By David G. Firestone

Alejandro and I have finished averaging out all the grades of all 45 teams that ran in The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Alejandro was there for moral support, as he slept on my lap the whole time. Without further ado, here is the list:

1-#98 Premium Motorsports Chevy/Toyota-Position Last Year-10^th of 49-The #98 of Premium Motorsports has- done the impossible…They’ve had a perfect season! Not one of their paint scheme grades was below an A! The have dethroned The Wood Brothers for the top spot, in both their manufacturer, and across the board. A

2-#35 Front Row Motorsports Ford-Rank Last Year:2^nd of 49-The #35 had a great showing, with two very solid A schemes, and…well…nothing else. Two perfect A schemes means an A for the year.

3-#55 Premium Motorsports Chevy/Toyota-Position Last Year-17^th of 49-Becker Auto Trailers was the only paint scheme that kept the #55 out of the top spot. The #55 had a very solid year, and with the exception of the B+ Becker Auto Trailers scheme, and when your worst scheme is a B+, that’s worth an A

4-#21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford-Rank Last Year:4^th of 49-A throwback for a basic scheme, two other schemes based on this design is a great way to have a high A average. The Virginia Tech scheme was a B+, just barely keeping them out of the top spot. A

5-#47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-5^th of 49-A few sub par grades kept JTG Daugherty from the top spot, namely Unwharrie Bank, Bush’s Baked Beans, and Pink-washing. Still, They had a very sold year, and they have earned an A for the season.

6-#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-9^th of 49-Four solid A schemes, Dollar General, DeWalt, DeWalt USA, Tide, and Dollar General Silver Numbers, that’s what Matt Kenseth had this season. Sadly, Flexvolt derailed the A train, taking the A down to an A-.

7-#30 TMG Chevy-Position Last Year-NA-TMG had a very solid and impressive year…until the D- level Feed The Children scheme debuted. It derailed a sold A year, and took the whole set from an A to an A-.

8-#41 Stewart Haas Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-49^th of 49-Kurt Busch had a very solid year, and while the Slate and Hass VF1 schemes weren’t great, they were still B+ level. All in all, Kurt earns an A- this season.

9-#2 Team Penske Ford-Rank Last Year:11^th of 49-Brad Keselowski had a great season, with all of his sponsors having great showings…except Auto Trader and the patriotic Miller Lite scheme. It averages out to an A-

10-#46 HScott Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-23^rd of 49-Northland Oil, and St Jude’s were two B+ grades, that took an otherwise solid A season down to an A-.

11-#44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford-Rank Last Year:40^th of 49-Thanks to Shore Lodge, and The Red Cross, this is another scheme that could have taken the top spot, but is relegated to an A- for the season. All of Alberston’s schemes were A schemes. The Twisted Tea schemes were good too, though I stand by the F given to the modern scheme run during the Throwback race at Darlington.

12-#14 Stewart Haas Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-42^nd of 49-Tony Stewart’s final season saw a series of very solid A schemes, and several mediocre schemes. Bass Pro Shops, Ducks Unlimited, and TaxAct didn’t do him any favors. Still his average ends up being an A-.

13-#15 HScott Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-NA-While Visine needed a few tweaks, and AccuDoc needed a lot of work, Clint had a great season. Solid A- season for sure.

14-#38 Front Row Motorsports Ford-Rank Last Year:14^th of 49-If not for Snapchat/Rock the Vote, and Florida Lottery, this set would have taken the top spot. With the two blemishes, the #38 earns an A- for the season.

15-#4 Stewart Haas Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-7^th of 49-The one real black mark on Kevin Harvick’s season was the Bloomin Monday paint scheme. Outback needed a little work, the hunting camouflage scheme needed a decent amount of work. It was a season that could have been much better without those schemes. B+

16-#16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford-Rank Last Year:32^nd 49 of 49-Greg Biffle had a lot of great schemes this year, and he has a decent grade. The one scheme that hurt Biffle was the pink washing scheme. It helped take Greg down to a B+ for the season.

17-#88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-41^stof 49-Nationwide’s and Axalta’s schemes were great, but Mountain Dew is where the schemes began to go off the rails. Many of them were great, but Dewcision was a disaster, the camouflage scheme was horrid. The worst of them all was the green, yellow, and white “Patriotic” scheme, that couldn’t have been less patriotic if their lives depended on it. Most of their schemes were A’s, but the two F’s and a C brought the total down to a B+.

18-#18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-35^th of 49-The Interstate Batteries scheme still sucks, but the Throwback did make up for it. The Skittles/Marvel scheme needed work, and the Halloween and Snickers Crispier schemes could have been better. It averages out to a B+.

19-#5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-37^th of 49-Kasey had a pretty decent year this year. His average scheme grade is higher, B over a C+. Also, his schemes were notably better than last year, so he really earned the B.

20-#34 Front Row Motorsports Ford-Rank Last Year:16^th of 49-Chris Buescher had a slew of great schemes. Love’s Truck Stops, and CSX had great showings, but the Support the Troops and Hire our Veterans were F schemes, and took him from the top spot down to a B.

21-#31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-27^th of 49-Ryan Newman’s schemes were all over the map, some were great, some were awful. Wix was a disaster, Florida Lottery was bad, Kalahari Resorts was worse. Still, there were a decent amount of A’s to make up for it, bringing their total up to a B.

22-#19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-22^nd of 49-If not for Comcast Busniess, Carl Edwards would be higher ranked. All of the schemes except for Comcast were solid. The average of the grades is a B.

23-#17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford-Rank Last Year:33^rd of 49-Sunny D was a downgrade, which sucks, because while Eco-Boost needed some work, all of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s schemes were A schemes. He finished the season with a solid B

24-#42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-25^th of 49-Clorox and Huggies dragged a solid A season down to a B. The Target fade scheme was good, though some variations needed work. The Coca Cola scheme needed work, but it wasn’t awful. It’s still a solid B scheme.

25-#10 Stewart Haas Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-46^th of 49-Replacing GoDaddy with Nature’s Bakery was a good move, and Mobil 1 worked too. Sadly, the Patriotic scheme, April O’Neil, and Aspen Dental killed off what would have been a Solid A season. It’s still a B for the year though.

26-#59 Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-NA-This is a case of two mediocre schemes that average out to a B. Nothing great, and nothing awful.

27-#3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-31^st of 49-There are a lot of schemes on this list that needed improvement. There were a number of good schemes, and a number of awful schemes. Credit to Bass Pro Shops, in that their scheme didn’t look that bad here. The AAA scheme needs to go. B-

28-#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-8^th of 49-The four primary FedEx schemes were great, sad that three of them have gotten the axe. The SportClips scheme still looks awful, and the FedEx Cares scheme was awful. Also, great call in letting Denny design a D- scheme. All grades taken into account, Denny averages a B-.

29-#95 Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-15^th of 49-If not for Donatello, ON Semiconductor, and Advil, the #95 would rank much higher ere. There were a lot of A’s and B’s handed out over the course of the season. Still, with some of the designs, it ended as a B- season.

30-#6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford-Rank Last Year:34^th of 49-The basic Advocare scheme was good, and the Mark Martin throwback was great, but from the Patriotic scheme on, the schemes went downhill. The fan mosaic, Advocare Spark, and SEAL Legacy schemes were all in the B range, and averaging them out, the schemes grade ends up as a B-.

31-#7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-43^rd of 49-Nikko had a lot of bad schemes this season. Citizen Soldier wasn’t that good either. Add in not one, but two pink-washing schemes, and Tommy Baldwin Racing couldn’t earn anything better than a C+. What kept them above water, in terms of grades, was the many good non-Nikko and throwback schemes.

32-#32 Go Fas Racing Team Ford-Rank Last Year:39^th of 49-Of the 25 pages of schemes that make up the Paint Scheme Tracker, Go FAS Racing takes up an entire page. The schemes are all over the place, from solid A schemes, to horrid F schemes. The schemes average out to a C+.

33-#99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford-Rank Last Year:NA-Since the team only ran one race, I’ll just quote my piece during the paint scheme grades…The color scheme is good, but the design is a bit too much. It’s not bad, just over done. I’ll give it a C+.

34-#23 BK Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-30^th of 49-If the car had a beverage sponsor, it almost always got a higher grade. The Life With Cancer scheme got a decent grade, but Leonardo, Brandeis Machinery, Sweet Frog, and Bubba Burger were all disasters, and the final grade has been dragged down to a C+.

35-#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-6^th of 49-Sun Energy was the worst scheme of the bunch, coupled with Dewcision Baja Blast,and two bad patriotic schemes leads to a final grade of C+.

36-#27 Richard Childress Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-26^th of 49-With two temperamental templates used this season, it’s no surprise that Paul Menard was all over the spectrum this season, in terms of grades. His schemes could be great, or they could be awful. Averaging all the grades out, he winds up with a C+.

37-#48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy-Position Last Year-38^th of 49-It’s not a good sign when all three primary schemes earn a C-, and most of the special schemes earn much higher grades. The Jimmie Johnson Foundation scheme is a disaster though, and the final grade is a C+.

38-#78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-Position Last Year-1^st of 49-As much as I like their stores, I’m beginning to hate Bass Pro Shops because of their car designs. Furniture Row had a great scheme this year, as did Auto Owner’s Insurance. The throwback scheme needed work, and Tanger Outlets looked bad. Everything Bass Pro Shops did with the #77 was bad. The grades average out to a C+.

39-#43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford-Rank Last Year:20^th of 49-Once upon a time, the #43 had a lot of great schemes, and almost never looked bad. Then Fresh From Florida and the Waffle House came on board, and the schemes went from a solid A for the season to a C+.

40-#83 BK Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-29^th of 49-Another team that takes up one whole page of the 25 page Paint Scheme Tracker, BK Racing was all over the place. Grades were either high, or low, not many in between. In averaging them out, BK Racing earns a C+ for the season.

41-#1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-36^th of 49-The season started out solid…then Credit One came on board. Bass Pro Shops didn’t help, and did I mention that I HATE THE MAC TONIGHT SCHEME? In the end, the best they could muster is a C.

42-#13 Germain Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-48^th of 49-A great primary scheme, and a great throwback scheme were neutralized by two bad military schemes. Two A’s and two F’s averages out to a C.

43-#40 Hillman Racing Chevy-Position Last Year-24^th of 49-Their Daytona 500 scheme was a D-, then, the team went belly up.

44-#93 BK Racing Toyota-Position Last Year-NA-A couple of B’s could not help the #93 from being at the bottom of the barrel, with a D+ for the season.

45-#22 Team Penske Ford-Rank Last Year:45^th of 49-Penske used the same template that earned them the bottom rank in Ford last year, and the results speak for themselves. The only good schemes were the ones that threw the te

December 30, 2016
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