Special paint scheme

Special paint schemes are one-time or limited time variations on a race car's typical appearance. Their use has been largely confined to stock car racing, partially due to the much larger surface area of a stock car as opposed to other types of race cars. NASCAR's increased media coverage has also 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 "" 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.

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:

* #7 - Alan Kulwicki - Army
* #18 - Greg Sacks - Navy
* #24 - Mickey Gibbs - Air Force
* #71 - Dave Marcis - Coast Guard
* #88 - Buddy Baker - Marines

Dale Earnhardt's "Silverwrench" Starts the Trend

Alternate paint schemes truly gained notoriety in 1995, when Dale Earnhardt appeared at The Winston with a silver car (in tribute to Winston's 25th (silver) anniversary) instead of his traditional black car.

Fan reaction to the paint schemes proved so popular that by the end of the decade, scarcely a race went by without one or more drivers sporting a special paint scheme, sometimes to promote other products within a firm. Often several drivers sported related paint schemes simultaneously.

Popular Themes

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

* An associate sponsor becomes the primary sponsor for selected races.
** Often, if that associate sponsor is sponsoring the race, they will have primary sponsorship for that race.
* Sports teams (especially during special promotions)
** During the 2001 MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400, the MBNA-sponsored #18 driven by Bobby Labonte drove a special Ripken-themed Pontiac Grand Prix. The Baltimore Orioles game that night was scheduled as Ripken's last home game until games were rescheduled because of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ripken was grand marshal, started the race, and the race winner was to attend that game.
**At the 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300, Carl Edwards used a Boston Red Sox-based car in celebration of Jack Roush partnering with Fenway Sports Group, headquartered in New England. The next year, David Ragan had a Bosox-based car.
* Charities
** The Home Depot often fields a Kaboom-themed car during the season.
** Lowe's fields a "Power of Pride" car with the USO as a benefactor.
** Dale Jarrett raced a "reverse" paint scheme in 1999 where his entire car's colour scheme was reversed for breast cancer research.
* Cartoon Characters
** The Muppets were featured on a special series during a race at the Chicagoland Speedway.
** The Looney Tunes were used as part of a promotion with the September race at Richmond International Raceway with the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400.
* Rock Bands
** The Chevy Rock and Roll 400 features cars painted with schemes based on popular rock bands.
* Movies

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

*"The Passion of the Christ"
*""
*"Hulk"
*"Shrek" (2, and The Third)
*""
*"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"
*"Batman Forever"
*""
*"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (NASCAR and IRL special paint schemes)

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

* Harry Gant
** For the 1994 Hooters 500, his final race, the car was based on a 1981 paint scheme with Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham.
* Darrell Waltrip
** To celebrate 25 years since his first Winston Cup race (1972), during the 1997 season, he had cars painted to resemble different cars during his career. A special chrome car was also designed.
* Jeff Gordon
** In celebrating his distinguished career at Sprint All-Star Race XX, his car was painted to resemble the 1992-2000 original DuPont "Rainbow Warriors," complete with the DuPont logo and "Automotive Finishes" on the side of the car.
* Rusty Wallace
** During his "Last Call" tour in 2005, one of his cars featured the 1991-1995 Miller Genuine Draft black and gold paint scheme, complete with graphics replete of that era.
* Mark Martin in 2005
** During the 2005 "Salute to You" tour, cars were painted to reflect various stages of Martin's career.
* Chevron Corporation
** The Texaco Havoline brand has featured special schemes to celebrate the Texaco brand's past. But their most notable special scheme is the 1987 Ranier-Lundy "Battlestar" scheme of the late Davey Allison. The throwback debuted at the 1997 Coca-Cola 600 and was later used in the DieHard 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway.
* Mountain Dew
** Run on a Hendrick Motorsports #57 Busch Series car in 2006, the scheme celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mountain Dew's NASCAR Championship Season of 1981 (Darrell Waltrip).
** Run on another Hendrick Motorsports Sprint Cup car (#88 of Dale Earnhardt, Jr) at Darlington on May 10, 2008 as part of the brand's co-primary sponsorship of the #88 team in 2008.
* Richard Childress Racing
** During the 2004 UAW-GM Quality 500, to celebrate 35 years of Richard Childress Racing, the team ran three throwback schemes, with designs based on Childress schemes from the team's first win in 1983, the team's famed 1987 championship, and 1995 silver car).
*Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
** Earnhardt raced two throwbacks in 2006, one dedicated to his father, using a black paint scheme reminiscent of his father's Busch cars, and a second using a cream-colored design, similar to his late grandfather Ralph's 1956 Sportsman championship. That car has authentic-looking "#8" graphics from 1956, and Dale Jr's sponsor Budweiser added 1956-era Budweiser logos.
*Chevrolet
**During the August 2007 Nextel Cup weekend at Michigan International Speedway, the cars of 11 Team Chevy drivers were decorated with special paint schemes commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Chevrolet. The cars of Ward Burton, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Casey Mears, Paul Menard, Tony Raines, Martin Truex, Jr., Scott Wimmer and J.J. Yeley all sported cues from the '57 Chevy's memorable design while J.J. Yeley's No. 18 Monte Carlo SS displayed a throwback Interstate Batteries logo.

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)." http://www.fastmachines.com/archives/nascar/000837print.php

Military Paint Schemes

New variations on the military paint schemes have also been used throughout the years. The United States Army began sponsoring the 01 car owned by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated full time in 2003. For major anniversaries, the cars used a special camouflage design.

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. The #29 team has Shell and Hershey, while the #31 has AT&T, 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 with standard schemes for M&M's and Snickers candy, Pedigree dog food, and Combos snacks, 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.

External links

* [http://www.jayski.com/schemes/paintschemes.htm Listing with photographs of all special paint schemes used in NASCAR]