As we enter the fourth part of our series on NASCAR paint schemes over the years, we find ourselves in the most recent age of the sport, the 2010’s, also known as the age of the millennials.
The sport has found itself struggling to survive as numbers continue to decline both in the stands and on television. To try and recover a lot of the unwanted negativity towards its’ numbers, they have tried doing almost everything imaginable. From making the sport safer with better walls and barriers to functional computer tools used for adding as much speed as possible during a race.
But the number one thing NASCAR has allowed to attract more fans is the paint schemes. It will always fall back on the paint schemes of the vehicles. The cars are showing up weekly with newer, tighter paint schemes that have even the occasional fans taking notice.
Here are the best NASCAR paint schemes since 2010.
30. 2011 No.99 Carl Edwards, Aflac Dental
There is just something to say about light blue, or sky blue in some cases, on a NASCAR. It just seems to stand out. The Aflac Dental logo wasn’t enough to earn a spot on our list, but the colors sealed the deal.
29. 2012 No.34 David Ragan, Where’s Waldo?
The idea of using the famous children’s book, “Where’s Waldo?” for half the car design was brilliant on its’ own. But then when he showed up at Martinsville Speedway, it was anything short of amazing.
28. 2012 No.42 Juan Pablo Montoya, Target “Taylor Swift”
This paint scheme isn’t as popular but we just had to feature it on this list. Juan Pablo Montoya had some pretty big balls to drive around a track for 400 miles with Taylor Swift plastered all over the car.
27. 2016 No.48 Jimmie Johnson, Lowe’s “Superman”
For the release of the upcoming Batman v. Superman movie, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are going to be running a Superman and Batman vehicle.
26. 2016 No.27 Paul Menard, Dutch Boy
Dutch Boy has been around nearly 100 years and for a paint company, it is odd that it took them this long to produce such a beautiful paint scheme for a NASCAR race.
25. 2014 No.4 Kevin Harvick, Jimmy John’s
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Kevin Harvick drives like a champion regardless of what paint scheme is on the hood. But there is something to say for a man that replaced a legend and has become one of his own along the way.
24. 2011 No.17 Matt Kenseth, Crown Royal
Don’t use purple on a stock car, it will not work. That is, unless it represents Crown Royal, one of the best alcoholic drinks money can buy.
23. 2013 No.34 David Ragan, Peanut Patch
Every time you enter a gas station, you probably noticed that there are boiled peanuts for sale. But you didn’t notice that it is usually always the same brand, Peanut Patch. David Ragan drove the Peanut Patch No.34 during the 2013 season to help give people the attention it deserved.
22. 2016 No.4 Kevin Harvick, Busch
Brings me back to some of my fondest college hangover memories.
21. 2016 No.22 Joey Logano, Pennzoil
Kevin Harvick once rocked the No.29 Pennzoil with the red and yellow paint scheme but leave it to Joey Logano to turn the same Pennzoil brand into a perfectly done paint scheme using nothing more than one color paint.
20. 2013 No.99 Carl Edwards, Subway
The primary colors of Subway are green first, than yellow. But Carl Edwards switched them around and the rest is history.
19. 2015 No.43 Aric Almirola, Nathan’s Famous
Yellow and sky blue are about as sweet a color pairing as anything NASCAR has had in it’s 60 years of stock car racing.
18. 2015 No.42 Kyle Larson, Mello Yello
Credit: Matt Hazlett – Getty
Kyle Larson dedicated this Mello Yello No.42 to Cole Trickle’s car, also known as Tom Cruise, and the best NASCAR movie of all-time, Days of Thunder.
17. 2016 No.10 Danica Patrick, Nature’s Bakery
For the first time since she began in NASCAR, Danica Patrick was without GoDaddy as a sponsor. It didn’t take long, however, for her to secure an even better paint scheme from Nature’s Bakery.
16. 2013 No.40 Landon Cassill, Pirate Oilfields
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Sure, let’s all use heads of skeletons on our stock cars, that sounds like an interesting idea.
15. 2014 No.48 Jimmie Johnson, Lowe’s Black and White
If you see Jimmie Johnson in the No.48 Lowe’s, chances are he is rocking the blue and silver paint scheme. So it comes as no surprise that when he used a black and gray paint scheme, he was going to make this list.
14. 2014 No.17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Zest
It has been a long time since Zest as been such a champion in NASCAR that most of us forgot it was still around. That is, except for the ones that still took showers with soap.
13. 2013 No.51 A.J. Allmendinger, Neil Bonnett
As a tribute to Neil Bonnett, A.J. Allmendinger went with this neon highlight of a paint scheme, just so everyone noticed as he drove around the track.
12. 2013 No.33 Austin Dillon, Honey Nut Cheerios
How many times have you watched a NASCAR race and got hungry just from spotting the cereal branded vehicles?
11. 2013 No.1 Jamie McMurray, Banana Boat
As orange gets, Banana Boat is the brightest you will ever see on a stock car. Jamie McMurray ran it back in 2013 and boy was it smooth. It was nice to see such a solid paint scheme
10. 2016 No.17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Sunny-D
As long as Sunny-D has been around, this is the first time it has made its’ way into a NASCAR Sprint Cup race and the No.17 did an excellent job of matching the colors of the drink with the car itself.
9. 2016 No.88 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nationwide “Batman”
As we mentioned earlier, the special tribute to the newest Batman movie will be honored during the Auto Club 400 in California this March.
8. 2013 No.27 Paul Menard, Quaker State
7. 2015 No.4 Kevin Harvick, Outback Throwback Edition
6. 2013 No.95 Scott Speed, Surrender the Sponsor
Why haven’t more NASCAR driver’s figured out ways to turn their cars into such a bad ass looking vehicle like Scott Speed did back in 2013?
5. 2014 No.48 Jimmie Johnson, Lowe’s Throwback Edition
The throwback colors Jimmie Johnson used in 2014 were perfect using beige in the front and top while sticking to the old blue to cover the body. It was a traditional vintage look for one of the great NASCAR drivers of all-time.
4. 2012 No.24 Jeff Gordon, DuPont
Jeff Gordon rocked the DuPont rainbow paint scheme for almost his entire career but after awhile, it became as boring as watching it drive in circles for 500 miles each weekend. But then he had this black paint scheme and it was rejuvenated back in 2012.
3. 2011 No.18 Kyle Busch, 9-11 Tribute
Ten years following the tragedy of 9/11, Kyle Busch drove a perfectly painted american flag No.18 tribute car. He had all sponsors agree to remove their logos from the vehicle so that all was left was the American flag.
2. 2014 No.2 Brad Keselowski, Miller Lite
As far as paint schemes are concerned, the most simplistic of them all is going with an all-white stock car with the word Lite on the hood. That is all Brad Keselowski needed to earn the second best car on the list.
1. 2012 No.51 Kurt Busch, Ricky Bobby Special Edition
Love him or hate him, Kurt Busch is one of NASCAR’s more entertaining personalities. After he was “fired” from Penske Racing, he found a home with Phoenix Racing. During the 2012 Aaron’s 499 race at Talladega, Kurt Busch decided to get his team to transform into the Will Ferrell character, Ricky Bobby, from the NASCAR film Talladega Nights. Not only did he run the exact same vehicle from the movie, but he planned on and did quote the movie over the radio communications. This guy is as much a douche bag as he is entertaining, that’s for sure.