Bobby, along with Brian Remond and Bob Garretson won the race.

Personal life[link]

Rahal attended New Albany school systems in Ohio and graduated in June 2007 with plans to attend Denison University.

Motorsports career results[link]

Career summary[link]

Complete A1 Grand Prix results[link]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)