The Origin of Corvette Racing’s “Jake”

Corvette Racing’s “Jake” Is As Much a Part of Corvette Culture as the Cars Are

While there are many factory teams that participate in one (or more) of the various competitive racing venues around the globe, there are few teams as accessible and as intimately connected to their fans as the Corvette Racing program.  For many teams, factory backed racing programs are used as a way to test and develop automotive technologies that are later utilized on production vehicles.   While all of these programs – including Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini – live behind the mantra “win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” there are few companies that are as intentional about immersing their fans into the experience as Chevrolet and the Corvette Racing program.

As with any sports franchise, one of the most immediate and gratifying ways for fans to outwardly express their loyalties to a particular team is by displaying the team’s mascot/logo.  Since 2004, Corvette Racing fans have been doing just that – by adorning themselves, and their Corvettes, with “Jake” – the skull with the Corvette emblem as his eyes.

“Jake is the unofficial official mascot of Corvette Racing,”  said Jake’s creator, Eddie Jabbour of Kick Design.  “He really came from the team. I was at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004 and noticed that the team had adopted skull icons as a symbol of the ‘take-no-prisoners’ mentality of those intense 24 hours. In fact, someone had scrawled ‘TAKE NO PRISONERS’ on the wall of the Corvette garage.  I thought it would be awesome if there was an icon that truly belonged to Corvette Racing. I scribbled the Corvette flag on a cocktail napkin, then drew a skull around it. I thought the design worked, and the team embraced it immediately.”

The following year, Corvette Racing added its first Jake graphics to the C6.R Corvette’s B-pillars for the 2005 running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  It didn’t take long for fans to identify with “Jake.”  Within the same year, the mascot quickly began appearing on Corvette Racing merchandise and apparel.