Special paint schemes on racing cars explained

Special paint schemes are one-time or limited time variations on a race car's typical appearance. Their use has historically been largely confined to NASCAR stock car racing, partially due to the much larger surface area of a stock car, and longer season, but have entered the IndyCar in a limited fashion. NASCAR's increased media coverage has contributed to their popularity with both fans and sponsors.

However, some sponsors and die-cast makers have advanced the promotion to other codes of motorsport, as Red Bull Racing had a Star Wars paint scheme to promote Revenge of the Sith in Formula One and a similar Superman one to promote Superman Returns. Panther Racing in the Indy Racing League ran a Pennzoil Platinum paint scheme at selected 2005 IRL events instead of the normal yellow design.

History

1991 Daytona 500: Winston Salutes the Troops

Special paint schemes in NASCAR date back to the 1991 Daytona 500. As part of an R. J. Reynolds promotion, five unsponsored drivers had paint schemes on their cars that paid tribute to the branches of the United States Armed Forces serving in Operation Desert Storm:[1]

Dale Earnhardt's "Quick Silver"

Alternate paint schemes truly gained notoriety in 1995, when Dale Earnhardt appeared at The Winston with a silver car (in tribute to Winston's silver anniversary) instead of his traditional black car. The car was nicknamed "Quick Silver" or "Silver Select".[2] A year later, Earnhardt continued the trend at the 1996 running of The Winston with a 1996 Atlanta Olympics themed car.[3]

Fan reaction to the paint schemes proved popular such that by the end of the decade, scarcely a race went by without one or more drivers sporting a special paint scheme. Often one-week special sponsorship deals were involved in the schemes, and other times existing sponsors chose to promote alternate products within the firm. Examples of one-week deals include promoting first run films coinciding with the particular race weekend, and promoting other simultaneous events (such as the Olympics).

Often several drivers sported related paint schemes simultaneously.

Popular themes

Custom paint schemes frequently feature special events, and often include the following:

Movie themes

The use of movie-themed cars is viewed as being perfectly suited to promotion through the use of special paint schemes due to the short-term nature of a movie's box office run.

Often, a sponsor is involved in a movie, and to promote the movie, they will deal with the movie producers to have their car painted to reflect the movie. Other times, a film studio will work with a driver to have the movie theme.

List of notable movie themes

An advertisement for this movie was placed on the hood of Bobby Labonte's car at the 2004 Daytona 500[11] [12] [13]

Special paint scheme was driven once by Jamie McMurray[14]

Jimmie Johnson & Kyle Busch drove this scheme in a fall Busch race at Lowe's in 2004.

Kasey Kahne in the 2007 Pepsi 400

Bill Elliott drove such a promotion paint job in 1995.

Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart at several 2001 races, as well as Jeff Gordon in the 1997 All-Star Race. Gordon's 1997 All-Star Race winner is known as "T-Rex" that dominated the race and was effectively banned by NASCAR afterwards.[15]

Driven by Kasey Kahne to victory at Michigan in 2006.

Special paint scheme was driven by Dale Jarrett in 2005 at Infineon.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove and won the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan in a car painted to promote The Dark Knight Rises.

This promotional paint job was used by Jeff Gordon at the 2005 Aaron's 499 at Talladega, which he won.

In the 2015 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, Carl Edwards drove the paint scheme to promote the Despicable Me spinoff movie.

In the 2016 Auto Club 400, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Batman) and Jimmie Johnson (Superman) drive specially themed cars. Johnson won with his Superman theme.

Kyle Larson drove the paint scheme in 2017 to promote the movie. He won the race at Michigan with this scheme. Clint Bowyer ran a Cars 3 scheme at Sonoma 2 weeks later as well, finishing 2nd.

Throwback themes

Following trends in other sports, "throwback" paint schemes have also gained popularity in recent years, celebrating past accomplishments of well-known drivers.

List of notable throwback themes

Response to throwback themes

After Ernie Irvan put the throwback "Battlestar" on the pole at the 1997 DieHard 500, fan reaction forced Robert Yates Racing to consider having the "Battlestar" design at Talladega for the rest of the team's association with Texaco. When Chevron (who had bought Texaco) switched to Chip Ganassi Racing, fan reaction forced the sponsor to revert to the old Yates-era 1994-2000 design after Chevron changed the paint scheme in 2001.

Liz Allison (Davey's widow) told the media in announcing the 2003 Battlestar old fans would be cheering heavily when they see the classic design returning for the race, and warned Ganassi driver Jamie McMurray that if he won the race in the Battlestar, "You better bar the door because the Allisons are taking over. We're really excited and very touched (by Chevron's generosity in remembering a legend)."[18] [19] [20]

Military paint schemes

New variations on the military paint schemes have also been used throughout the years. The United States Army began sponsoring the No. 01 car owned by MB2 Motorsports full-time in 2003. For major anniversaries, the cars used a special camouflage design. The Army then went to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for two seasons before joining Stewart Haas Racing in 2009 and was the primary sponsor of Ryan Newman's No. 39 until 2012.[21]

Although the schemes were not military-based, several cars used patriotic paint schemes for the 2001 MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 at Dover, the first race after the September 11 attacks.[22]

Often die-cast replicas of the paint scheme cars are produced for the collector market.

Differences between special and alternating paint schemes

With the economics of the sport dictating higher expenses, some sponsors have decided to share sponsor space with other sponsors, leading to two "regular" designs which alternate, such as Richard Childress Racing, where all three teams have multiple alternating primary sponsors. In 2009, the No. 29 team had Shell and Hershey, while the No. 31 had Caterpillar, AstraZeneca, and Lenox Industrial Tools, and the #07 has Jack Daniel's, DirecTV, and BB&T as their three sponsors. Other sponsors have decided to promote different products with their sponsor dollars, such as Mars (M&M's, Snickers, Skittles, Wrigley's, Pedigree, Banfield Pet Hospitals), Lowe's (two schemes, one standard which can be configured to promote professional services or have the regular logo, and one Kobalt Tools), and Kellogg's with the standard Kellogg's and Cheez-It snacks (a Kellogg's product) schemes, and FedEx, which uses five different schemes with color differences to promote four different brands—Express, Ground, Freight, and Kinko's. (A fifth scheme was used in 2005 at Darlington, and is a special scheme, to promote the St. Jude Hospital they support in Memphis.) Those are not "special" schemes, but are co-primary schemes to promote various products by a sponsor who may be willing to use the broadcasts to promote their wide variety of products.

The sheer number of special paint schemes has led to criticism that they are no longer "special" at all. However, it should be differentiated between alternating sponsors, different products on cars (especially promotions for special products), and the true special paint schemes, which promote special events.

IndyCar Series

Though not as widespread as NASCAR, cars in the IndyCar Series have also participated in special paint schemes. Most that have been used have featured a "retro" or tribute paint scheme, depicting a notable car from the past. In most cases, the sponsors are not the same but carry the current sponsors' decals on the classic liveries.

Hometown rookie driver and co-owner Andy Hillenburg fielded a "throwback" entry named the Sumar Special, a gesture to the car driven by Pat O'Connor which won the pole position in 1957.

Billy Boat fielded a "throwback" paint scheme that resembled "Calhoun," the car driven by 1962 pole position winner Parnelli Jones. Boat's car was nicknamed "Calhoun II."

Ryan Briscoe's entry at Luczo Dragon Racing was painted in a "retro" paint schemes to resemble Rick Mears' 1988 Indy 500 winning car. It was the first of a small trend of similar instances.

Marco Andretti's car was painted to promote the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and his racing suit was designed to resemble Indiana Jones's outfit.[23]

Rahal Letterman Racing's DAFCA Special for driver Oriol Servià was painted to resemble Dan Gurney's 1968 Olsonite Eagle, which finished second in the 1968 Indianapolis 500.

Art cars

German manufacturer BMW has a tradition of competing with arts cars which started in the 1975 24 Hours of Le Mans. Artists such as David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and Andy Warhol have contributed to the project. Other teams have done similar liveries, such as Aston Martin Racing and OAK Racing in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: SPORTS PEOPLE: AUTO RACING; Daytona War Tribute. The New York Times. 1991-02-08. 2013-08-26.
  2. Web site: 1995 Winston Select. The Dale Earnhardt Collection. 2013-08-26.
  3. Web site: 1996 Winston Select. The Dale Earnhardt Collection. 2013-08-26.
  4. Web site: Petraglia. Mike. Edwards to drive Sox-themed car. Boston Red Sox. 2007-06-28. 2013-08-26.
  5. Web site: DiMauro. Mike. Boston Red Sox to Support David Ragan's Car. Bleacher Report. 2008-06-24. 2013-08-26.
  6. Web site: Budweiser, driver Kasey Kahne to celebrate Team USA with Olympic Paint Scheme. https://web.archive.org/web/20160416003739/http://www.teamusa.org/News/2009/October/16/Budweiser-driver-Kasey-Kahne-to-celebrate-Team-USA-with-Olympic-Paint-Scheme. dead. April 16, 2016. Team USA. 2009-10-16. 2013-08-26.
  7. Web site: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet To Feature The Dale Jr. Foundation For Sprint All-Star Weekend. Speedway Media. 2012-05-11. 2013-08-26.
  8. Web site: 2002 Winston Cup 'MUPPET' Schemes. Jayski's Silly Season Site. 2013-08-26.
  9. Web site: 2002 Winston Cup 'LOONEY TUNES' Schemes. Jayski's Silly Season Site. 2013-08-26.
  10. Web site: Glenesk. Matthew. 3 Doors Down guitarist jams on sports. ESPN. 2011-07-26. 2013-08-26.
  11. Web site: Associated Press. NASCAR blurs lines between racing and religion. ESPN. 2004-02-11. 2013-08-26.
  12. News: Glick. Shav. A Paint Job With a Purpose. Los Angeles Times. 2004-02-12. 2013-08-26.
  13. News: Rose. Shannon. Bobby Labonte Plans To Ride With 'Passion' For The 500. Orlando Sentinel. 2004-02-12. 2013-08-26.
  14. Web site: 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-Reference. 2013-08-26.
  15. Web site: Special Paint Schemes. Gordon Online. 2013-08-26.
  16. News: Jenkins. Chris. Gordon's car to don rainbow colors for all-star race. USA Today. 2004-04-06. 2013-08-26.
  17. News: Iacobelli. Pete. Darlington's iconic Southern 500 to feature throwback paint schemes. Kingsport Times-News. August 26, 2015. September 3, 2015. September 5, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150905120343/http://www.timesnews.net/article/9091434/darlingtons-iconic-southern-500-to-feature-throwback-paint-schemes. dead.
  18. Web site: Build your digital presence with Paper.li.
  19. News: Paint protection film calgary .
  20. News: Maaco Paint Job Cost .
  21. Web site: U.S. Army won't return as sponsor for Ryan Newman, Stewart-Haas team. Sporting News. 2012-07-10. 2013-08-26.
  22. Web site: The Sept. 23, 2001 "MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400″ NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race remembered. Dover International Speedway. 2012-06-18. 2013-06-29. 2013-03-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20130311031453/http://www.doverspeedway.com/news_content/the-sept-23-2001-mbna-cal-ripken-jr-400-nascar-sprint-cup-series-race-remembered/. dead.
  23. News: PaddockTalk.com . IndyCar Driver Marco Andretti To Run 'Indiana Jones' Livery For Indy 500 . 2008-05-02 . 2008-05-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081216081625/http://www.paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=83076 . 2008-12-16 .
  24. Web site: 2014 Pennzoil Penske. www.indycals.net. 2018-04-07.
  25. News: Notes: Castroneves to field 'Yellow Submarine' livery in 100th Indianapolis 500. IndyCar.com. 2018-04-07.
  26. News: Helio's Return, Penske's Dominance Highlight Barber Open Test Open-Wheels.com. 2018-03-20. Open-Wheels.com. 2018-04-07. en-US.