The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Tracker February 11, 2015

By David G. Firestone

Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Marin Truex Jr. all have new paint schemes this week

2015 Toyota Camry–The first Gen 6 redesign comes to the Camry for 2015. The front is sleeker, with a more aggressive nose, and grill area, the tail has been redesigned as well.

Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/Beechcraft Chevy SS–No Change

Jamie McMurray #1 McDonald’s Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, but with a new door design.

Jamie McMurray #1 Sherwin Williams Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, Red, white and blue with a red line down the center, with the top fades blue to white on top, and white to blue on the bottom.

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion–Same basic design as 2014, but with no gold stripe, vintage Miller Crest, or hop designs on the side.

Brad Keselowski #2 Alliance Truck Parts Ford Fusion–New redesign, similar in design to Joey Logano’s Shell/Pennzoil Ford, black replaces yellow as the primary color.

Brad Keselowski #2 Wurth Ford Fusion–Redesign from last season, follows the Shell/Pennzoil template.

Austin Dillon #3 Cheerios Chevy SS–No change

Austin Dillon #3 Dow Chevy SS–No change

Austin Dillon #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy SS–No Change

Austin Dillon #3 American Ethanol Chevy SS–No Change

Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Chevy SS–No change

Kevin Harvick #4 Jimmie Johns Chevy SS–No change

Kevin Harvick #4 Outback Steakhouse–No Change

Kevin Harvick #4 Ditech Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, blue, and white is the primary color scheme

Kasey Kahne #5 Great Clips Chevy SS–No Change

Kasey Kahne #5 Time Warner Cable Chevy SS–No Change

Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy SS–Complete redesign from last year, black, and dark blue replaces light blue and silver, and the design has been completely revamped.

Kasey Kahne #5 Liftmaster Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, red and white redesign of the Time Warner scheme.

Kasey Kahne #5 Pepsi Chevy SS–No change

Trevor Bayne #6 Advocare Ford Fusion-New team, new sponsor, red, white and blue is the color scheme.

Alex Bowman #7 Nikko/Toy State Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, Red borders a blue design on the sides and hood.

Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Twisted Tea Ford Fusion–No Change

Danica Patrick #10 Aspen Dental Chevy SS–Same basic design as last year, but the blue ovals on the white are more pronounced.

Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy Chevy SS–New redesign with more black and less orange.

Danica Patrick #10 GoDaddy/TaxAct Chevy SS-New sponsor combo for the Sprint Unlimited, front of the car retains traditional GoDaddy design, whereas back quarter panel is TaxAct

Danica Patrick #10 TaxAct Chevy SS-One race sponsor, will run at Martinsville in March, red, white and black scheme, with diagonal design up the doors.

Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry–New redesign with a much simpler front and more design on the sides.

Denny Hamln #11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry–Same redesign as FedEx Express

Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry–Same redesign as FedEx Express

Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry–Same redesign as FedEx Express

Denny Hamlin #11 SportClips Toyota Camry–New redesign with a new door design

Tony Stewart #14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy SS–Same color scheme as last year, but with a new design on the side.

Tony Stewart #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevy SS–Same color scheme as last year, but with a new design on the side.

Tony Stewart #14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil1 Chevy SS–No Change

Clint Bowyer #15 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry–No Change

Clint Bowyer #15 Peak Toyota Camry–No Change

Greg Biffle #16 Cheez Its Ford Fusion-New sponsor for 2015, red with a cheese colored stripe and crackers on the side.

Greg Biffle #16 Clean Harbors Ford Fusion-New sponsor for 2015, red white and black design

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Fire Ant Killer Ford Fusion–No change

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Home Defense Ford Fusion-New sponsor, white design with a red and yellow stripe on the bottom, with a net design on the side.

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Bug-B-Gon Ford Fusion-New sponsor, new design, red, black, and white is the primary color scheme.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fastenal Ford Fusion-New primary sponsor, blue, and white is the color scheme.

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry–No Change

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry–No change

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Crispy Toyota Camry-New design for 2015, with a green background and more emphasis on M&M’s Crispy, as well as a new hood logo.

Carl Edwards #19 Stanley Toyota Camry-New team and new sponsor, yellow, black, and white is the color scheme.

Carl Edwards #19 Aaris Toyota Camry-New team and new sponsor, reddish orange with the Aaris logo used as part of the side stripe.

Carl Edwards #19 SportClips Toyota Camry-New sponsor, same design as Denny Hamlin.

Carl Edwards #19 Subway Toyota Camry–New sponsor for Joe Gibbs, much simpler design.

Matt Kenseth #20 DeWalt Toyota Camry-New sponsor, black, green, yellow, and white is the color scheme.

Matt Kenseth #20 Dollar General Toyota Camry–Much simpler than the 2014 scheme, with fewer side designs.

Ryan Blaney #21 Motorcraft/Quicklane Ford Fusion–No Change

Joey Logano #22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Fusion–No change

Joey Logano #22 AAA Ford Fusion–The AAA logo has been straightened up in 2015.

Joey Logano #22 Pennzoil Platnum Ford Fusion–No Change

J.J. Yeley #23 Dr. Pepper/Maxim Fantasy Sports Toyota Camry-New sponsor for the Daytona 500. Black on top, white on the bottom, red stripe in between, Dr Pepper style logo on the door number.

Jeff Gordon #24 3M Chevy SS-New design for 2015, silver, with red accents and numbers, with a white hood design that extends over the roof and deck-lid.

Jeff Gordon #24 Axalta Chevy SS–No Change

Jeff Gordon #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy SS–Much simpler redesign, with new hood logo and same color scheme–

Jeff Gordon #24 Panasonic Toughbook Chevy SS–No Change

Chase Elliott #25 NAPA Chevy SS-New sponsor and car number for 2015, blue is the primary sponsor, with a yellow design on the side.

Jeb Burton #26 Live Deals Ford Fusion-New sponsor for the Daytona 500, will have similar design as JJ Yeley, but with orange, black, and white.

Paul Menard #27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menard’s Chevy SS–No change

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Serta Chevy SS–Same basic scheme as 2014, but with more blue on the sides than last year.

Justin Marks #29 American Born Moonshine Toyota Camry-New sponsor for the Daytona 500, has a wood finished look, with white lettering.

Ron Horniday #30 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevy SS-New team and sponsor for 2015. Two-tone green design with white lettering and yellow accents.

Ryan Newman #31 Cat Chevy SS–Same color scheme, but the car as a whole has been redesigned

Ryan Newman #31 Quicken Loans Chevy SS–No change

Ryan Newman #31 Granger Chevy SS-New sponsor for 2015, green, red and white, with some designs on the side.

Go FAS Racing #32 Keen Parts Ford Fusion–Simpler redesign and a much simpler color scheme.

Go FAS Racing #32 C&J Energy Services Ford Fusion–Same color scheme, but with a different and much more complex side design–

Ty Dillon #33 Yuengling Brewery Chevy SS-New sponsor, red, white, and blue is the primary color scheme.

Ty Dillon #33 Cheerios Chevy SS-New sponsor for the Daytona 500, based on Austin Dillon’s Cheerios scheme, but with a Kroger’s logo on the hood.

David Ragan #34 KFC Ford Fusion–Redesign for 2015, all white front, KFC style stripes on the back.

Cole Whitt #35 Speed Stick Gear Ford Fusion–No Change

David Gilliland #38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Fusion–No change

Landon Cassill #40 Snap 24-7 Fitness Chevy SS–Slight redesign from last year, with the black quarter panel replaced with red.

Kurt Busch #41Haas CNC Chevy SS–Same color scheme, but the car has been completely redesigned.

Kurt Busch #41 Slate Water Heaters Chevy SS–No change

Kyle Larson #42 Target Chevy SS–Same basic design as 2014, but with some sponsor changes on the quarter panel.

Aric Almoriola #43 Eckrich Ford Fusion–Same basic design, but with a Nathans logo on the rear.

Aric Almirola #43 Smithfield Ford Fusion–No change

Aric Almirola #43 Fresh From Florida Ford Fusion–No Change.

Aric Almirola #43 STP Ford Fusion–No Change.

Michael Annett #46 Pilot/Flying J Chevy SS-New car number and design. White is the primary color, with red and yellow accents on the sides and front.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Better Than Bullion Chevy SS-New Sponsor for 2015, all black with a gold stripe running down the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Bush’s Best Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Clorox Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 House Autry Chevy SS-New primary sponsor for 2015, Red sides, with blue roof and posts.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Bush’s Chilli Beans Chevy SS-New sponsor, yellow to orange to yellow fade across whole car.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Hungry Jack Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Kingsford Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Scott Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Bush’s Grilling Beans Chevy SS–Same basic scheme, some logos have changed on the side.

AJ Allmendinger #47 Kroger Chevy SS–No change

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe’s Chevy SS–New design, bears a resemblance to the old Kobalt tools scheme from 2009.

Jimmie Johnson #48 Kobalt Chevy SS–New design, redesigned version of the current Lowe’s scheme.

Justin Allgaier #51 Brandt Chevy SS–Same primary design, but the door number has reversed colors.

Brian Vickers #55 Aaron’s Toyota Camry–Same basic design as last year, the nose has been changed, the main blue is slightly darker, and the gold has been replaced with light blue

Mike Wallace #66 Crazy Vapors/X8 Energy Gum Toyota Camry-New sponsor for 2015, Hood has Crazy Vapors green stripe design, side has X8 abstract design.

Martin Truex Jr. #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy SS–No Change

Johnny Sauter #83 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry-New sponsor for 2015, green stripes up the hood and roof, white design with Dr Pepper style door numbers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Nationwide Chevy SS–No Change

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevy SS–No major changes,except a Nationwide logo replaces the National Guard logo.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Kelly Blue Book Chevy SS–Same basic design but blue has replaced white as the primary color.

Michael McDowell #95 Thrivent Financial Ford Fusion–Redesign of last year’s scheme, another example of logo as a stripe pattern.

Michael McDowell #95 K-Love Ford Fusion–Template has been redesigned, and the city outline on the rear quarterpanel has been removed.

The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Leaderboard-Week 4, The Grand Finale

By David G. Firestone

The Paint Scheme Ranking Executive Committee meetings have been long, but not too contentious, I can’t stay mad at Alejandro when he shows me his belly, so now we present all 55 NASCAR Sprint Cup teams ranked from first to last on how their paint schemes looked. NR has a different meaning this week. NR now specifically referrs to teams that didn’t exist in 2013. Teams that ran different manufacturers in 2013 will be ranked when it came to last year. So, without further ado,

1-Wood Brothers #21 Rank Last Year:1^stof 50 -The Wood Brothers always design great cars, and the Quick Lane scheme uses the blue very well. It all looks good!

2-Hendrick Motorsports #48 Rank Last Year:2^nd of 50-Classic, smooth looks with no needless clutter. Jimmie always runs great schemes

3-Michael Waltrip Racing #55 Rank Last Year:3^rd of 50-The color schemes are good, and the design schemes work very well.

4-Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Rank Last Year:5^th of 50-The zebra stripe Interstate Battery scheme wrecks a perfect score for Kyle this year

5-Stewart Haas Racing #4 Rank Last Year:NR-With the exception of Hunt Brothers Pizza, which uses an awful shade of green, Kevin has consistently run a series of great schemes.

6-Team Penske #2 Rank Last Year:18^th of 50-The Wurth and Redd’s Apple Ale schemes are a bit over designed, but the white Miller Lite schemes, Alliance Truck Parts, and Detroit Genuine Parts schemes make up for it.

7-Richard Childress Racing #31 Rank Last Year:35^th of 50-A lot of great schemes this year, but Wix is overdone, and the Cat/Quicken Loans hybrid looks awful

8-BK Racing #23 Rank Last Year:NR-The Dip Your Car scheme is awful, but the rest of the schemes are very good, and are very attractive.

9-Stewart Haas Racing #41 Rank Last Year: NR-The Slate scheme does not work, but all the other schemes work very well.

10-Roush Fenway Racing #6 Rank Last Year:NR-This would be ranked higher, as it has a somewhat vintage look, but the candy cane on the nose looks odd. It’s still a good scheme.

11-Richard Petty Motorsports #43 Rank Last Year:6^th of 50-The Ekcrich camouflage scheme doesn’t work, camouflage schemes rarely do. The Charter green is horrible, but the rest of the schemes look really good.

12-Chip Ganassi Racing #1 Rank Last Year:24^th of 50-A pink-washing scheme and a terrible shade of green on the WEMO scheme cost this team the 2^nd place spot,knocking them down to 5^th. They have run a lot of great schemes this season

13-Levine Family Racing #95 Rank Last Year:45^th of 50-The TWD schemes look medicore, but could be worse. The template Levine Family Racing switched too this year looks great and the cars look very good too.

14-Furniture Row Racing #78 Rank Last Year:4^th of 50-The World Vision scheme needs work, as the color does not support a fade, but the Furniture Row, and Colorado Freedom Memorial work very well.

15-BK Racing #26 Rank Last Year:50^th of 50-Bully Hill Vinyards is an over-designed joke with an awful color scheme. The yellow numbers on the Burger King scheme are awful, but the rest of the schemes are good, and defendable.

16-RAB Racing #29 Rank Last Year:NR-Good color scheme, mediocre design scheme.

17-Hendrick Motorsports #88 Rank Last Year:22^nd of 50-National Guard, Mountain Dew, Kickstart, and Superman look good, and work well with the new number design, but Michael Baker, Kelly Blue Book, and Nationwide don’t at all.

18-Chip Ganassi Racing #42 Rank Last Year:11^th of 50-While Cottonelle, the Silver Scheme, and Energizer work very well, but the rest of their schemes are mediocre at best. The white on the back doesn’t work.

19-Beard Oil Racing #75 Rank Last Year:NR-If the sides had a sponsor, and the stripe at the bottom was eliminated, it would work a lot better.

20-Front Row Motorsports #34 Rank Last Year:28^th of 50-The majority of the schemes look great, but the upside down lettering on the hood of the CSX scheme looks odd. The Wendell Scott scheme is amazing!

21-JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Rank Last Year:15^th of 50-While Bush’s, Clorox, Scott’s, Sullivan/Palatek, Kingsford, and Bush’s Grilling Beans work well,Kroger/USO is overdone, Charter Communications uses a horrid shade of green, and Hungry Jack just looks terrible.

22-Hendrick Motorsports #24 Rank Last Year: 36^th of 50-Drive to end Hunger is too overdone, and the upside down D on the hood looks terrible. Their orange scheme is even worse. Panasonic is mediocre at best. Pepsi looks good, and all of the Axalta schemes are really good.

23-Humphery Racing #77 Rank Last Year:NR-Plinker Arms doesn’t look great but it could be worse. That applies to Essex Homes as well. The rest of the schemes look good.

24-Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Rank Last Year:31^st of 50-The Autisim Speaks scheme works well. The zipper scheme is decent, but odd. Sport Clips is over-designed, but with a good color scheme. The FedEx schemes have decent color schemes, but are over-designed on the front.

25-BK Racing #83 Rank Last Year:7^th of 50-Voo Doo Barbecue is an over-designed mess. Dip your car is terrible, as is Zak. Burger King and Borla work well though.

26-Team Penske #12 Rank Last Year:9^th of 50-The SKF scheme works very well. The Penske Truck Rental scheme uses a horrible shade of orange, and just looks hideous.

27-Hillman Racing #40 Rank Last Year: NR-When the car doesn’t have a scheme, it looks very good. When it has a sponsor it looks awful.

28-Front Row Motorsports #35 Rank Last Year:27^th of 50-The Hefty scheme is a little unorthodox, silver and orange isn’t a great combo, but the design looks good. MDS looks good

29-HScott Motorsports #52 Rank Last Year: NR-The black scheme is good, but the orange Florida Lottery scheme is a trainwreck. Less is more on a paint scheme.

30-HScott Motorsports #51 Rank Last Year:13^th of 50-If the car is running a Brandt scheme it looks good, anything else looks terrible.

31-Phil Parsons Racing #98 Rank Last Year: 44^th of 50-While I like the Dogecoin,Trench Shoring,iRacing, black Curb Records, and unsponsored black schemes, anything else looks horrendous.

32-Front Row Motorsports #38 Rank Last Year:26^th of 50-Most of the schemes are good, but the Love’s Truck Stops, and Love’s Truck Stops Camo schemes are horrific.

33-Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Rank Last Year:23^rd of 50-Can all be summed up with medicore color schemes and mediocre design schemes

34-Swan Racing #30 Rank Last Year:50^th of 50-The only time the car looked good was when it was unsponsored, but compared to last year’s design it looks amazing!

35-Roush Fenway Racing #17 Rank Last Year:16^th of 50-Eco-Power has awful shades of green. Pit for a pair is awful even for a pink-washing scheme. Zest has a good color scheme, but awful design scheme,as does Fifth-Third Bank. Their all-star scheme was terrible. Ford Eco-Boost, NOS, and Nationwide work very well.

36-Richard Childress Racing #27 Rank Last Year: 20^th of 50-Neon yellow looks terrible, when they use the stripes on the sides it looks even worse. The Pittsburgh Paints scheme looks really good though.

37-BK Racing #93 Rank Last Year:8^th of 50-The Support Millitary scheme is the worst, and although Burger King, Dr. Pepper, and Iowa City Chop House do make up for it, it just isn’t enough.

38-CircleSport/Richard Childress Racing #33 Rank Last Year: 47^th of 50-

39-Tommy Baldwin Racing #37 Rank Last Year: NR-Accell Construction has a great color scheme, but the design scheme ruins it.

40-Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 Rank Last Year:29^th of 50-Another example of a team where when the car is unsponsored, it looks better.

41-Richard Petty Motorsports #9 Rank Last Year:12^th of 50-Can all be summed up with Great color schemes but mediocre design schemes. The camo scheme looks bad, but the upside is that the camo is subtle.

42-Team Penske #22 Rank Last Year:41^st of 50-The Shell/Pennzoil scheme has a decent color scheme but a bad design scheme. Anything Pennzoil Platnum is awful, as is Auto Trader. The Auto Club scheme has a great color scheme but a bad design scheme.

43-Identity Ventures Racing #87 Rank Last Year:NR-300 is a mess, and Morris,Hardick and Schinder/SmartBen looks too dull.

44-Michael Waltrip Racing #15 Rank Last Year:38^th of 50-The Peak scheme is defendable, the color scheme is good, but the rest of the schemes are just awful.

45-Roush Fenway Racing #99 Rank Last Year:34^th of 50-Fastenal looks good, but anything else looks terrible.

46-Go FAS Racing #32 Rank Last Year:25^th of 50-The Terry Labonte throwback scheme was amazing, but most of their other schemes are over-designed messes.

47-Stewart Haas Racing #14 Rank Last Year:21^st of 50-The over designing of the Bass Pro Shops schemes, as well as the use of orange and camo just look horrible. Mobil 1, Rush Truck Centers, and Code 3 look decent, but to some extent have issues. Mobil 1 is over designed, Rush uses too dark a yellow, Code 3 uses too bright a yellow.

48-Tommy Baldwin Racing #7 Rank Last Year:43^rd of 50-Allstate Peterbuilt, and Pilot-St Jude Children’s Network work well, as both have good color schemes and design schemes. Anything else just looks awful.

49-Richard Childress Racing #3 Rank Last Year:NR-Cheerios is very good, and has a classic look. Dow schemes have a great color scheme, but have mediocre design. Anything else looks terrible on this car.

50-Germain Racing #13 Rank Last Year:40^th of 50-The blue is too bright, as is the yellow. The car is overdesigned, and the whole car looks like a mess. The camo scheme is much worse.

51-Hendrick Motorsports #5 Rank Last Year:46^th of 50-The only half decent scheme is Pepsi. Everything else is an over designed mess.

52-Stewart Haas Racing #10 Rank Last Year:37^th of 50-The only scheme that doesn’t make my eyes hurt here is Aspen Dental. Terrible shades of orange and green, with ugly design. The pink-washing scheme is terrible.

53-Xxxtreme Motorsports #44 Rank Last Year: 49^th of 50-Every single one of their cars is an ugly, over-designed mess that doesn’t look good at all.

54-Roush Fenway Racing #16 Rank Last Year:19^th of 50-Every scheme is terrible.

55-Michael Waltrip Racing #66 Rank Last Year:NR-Nothing about any of these schemes is good.

The Driver Suit Blog-Paint Scheme Grades-November 8, 2014

Jamie McMurray #1 Liftmaster Prescott Granite Mountain “Hotshots” Chevy SS-Looks great, great color scheme and design scheme. Plus it honors 19 fallen members of the Prescott Granite Mountain “Hotshots” who tragically died while battling a wild fire. A+

Austin Dillon #3 Dow Energy and Water Chevy SS-Decent scheme, the water looks decent, though a little too dark, so I’ll give it a B-

Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Throwback Chevy SS-Every throwback scheme this year has been good, and this one is no exception. It looks amazing! A+

Michael Annett #7 Cypress Chevy SS-Over designed and has a goofy color scheme earns an F every time.

Greg Biffle #16 3M/Sherwin Williams Ford Fusion-Actually pretty good for a Greg Biffle scheme. Good colors and decent design earn a B

Kyle Busch #18 Benfield Pet Hospital Toyota Camry-Nothing wrong with this design! A+

Alex Bowman #23 Dumb and Dumber To Toyota Camry-Not as dumb a design as you would expect. Actually it looks really good. The color scheme is good, as is the design. A+

Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevy SS-Featuring the color of the year, Radiant Red, this is a great looking car, with great color and design schemes. A+

Joey Gase #32 Forever Hip Ford Fusion-Light blue works very well here, the design is mediocre, but it’s not awful, all in all it earns a C

Ty Dillon #33 Charter Chevy SS-Charter has the worst shade of green in NASCAR, and with the over designing, it earns an F.

Kyle Larson #42 Target Camo Chevy SS-Good color scheme, awful design scheme, add a one letter grade deduction for use of camo and you have a D- grade.

Aric Almirola #43 Farmland Pork Ford Fusion-I get what they are trying to do, but the light green and blue color scheme does not work. I can’t give this any higher than a C, so I won’t.

Aric Almirola #43 Farmland/Folds of Honor Ford Fusion-Works very well, color and design scheme is great, and while there is camo in the design scheme, I’ll forgive it because it looks good. It’s subtle, and it works. A+

AJ Allmendinger #47 Glad Toyota Camry-Nothing wrong with this scheme! A+

JJ Yeley #83 Dumb and Dumber To Toyota Camry-See Alex Bowman above. A+

The Driver Suit Blog-Commemorative Patches…and Why I HATE Them!

By David G. Firestone

Derek Jeter has had his number retired. Several teams this year have various anniversaries they are celebrating. All of them are wearing commemorative patches on their uniforms. Why is this important to The Driver Suit Blog? Because too much salt will ruin the soup. What does that mean, well, I saw that Jeter was wearing a patch to commemorate his upcoming retirement, and, well it got me thinking, and I’d like to talk about this issue, which has been getting on my nerves for a while. Sports uniforms in 2014 are designed to move merchandise, and this is the case in racing. I can’t begin to put the blame for this on NASCAR, so I won’t. But I do think that what happened in 1998 is a perfect example of why it doesn’t really work.

In 1998, NASCAR turned 50. In 1948, Bill France Sr. saw the potential for a unified stock car racing series, so at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, a series of meetings took place. France was in charge of the National Championship Stock Car Circuit or NCSSC, which was founded in 1947, but when the AAA refused to fund the series, France had to make do. Fonty Flock would win the 1947 NCSSC Championship. In December, the meetings took place at the Streamline, and the Series was supposed to be renamed the National Stock Car Racing Association, or NSCRA, but that name was used by a rival organization, so on December 14, 1947, the name NASCAR or National Association of Stock Car Racing Association. NASCAR itself was founded on February 21, 1948.

On February 15, 1998, almost 50 years to that day, the 1998 racing season began in great style with Dale Earnhardt Sr. winning the Daytona 500. NASCAR as a whole celebrated the anniversary in grand style, with NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers being named, and the sports history was celebrated. For an event like this, you need a good logo for it, so this design was utilized to commemorate the 1998 season.Derek Jeter has had his number retired. Several teams this year have various anniversaries they are celebrating. All of them are wearing commemorative patches on their uniforms. Why is this important to The Driver Suit Blog? Because too much salt will ruin the soup. I saw that Jeter was wearing a patch to commemorate his upcoming retirement, and, well it got me thinking, and I’d like to talk about this issue, which has been getting on my nerves for a while. Sports uniforms in 2014 are designed to move merchandise, and this is the case in racing. I can’t begin to put the blame for this on NASCAR, so I won’t. But I do think that what happened in 1998 is a perfect example of why it doesn’t really work.

Every driver suit had this patch somewhere, as this Ted Musgrave example from that season shows. Decals would up on helmets as well. NASCAR used this to move merchandise, but it was so overused in telecasts and car designs, that I intentionally didn’t buy that much NASCAR stuff during that time. I could not wait for the season to end, and I didn’t have to look at that logo again. Sports uniforms as a whole are using more of these patches to sell merchandise, and frankly it’s now completely out of control. Sports jerseys retail about $100 on the low end, and these patches are used to sell more of them. Is a logo like that really worth shelling out $100 for a new jersey, or shirt, or jacket? I’m gonna say no.

After the 1998 season, the logo did go away, but not before another major issue with these types of logos come up. When these logos are being used, merchandise sells. When the season ends, and a new season begins, the logos aren’t selling as much, and the retailers who sell merchandise have a lot of this stuff that they have to put on sale to move it. This is not a small issue for retailers, as many of them are mom and pop stores whose profit margins are razor thin enough. In many instances, these items will be sold at a loss to make room for new merchandise. People will say that these are “collector’s items” but prices on eBay would lead me to believe that this is not the case. They make money for a short time, and lose money in the long term. This has become the case in general with commemorative logos on merchandise.

If this logo had been used on merchandise, but hadn’t been used in the telecasts as much as it was, I would be willing to work with it a bit more, but even in 2014, 16 years after the fact, my hatred for this logo is still with me. Words can’t say how much I hate seeing this logo again. What I’m about to say next might seem odd, but it is the truth…I don’t think it’s a bad logo. In fact, I think it’s a good logo, but I was so sick of seeing it, that I hate it. When you as a fan would watch a 3 hour long race, and had to see this logo in the corner while the race was on, and at every commercial break, it got really old, really fast.

It’s a problem with sports uniforms that’s endemic. It started with anniversaries, and moved on to number retirements, old stadiums closing, new stadiums opening, announcers retiring, players about to retire, and even anniversaries of tragic events. It has gotten out of hand. It moves merchandise in the short term, which is good, but too much salt will ruin the soup every time. Commemorative patches need to be toned down…way down.

Editor’s Note, we are now in October, and now starts the Pinktober, Pinkwashing, call it whatever you want, but for the next month, sports teams across the country will be using pink on uniforms and equipment to raise money for in support of breast cancer. Much of this does not go to serious research, but to more “feel good” charities that don’t really help. Toward that end, all pinkwashing schemes will earn an automatic F. If someone is bold enough to try pinkwashing and camo, it will earn them a one rank loss on the Paint Scheme Leaderboard, and automatic disqualification for the best paint scheme set in the Schemies.

First, we have some 2015 Schemes…

Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevy SS It has a good color scheme, and while it’s overdesigned, it still looks better than the current scheme. I’ll give it a C+

Ty Dillon #33 Yuengling Brewery Chevy SS I love the faded glory design, I think it works well, and I’ll give it an A+

Now onto the 2014 schemes…

Jamie McMurray #1 McDonald’s Monopoly Chevy SS Overall design is good, I like the color scheme, and it is a great looking car, A+

Michael Annett #7 Cypress Chevy SS Overdesigned and has a goofy color scheme earns an F every time.

Clint Bowyer #15 Five Hour Energy Pink Lemonade Toyota Camry Pinkwashing earns an automatic F.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Cargill Beef Ford Fusion I like the black flames on the blue background, but the orange and white stripes take away from it. It kills a great look with a great color scheme, and takes it from an A to a B-

Timmy Hill #32 US Chrome Ford Fusion Great simple design with a great color scheme earns an A+

Josh Wise #98 Vapor Station Ford Fusion Good design, good color scheme, A+

The Driver Suit Blog-I Love The Tide Ride!

By David G. Firestone

When I did The Paint Schemies last year, I also did a Top 10 list of Sponsors I Miss In NASCAR. Number 7 was Tide detergent. Tide was a major sponsor of NASCAR from the 1980’s to the mid 2000’s. That orange, yellow, white and blue car was distinctive without going too far. The scheme never evolved because it didn’t have to. It was one of the best schemes ever.

Like The Family Channel and Kodiak, I sometimes buy racing stuff because it is from the Tide Ride. Started in 1987, the “Tide Ride” was a staple in the Sprint Cup Series, and was used heavily until 2006, when the sponsorship left PPI Racing, and wasn’t seen in NASCAR since. Some of the most memorable Tide Ride moments were the 1989 Daytona 500 where Darrell Waltrip did the Icky Shuffle in victory lane, the 1997 Brickyard 400 won by Ricky Rudd, and the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 which is tied as the closest race in NASCAR history, won by Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch.

One of my favorite items is a Bobby Hamilton driver suit circa 2004-2005. This design can be seen in photos from 2004 and 2005, so I’m not exactly sure when it was used. Unlike most suits I have seen, it has the car number on the collar. It has a white top, and on the torso logo, there is a yellow and blue stripe in a diagonal arrangement. On the back of the suit, the Tide logo is on the same place in the front, with the same stripe pattern as the front. The belt has Bobby Hamilton Jr. on the front and http://www.ppi-racing.com on the back. The suit has no TV logos on the sleeves or legs.

Ricky Rudd was Tide’s driver in the 1990’s, and there is a lot of Rudd merchandise. For example, this Simpson mini helmet from the late 1990’s. It is a perfect replica of his late 1990’s helmet, but in a 1/4 scale. This Ricky Rudd 1/24 scale die-cast from 1998 goes with it…

The last Tide Ride item I have is this 1:87 replica hauler. This was a perfect replica of what Ricky used during his time with Hendrick and was sponsored by Tide.

Now we move on to…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!

Before we start, I have something I need to address, earlier this week, I discussed why I did not like the new paint scheme elements for the Chase drivers. I thought a long time about how I would approach this in the paint scheme grades, and decided that since the drivers were forced into this situation, that I would not hold it against them in the grading rules. So the Chase schemes, unless they are new schemes will not be affected since this was not of their choosing.

We have a couple of 2015 schemes, courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing

Carl Edwards #19 Stanley/DeWalt Toyota Camry The color scheme is good, the side design could be a little more toned down, and again, I’m taking this with a grain of salt, since there can be design changes before the season starts, but this is a solid B+ design.

Matt Keseth #20 DeWalt/Stanley Toyota Camry…The Killer Bees have returned! Good solid design with a great color scheme earns an A+, and like Carl Edwards above, I’m taking it with a grain of salt.

Now on to the 2014 Schemes…

Jamie McMurray #1 Belkin/WEMO Chevy SS Lime green does not work on a race car. It has a good design scheme but the color scheme is awful! I can’t help but give it a D-

Kevin Harvick #4 Budweiser Designate a Driver Chevy SS Good color scheme, decent design scheme, A

Michael Annett #7 Cypress HQ Chevy SS No. Redeeming. Design. Elements. Whatsoever. F.

Michael Annett #7 Golden Coral/Feed the Children Chevy SS See Above. F.

David Ragan #34 Clean Harbors Ford Fusion Same scheme as The Pete Store, same A+ Grade

David Gilliland #38 Love’s Truck Stops Ford Fusion The only bad thing I can say about this scheme is I don’t like the back bumper design. Other than that, great color scheme and reasonably simple design. Final Grade: B+

David Gilliland #38 Love’s Truck Stops/Jack Czapla Ford Fusion See Above

Justin Allgaier #51 Plan B Sales Chevy SS See Michael Annett above. F

Home Beer Brew Project:Final Update

After two weeks of brewing, and two weeks of carbonation, I finally got to enjoy the fruits of my labor. After work last night, I cracked one of these babies open, and I have to say that it was really good! I will definitive do this again!

The Driver Suit Blog-Die Casts Examined

By David G. Firestone

Recently, I came across a design quirk I had never seen on a car before. Take a look at these two cars above. These two design schemes were used by Rodney Combs in 1994. He raced in the Busch Grand National Series. He had 3 top 10’s, and led 11 laps. Now while these two paint schemes look completely different, they are a lot more connected than you might think… Yes this was an actual paint scheme used on a real race car. I had never seen a design scheme like this before or since. It is one of the oddest paint schemes I have ever seen. Normally if two different companies sponsor a car, one runs their scheme for a number of races, and the other runs their scheme for a number of races. The driver suit is no less unusual. But I bought this for another reason besides just the paint scheme. This is an example of a NASCAR bank. These were marketed for a number of years to kids as collectibles. They were marketed to kids in the late 1980’s through the mid 1990’s. They are 1:24 scale, and are the same design as their die-cast toy counterparts. They faded out after a while. After trying to use one, I now understand why they faded from use. Let’s look at the bottom.

The bank opens with a key and the door that the coins are supposed to come out of is much too small for a standard American coin to fall out of. I tried to remove some coins and it took me 45 minutes to remove all of them. While they were a good idea on paper, their practicalities made them next to useless and needlessly annoying.

We move from the old to the new, with this Carl Edwards design from 2013. This is my first die-cast scheme of the Gen 6 car, and I have to say, I’m amazed at the detail. Check it out.Carl ran the UPS scheme for one race in 2013, at the Quaker State 400, where he started 2^nd, led 35 laps, but finished 21^st. This is an autographed version, of which only 900 were sold by Lionel. Unlike the bank, this is a very accurate design. It’s made of a more lightweight metal, the window net is cloth,the grill is accurate,so are the door decals.The hood opens,

the deck lid opens,

the roof flaps work,

the details are really accurate, and the paint scheme is amazingly accurate.It has all the details of it’s on track counterparts at a 1:24 scale, with a nice Carl Edwards signature on the windshield. My biggest complaint is that the hood is difficult to open, and does not open very far. It takes away from the appearance. Now we move on to the real thing with…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!

Michael Annett #7 Pilot /Allstate Peterbuilt/St Jude’s Chevy SS Great color scheme, great simple design, A+

Clint Bowyer #15 Speed Digital Toyota Camry Clint keeps up a streak of bad schemes with his RK Motors scheme but with a different logo. D-

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Fire Ant Killer Ford Fusion Great color scheme, good design, I give it an A-, the number still looks horrible.

Ty Dillion #33 Rheem Comfort Products Chevy SS From this moment onward, anytime I see camo on the side of a race car it will be an automatic 1 letter grade deduction. In this case it takes a great scheme, and ruins it. It would have been an A scheme, but with the contrasting designs, it earns a C-

Landon Cassill #40 CRC 1 Tank Renew Chevy SS Decent color scheme, but the design is a bit overdone. If it didn’t have the yellow stripes on the back I would like it more, but this is a decent scheme, worth a B-

Justin Allgaier #51 Auto Owners Insurance Chevy SS Can’t say anything bad about this scheme, A+

Michael McDowell #95 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ford Fusion Let me get this straight, The Turtles are in a Michael Bay directed movie that to date has made over $242 million and this scheme seems to go out of its way not to use the movie? I’m trying to make sense of that…OK, now the color scheme is good, but the back of the car is very cluttered. Even still it’s a B+ scheme.

The Driver Suit Blog-The Silly Season…and Why It Isn’t Silly For Me…

By David G. Firestone

It’s August, the summer is winding down, you are seeing back to school ads on TV, Halloween stuff is popping up in stores, and the Silly Season is officially underway. For me, this begins the most hectic part of the year for The Driver Suit Blog. Within the next few months, driver changes, sponsor changes and team changes will be announced. There is always a shakeup of some kind, and this year will be no different.

Carl Edwards, for example, will be leaving Roush Fenway Racing after the season. It was announced on Tuesday that Edwards would be moving to Joe Gibbs Racing and driving the #19 Toyota Camry. He has sponsors, one of which is Arris, which is a communications company for 17 races. The remaining 19 races he has a sponsor for the other races, but that hasn’t been addressed yet.

Where a driver is in the points helps with these kinds of decisions. As it stands right now, there are 1- drivers in the Chase because of a victory, and X driver who are in the Chase because of points. Will that change before Chicagoland? I have no reason to believe it won’t. I will be watching the Federated Auto Parts 400 this year, in light of what happened last year. I would have to believe that something like last year can happen. As of today, there are 12 drivers, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almorla, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmy Johnson, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano have a spot in the Chase due to wins. That leaves 4 spots open, and with 3 races to go it is highly unlikely that there will be 3 new winners, so some drama can and will happen.

The part where it gets really bad is that from here to Daytona in February, there will be 2015 paint schemes released on a regular basis. The problem is that every 2015 scheme I grade will have to be taken with a grain of salt. For example,in mid-August last year, Brian Vickers was announced to drive the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine. The announcement included photos of the car. However, later on, a new design was released, and became the current standard. I didn’t complain too much because both designs are good. But this is a constant issue for me, do I grade them as-is, or do I back off and wait? This will get more and more frustrating between now and Homestead. An example of this is that Ricky Stenhouse Jr.and Greg Biffle just announced one of their new car designs for 2015. I will take it with a grain of salt, but I will grade it below as I normally would.

Something I also have to take into consideration is that something late in the season will cause a major change to the playing field. A perfect example is the unpleasantness last year at the Federated Auto Parts 400. After that scandal, Napa announced that it would be leaving Michael Waltrip Racing, and that left Martin Truex Jr. without a ride. He moved to Furniture Row Racing, and the full-time #56 became the part time #66.

One other major story I am following and I’m sure you are as well is who will sponsor the Nationwide Series next season? It was announced in 2013 that after 2014, Nationwide Insurance would be leaving as the series sponsor. Nothing definitive has been announced as of today, but I would have to believe there will be an announcement before the season ends. I’m curious just as the rest of us as to who that would be. Comcast is negotiatinng a deal for the series, and I would think a deal would be announced quite soon.

There will be driver changes, sponsor changes, team changes, and schedule changes. A rumor is going around that The Southern 500 will move back to Labor Day, Atlanta will follow the Daytona 500, and that the first Bristol race is moving from early March to mid-April. Again, when the schedule is announced we will know for sure. There are little changes every year, and after a while these little changes add up to big changes.

One other bit of news I need to address is that on Monday, a number of teams stayed at Michigan to test some 2015 rule changes. All totaled, 6 different car configurations were tested for a total of 160 laps. Again, equipment changes are a common event between seasons and this is nothing new. Information will be taken, adjustments will be made, and there will be more testing during the off season. Once that happens, the rules package will be created and distributed to the teams for the upcoming season.

Now before I get into paint schemes, I’d like to discuss something that has been happening in F1 for a while and I think needs to be stopped. Between the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 27, and the Belgian Grand Prix on August 29, F1 is on it’s “summer break.” This is due to the high travel restrictions and the limit on active crew members an F1 team can have. Teams don’t show up to the track on the Friday before the race, they show up on the Monday before the race. While I am not unsympathetic to the demands on crew members, I am a racing fan. F1 is one of the most watched sports in the world, with telecasts that can get as many as 54 million viewers worldwide. Fans love the sport, and the summer break is a headache. So here is my solution. First, we double the number of active personnel that the team can have, so fresh guys that can be rotated. Second, we extend the season by 4 weeks, so that there can be time for drivers and crew to relax between events.

Now we have a lot of ground to cover when it comes to…

PAINT SCHEME REVIEWS!

First, we have our first 2015 paint scheme,

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho Fire Ant Killer Ford Fusion Great color scheme, good design, I give it an A-, the number still looks horrible.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fastenal Ford Fusion Decent design, great color scheme, I hope this scheme stays on…A

Now on to 2014 Schemes…

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite/Careers for Veterans Ford Fusion This is a rare case where the quarterpanel logo needs to be bigger. The lettering is hard to see in this photo, and was harder to see on the telecast. It takes an A scheme down to a B+

Michael Annett #7 Pilot /Allstate Peterbuilt Chevy SS Great color scheme, great simple design, A+

Greg Biffle #16 Roush Perfomance Ford Fusion Red and black is a great color combination, and I like the dot fade effect. This is the best Biffle scheme all year and it earns an A

Greg Biffle #16 Hire our Heroes Ford Fusion Another prime example of why came and race cars don’t mix. This is just an awful mess. The American flag motif just looks horrible with the camo, but I think it might look good by itself. I’ll give it a D

Kyle Busch #18 Doublemint Gum Toyota Camry Great color scheme, great design, A+

Alex Bowman #23 Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry I don’t like green on race cars, but at least here it is used tastefully. It works very well and earns an A+

Cole Whitt #26 Bully Hill Vineyards Toyota Camry Good color scheme, odd design for the sponsor. A vineyard using a spilled wine design to sell wine…not a good look. C-

Cole Whitt #26 Speed Stick/Iowa City Chop House Toyota Camry I find it amazing that the same team that brought the terrible scheme above could come up with an A+ scheme for the race one week later.

Travis Kvapil #32 Keen Parts/Try Androzone Ford Fusion Great simple design and a great color scheme earns an A+

Travis Kvapil #32 Skuttle Tight Ford Fusion Great simple design and a great color scheme earns an A+

Alex Kennedy #33 Circle Sport Chevy SS Good color scheme, bad design, it’s giving me a headache, D+

David Stremme #33 ThunderCoal Chevy SS Good color scheme bad design, C-

Aric Almirola #43 Eckrich Ford Fusion Ok, I thought we had this said, but I’ll say it again…CAMO DOES NOT WORK ON RACE CARS! It takes an A scheme down to a C-

Jimmie Johnson #48 Jimmie Johnson Foundation Chevy SS Another classic Jimmie Johnson A+ scheme!

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Chevy SS Reportedly, Jimmie was unhappy with the color scheme change from blue to white and asked Lowes to swtich back to blue after a series of sub-par finishes. Lowes agreed, and the car is another classic Jimmie Johnson A+ scheme!

Joe Nemechek #66 Landcastle Title Toyota Camry Great simple design and a great color scheme earns an A+

Nelson Piquet Jr. #77 Worx Ford Fusion Another tasteful use of green, another A+ scheme!

Josh Wise #98 Provident Metals Ford Fusion The word horrible is not enough to describe this car! Too overdesigned and with a bad color scheme, I can only give it an F

Carl Edwards #99 Ford Eco-Boost Ford Fusion The word of the day is overdesigned. Good color scheme, but overdesgined and a C- gradeBefore I go I wanted to tell you about a project. I recently bought a Mr. Beer home brewing kit. It is a kit for beginers like me who have no experience brewing beer. It is a realativly simple process. The kit comes with a 2 gallon fermenter, some booster sugar, brewer’s yeast, a pale ale hopped malt extract, and some no rinse cleanser. You need a non wooden spoon, a glass bowl a can opener and a measuring cup. You use the no rinse cleanser to sanitize everything you use to make the beer, then you place the hopped malt extract and booster containers in hot water while you boil 4 cups of water.While the water is boiling, you fill the fermenter with 4 quarts of cold water. Once the water is boiled, you add the hopped malt extract, and booster sugar, and mix well. Then you pour the mix into the fermenter, add more water, and then add the yeast. Now comes the hard part, we have to wait two weeks for it to ferment. I’ll keep you posted.

The Driver Suit Blog-The Sprint Unlimited Preview

By David G. Firestone

The 36^th Sprint Unlimited starts tonight at 8:15 ET on Fox. This marks the beginning of the Daytona 500 and the beginning of the NASCAR season. I will be looking forward to it, and I will enjoy it as always.

The field will feature pole award winners and past winners of the event. These include:
· Denny Hamlin (4 poles)
· Kyle Busch (3 poles)
· Joey Logano (2 poles)
· Jimmie Johnson (2 poles)
· Matt Kenseth (2 poles)
· Ryan Newman (2 poles)
· Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2 poles)
· Jeff Gordon (2 poles)
· Carl Edwards (2 poles)
· Marcos Ambrose (1 pole)
· Kurt Busch (1 pole)
· Kevin Harvick (1 pole)
· Brad Keselowski (1 pole)
· Mark Martin (1 pole)
· Jamie McMurray (1 pole)
· Danica Patrick (1 pole)
· Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1 pole)
· Terry Labonte (past winner: 1985)
· Tony Stewart (past winner: 2001, 2002 and 2007)

The event will feature a number of segments which were voted on by NASCAR fans including myself, and many of you. The first segment will feature laps followed by a second segment of laps, and then a third segment of laps. Many special paint schemes will be run for this race, as is traditional. My personal favorite is the Miller Lite Throwback scheme being run by Brad Keselowski.

Now some factoids about the race.

*There are, in total, Chevy drivers, Ford drivers and Toyota drivers.

*Chevy has 20 wins, Ford has 7 wins, and Toyota has 1 win.

*Mark Martin has competed in 20 consecutive events from 1989-2008.

*Dale Earnhardt Sr. has won 6 events, more than anyone else in 1980, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995 and went on to win the Sprint Cup Championship 4 times in 1980, 1986, 1991, and 1993, he is one of 7 drives to do so.

*From 1979-2011 the event was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, first called the Busch Clash which was the brainchild of Monty Roberts, brand manager of Busch Beer, who sponsored the Pole Award. It remained the Busch Clash until 1998, when Budweiser took over the Pole Award, and it was renamed the Budweiser Shootout. In 2012, Sprint, the series sponsor took over the sponsorship after Budweiser announced they would drop the sponsorship in favor of sponsoring the Duel Races that determine the starting order of the Daytona 500.

*Petty Enterprises was not eligible to run the Shootout because of a rule stating that only drivers that ran the Busch/Budweiser pole award decal were eligible to enter the shootout. Richard Petty and his family did not support alcohol sponsorship or decals on race cars. So John Andretti, Bobby Hamilton, Jeff Green, and Aric Almirola who all had a number of poles with Petty Enterprises were not eligible to participate. I find it interesting that Petty has reversed course on the alcohol sponsorship rule, since Kasey Kahne was sponsored by Budweiser, and Marcos Ambrose will run at least one race sponsored by Twisted Tea.

*Buddy Baker won the inaugural Sprint Unlimited in 1979, which was a 20 lap sprint.

*Since many top drivers were excluded from the race due to not winning a pole award, they moved to the TV booth as color commentators. These included Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1981, Richard Petty and AJ Foyt in 1982 and 1983, Neil Bonnett in 1993, Darrell Waltrip in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1999, and Kenny Wallace in 1998.

*There has never been a driver who has won the Sprint Unlimited, Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500 in the same year. Drivers have won 2 of 3 in a season, but never scored the hat trick.

*One of the first instances of a special paint scheme being used specifically for the Sprint Unlimited was the Chroma Premier scheme run by Jeff Gordon in 1997. He followed it up the next year with the legendary Chroma-lusion scheme, which feature a paint that changed color. Since then, special schemes have become commonplace.

*Richard Childress Racing has 8 Sprint Unlimited wins, most of any team. Hendrick Motorsports has 6 wins, and Joe Gibbs Racing has 5 wins.

The Unlimited starts tonight at 8 PM ET on Fox Sports 1, and I look forward to watching the event as I hope the rest of you do too.

Though I have had a VERY busy week, I still have time for…

Paint Scheme Reviews!

Kasey Kahne #5 Time Warner Cable Chevy SS It is a good color scheme, but the design on the side needs a little tweaking. Get rid of the needless zig-zag pattern and it works a whole lot better. It is still a decent scheme, so I will give it a C

Michael Annett #7 Pilot/Flying J Chevy SS Good color scheme, but the awful template is back for Tommy Baldwin. It is really sad, because this could be a great scheme, but the template takes it from an A to a C-

Michael Annett #7 Accell Construction Chevy SS See Above

Marcos Ambrose #9 Mac Tools Ford Fusion Good color scheme here, and decent design, worth a B

Clint Bowyer #15 AAA Insurance Toyota Camry Great color scheme, good design, worth a B+

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Peanut Toyota Camry I like this, it has a great shade of yellow, hard to find in NASCAR these days, and the peanut motif works very well. It is an original design, and I’ll give it an A

Trevor Bayne #21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion This is why The Wood Brothers won the Paint Schemies and took the top spot in the Paint Scheme Leaderboard. A++

Joey Logano #22 Autotrader.com Ford Fusion Sometimes orange works, sometimes it doesn’t. This is an example of an orange scheme that just doesn’t work. If the white was taken out completely it might work, but this is just horrid, and I give it an F

Cole Whitt #26 Speed Stick Gear Toyota Camry This is one of the few schemes that has both a classic and modern look at the same time, and paired with a great color scheme, it earns an A

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Peak Chevy SS Good design, awful color scheme, D+

Terry Labonte #32 C&J Energy Services Ford Fusion I’ll give it a C+ until I can see a picture WITHOUT an Instagram filter!

David Ragan #34 CSX Ford Fusion What in the hell is going on here? Why is the hood decal upside down? Why in the world would they do that? Were they drunk when they decaled the car? The only thing that I can guess is that it is designed for an in-car camera…but that makes no sense either! F-

David Gilliland #38 Loves Truck Stops Ford Fusion Good color scheme, decent design, plus unlike David Ragan, the hood decal is in the correct position, A-

Bobby Labonte #52 Phoenix Racing/HScott Motorsports Chevy SS Great color scheme, very simple yet attractive design, can’t say anything bad about it, A+

Michael Waltrip #66 Blue Def Toyota Camry While I like the field motif, it looks too much like the Windows XP Bliss background for me to take it seriously. I’ll give it a B-

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Kelley Blue Book Chevy SS During my Daytona Preseason Thunder article, I said I wanted to see the #88 they used on a real car. I got my wish, and I like this design overall. The metallic gold is a bold choice, it doesn’t always work well. I give it an A+

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

As many of you know, I don’t just research and collect driver suits and racing items, I collect and research many other things. I recently had a column run in Uni-Watch concerning some lettering from the 1958 Washington Senators, and you can read my column here.