Color Wheel

EP's New NASCAR Beat Examines the Most Recognizable Cars of the Sport                           

By Michael Quagliana                        

The uniform. It’s a necessity for any sport. Sure, it serves its purpose of distinguishing between teams, but over time it has developed into a commodity. From the simplest of designs to the most extravagant ones, uniforms are the identity of a franchise, and often our heroes. Who’s Michael Jordan without the number 23? Who’s Derek Jeter without pinstripes? The logo, the colors, and the numbers are all part of sport, legacy, and fandom.

The sport of NASCAR is no exception, but not without its own twist. The uniforms are fireproof, the helmets come with a head-and-neck restraint, and the heroes race around on wheels, not feet. In NASCAR, it’s what’s on the outside that counts.

No fresh start is complete without a fresh coat of paint. New sponsors, numbers, and colors will have fans sprinting to the haulers for all the new merchandise of their favorite drivers this coming February. A paint job can define a career, and at the very least steal the spotlight for one night of the year. Here’s a list of the ten best paint schemes in NASCAR history.

1.     Dale Earnhardt (1988-2001) No other color, no other number, and no other driver has ever meant as much to the sport as Dale Earnhardt and the black No. 3 car. “The Intimidator” won four of his seven championships in the Goodwrench Chevrolet. The now symbolic paint scheme left the pizzazz to the competition, and instead let just one color do the talking. Earnhardt was NASCAR’s bully, and there was no better car to match.

2.     Jeff Gordon (1993-2000) Perhaps no driver, not Yarborough, not Petty, not Earnhardt, ever dominated the sport quite like Jeff Gordon did in the late 1990s. In a four-year span from 1995 to 1998, Gordon won an incredible 40 races in just 125 starts, equating to a win in almost a third of every race he started (32%). When you encompass every color of the rainbow into one design, it could easily come out as a mess. Instead Gordon’s DuPont Chevrolet was a spectacle in itself. A new paint job debuted in 2001, but the old one stands as one of the most identifiable car and driver combinations ever.

3.     Richard Petty (1958-1992) From Plymouth to Oldsmobile to Pontiac, Richard Petty had seemingly been through every manufacturer on the market through his 34-year career, but not once was there a change of color or number. In a shade that is now refereed to around the racing world as ‘Petty blue’, The King drove his No. 43 car to seven titles, and an incomprehensible record of 200 wins. The car still races today through Richard Petty Motorsports, but it never looked better than it did in victory lane, with Petty behind the wheel.

4.     Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2001 Pepsi 400) – What could possibly be more American than fast cars, beer, and baseball? In true patriotic fashion, Budweiser and Major League Baseball shared sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car in the 2001 Pepsi 400. The white and red Monte Carlo featured a trim of baseball stiches along the side. Not only was it best looking ride in the field, it was also the fastest. Earnhardt Jr. dominated the race en route to an unforgettable victory.

5.     Davey Allison (1986-1989) In the beginning of his career, Davey Allison drove one of the best looking stock cars in the sport. His Havoline-sponsored Thunderbird featured a white hood, a black trunk, and a red stripe dividing the two colors. The number twenty-eight on the side was a reflective bronze tint, and it all came together to make for one awesome-looking racecar. It was the ride he drove to second place in the 1988 Daytona 500, right behind his father Bobby who took first in one of NASCAR’s most memorable finishes. Allison racked up 19 victories in a promising career cut short by a fatal helicopter crash in 1993.

6.     Brad Keselowski (2012) Since Miller Lite took over as Rusty Wallace’s primary sponsor in 1997, the Penske racing No. 2 car has been referred to as the ‘Blue Deuce’. Since the sponsorship began, Wallace has since retired, and now one of NASCAR’s brightest young stars has the reigns. Brad Keselowski brought Roger Penske his first NASCAR championship in 2012, and did so in style. The Miller Lite logo on the rear quarter panel doubled as a bottle pouring the American lager into a glass. The golden brew coupled with the metallic sheen of the blue is an unmistakable gem.

7.     Jimmie Johnson (2012-present) Lowe’s has been the primary sponsor for Jimmie Johnson through all six of his championships, but it wasn’t until 2012 that the designers behind the scenes paired Johnson with a paint scheme worthy of his on-track performance. The No. 48 car now sports a royal blue finish with classic white racing stripes running from the hood to the tail. It’s clean, valiant, and a favorable twist for a car, driver, and team that has dominated the sport for the last ten years.

8.     Matt Kenseth (2010-2011) Purple is an undervalued color among the NASCAR garage, rarely making an appearance. When Crown Royal’s iconic colors hopped on to sponsor Matt Kenseth’s No. 17 car in 2010, they did so in style. The dark violet set the Roush-Fenway Ford apart from the pack, and the lightning-like strikes of yellow along the sides gave the paint scheme an edge of quickness and flash. Unfortunately the partnership didn’t last long, as Kenseth made the move to Joe Gibbs Racing in the 2013 season.

9.     Jamie McMurray (2010-2012) In 2010, Jamie McMurray returned to Chip Ganassi Racing after a four-year stint with Jack Roush. The reunion couldn’t have started off any better, as McMurray drove his Impala to a Daytona 500 victory to start the season. Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats shared primary sponsorship of McMurray’s ride for three seasons, which inspired an outdoorsmen-style paint job. The camouflage trim took a backseat to the safety-vest orange lining the sides. There was no hiding this machine.

10.  Bobby Labonte (1997-2001) During Bobby Labonte’s most successful years of his career, including a championship in 2000, he drove the most conspicuous car in NASCAR. His Interstate Batteries Grand Prix was a bright lime green with complementary charge of pink running up the side. It was a surprisingly aesthetic contrast. It certainly wasn’t hard to spot the number eighteen on the track, and it was usually near the front.