By David G. Firestone
Well, it’s that time of year again. Christmas music is in all the stores and on the radio. Egg nog is available for purchase. The racing season has ended, and The Driver Suit Blog Paint Scheme Review Committee has met again. The Committee consists of myself, Lucy the Beagle, and Alejandro the cat. During our meeting Lucy and Alejandro fell asleep, so I did the heavy lifting. So here are the Paint Scheme Leaderboards for Chevy in the Cup Series in 2018
1. Beard Oil Motorsports #62 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 1
Rank Last Year: 1st of 23
GPA: 4.00
One singular scheme raced for four races, and it has a great design. It’s bold, but not over designed. It’s a great look.
2. Rick Ware Racing #52 Chevy Camaro/Ford Fusion
Number of Schemes: 5
Rank Last Year: N/A
GPA: 3.80
A series of different drivers raced a series of different paint schemes in 2018. All of these schemes were good, some better than others. The Live Hotel and Casino and Jacob Companies entries could have used some work, but as a whole, a very solid year.
3. Jimmie Johnson #48 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 6
Rank Last Year: 23rd of 23
GPA: 3.61
Jimmie had 5 solid A schemes this year, which looked great, and weren’t over designed. Sadly, The Jimmie Johnson Foundation scheme was awful. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation was an ugly, over designed mess, with a bad color scheme, as opposed to the other schemes raced. This scheme was so bad, it took Jimmie’s GPA from 4 to 3.61.
4. Jamie McMurray #1 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 16
Rank Last Year: 8th of 23
GPA: 3.48
The schemes were all passable schemes, but the DC Solar patriotic schemes, the Clover schemes, and DC Solar weren’t great, and dragged Jamie’s GPA down to just above a B+. Cessna, and McDonald’s were great.
5. Darrell Wallace Jr. #43 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 20
Rank Last Year: N/A
GPA: 3.47
The STP, Mile 22, and Food Lion Feeds schemes were slightly over designed. and World Wide Technology was mediocre at best, and Kroger Red, White and Barbecue was a disaster. Other than that, Darrell Wallace Jr. had a great season, paint scheme-wise. He had a lot of great looks, and a really great throwback.
6. Premium Motorsports #55 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 7
Rank Last Year: 6th of 23
GPA: 3.40
Another potential 4.0 scheme ruined by a series of bad grades, including Nevada Donor, the car the following week, and Black Riffle Coffee. Adirondack Tree Surgeons was horrible. Averaging out the grades gives the #55 a 3.40.
7. William Byron #24 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 10
Rank Last Year: 12th of 23
GPA: 3.37
The year started off promising, with 4 A schemes introduced at the beginning of the season. There was a definite drop off as the season progressed, with Uni First, and Hertz, though Hertz would redeem themselves. Then came the disaster that is Axalta/Imron, and that was what dragged the GPA down even more.
8. MBM Motorsports #66 Chevy Camaro/Ford Fusion/Toyota Camry
Number of Schemes: 12
Rank Last Year: 21st of 23
GPA: 3.27
The Rewards.com, and the Rewards.com throwback weren’t the best. Other than those two, there were a lot of A, A-, and B+ schemes this year. But the numbers don’t lie, and the average is a 3.27. In years past, this could have been a higher rank, but this year isn’t a high rank.
9. Austin Dillon #3 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 17
Rank Last Year: 14th of 23
GPA: 3.20
A lot of great, a lot of meh, and some awful. Scooper Cat Litter was awful. American Ethanol, Symbicort, and Dow/Molykote were mediocre. Dow Killz needed work, and while the rest of the schemes were solid, the bad drags down the good here.
10. Premium Motorsports #15 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 16
Rank Last Year: 11th of 23
GPA: 3.13
Low T Center, which never has a good scheme, Go Pro Motorsports, and Championship Machinery were the real stinkers here. Amazingly, there were a lot of A schemes, but those three schemes dragged the GPA down a lot.
11. Chris Buescher #37 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 24
Rank Last Year: 5th of 23
GPA: 3.00
Chris Buescher raced a lot of schemes, and they were all over the place. While the Natural Light Resume scheme was a bad idea all around, there were a lot of schemes that were bad, but with some work could be better. The final GPA however was much lower that it could have been at a 4, but he only got a 3.
12. Rick Ware Racing #51 Chevy Camaro/Ford Fusion
Number of Schemes: 22
Rank Last Year: 9th of 23
GPA: 2.95
The #51’s schemes were all over the place. Some schemes were amazing, some were awful. The Jacob Companies had more different schemes this year than any singular company. The averages are what they are, and the rank is what it is.
13. Premium Motorsports #7 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 10
Rank Last Year: N/A
GPA: 2.91
I get that the #7 is also used for the #15 and #55. However, I’m going to have the #7 as it’s own number. NY Racing will be a separate entry. There was a lot of bad to awful schemes on the 7 this year. This just wasn’t a great year for the #7. Sure there were a few good schemes, but not as many as bad schemes.
14. StarCom Racing #99 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 10
Rank Last Year: N/A
GPA: 2.91
International Marine had a couple of awful schemes. For some reason, the #99 had the really awful Rewards.com Darrell Waltrip throwback. StarCom Fiber’s scheme was bad, but their patriotic scheme was slightly better. It wasn’t a great year for the new team.
15. Chase Elliott #9 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 12
Rank Last Year: N/A
GPA: 2.78
Sun Energy was awful, though they did redeem themselves later in the year. Little Ceaser’s, Mountain Dew, Baja Blast, the second Sun Energy, and NAPA Nightvision were great. Other than that, the schemes were decent, but could have bee great.
16. Ryan Newman #31 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 20
Rank Last Year: 10th of 23
GPA: 2.77
Ryan’s schemes were all over the place this year. Some were really great, including some of CATERPILLAR’s schemes, and the throwback. Others were awful, such as Liberty National and Lucas Oil. But there was a lot more bad than good.
17. Alex Bowman #88 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 9
Rank Last Year: 16th of 23
GPA: 2.76
The Axalta scheme was awful, as was the Church Brothers scheme. The Philadelphia Eagles scheme was ill-advised, as was the Llumar, and Nationwide schemes, but they weren’t awful. It was a decent year, but it could have been a lot better.
18. Gaunt Brother Racing #96 Chevy Camaro/Toyota Camry
Number of Schemes: 11
Rank Last Year: 19th of 23
GPA: 2.73
Ik9 had some great looks this year. The Dale Earnhardt Sr. Throwback was great, as was Northern Provincial. There were some bad looks, but the season as a whole was decent. It could have been better, but it was just decent.
19. Tri Star Motorsports #72 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 17
Rank Last Year: 18th of 23
GPA: 2.71
Tri Star was all over the place this year. Zomongo, Monarch Crypto Wallet, ARK Custom Blockchain, and both Schluter Systems schemes were awful. There were some highlights, including So Cal Chevy, Winn Dixie, BCT Blockchain, and Gas Monkey Garage. There was also a lot of meh schemes. I’ve reluctantly accepted the door number designs, but I’m not accepting some of the paint schemes from the #72.
20. NY Racing Team #7 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 1
Rank Last Year:N/A
GPA: 2.70
One scheme that was decent, but not great, but not awful. That sums up the season for NY Racing, and their one paint scheme.
21. Leavine Family Racing #95 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 15
Rank Last Year: 13th of 23
GPA: 2.53
Kasey’s schemes could be great when they had to. They were bad because he wanted them to be. His schemes were mostly pointlessly over designed, and looked awful. There were some good schemes, but the good and bad led to a bad average.
22. Kyle Larson #42 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 14
Rank Last Year: 20th of 23
GPA: 2.52
Kyle’s schemes were much more over designed than Jamie McMurray’s schemes. The awful Clover scheme found its way on to Kyle’s car. Add in that DC Solar had numerous different designs, and they were all bad in their own way, as well as many that could have been improved, and you have a low GPA for 2018.
23. StarCom Racing #00 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 21
Rank Last Year: 22nd of 23
GPA: 2.42
Another example of a series of schemes that are all over the place. There are too many different ones to mention individually, but almost every grade in the spectrum is represented, and when averaged out, the #00 gets a 2.42.
24. Ty Dillon #13 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 4
Rank Last Year: 15th of 23
GPA: 2.35
The Twisted Tea scheme was great. The Throwback scheme was good, certainly better than the Geico scheme, which is still the same mess it was last year. The Geico patriotic scheme is self-serving, with the outline of the Geico gecko used as a camoflage pattern. The #13 just doesn’t look good.
25. Daniel Hemric #8 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 1
Rank Last Year:N/A
GPA: 2.30
The Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff scheme isn’t great, but it’s not awful. That’s really all there is to be said.
26. AJ Allmendinger #47 Chevy Camaro
Number of Schemes: 2
Rank Last Year: 7th of 23
GPA: 1.90
Kroger was not a great scheme used for most of the year. The only other scheme used was the throwback, but that wasn’t good enough to get a solid A, only an A-. The two schemes averaged only a 1.90.
Next Week, the Ford Paint Scheme Leaderboard.
