Frisco

A selection of colour schemes on the theme of television

Bronwen Cerys August 28, 2024

It occurred to me that in the four-plus years I’ve been writing this column, I really haven’t talked about many of the TV-inspired paint jobs that have graced the Toyotas, Dodges, Plymouths and everything in between in NASCAR.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, especially since some of them span multiple years, drivers, and advertising sources (including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cartoon Network, etc.), but we’ll name a few anyway.

Tony Stewart — The Clearings

I’ll start with one that has always stuck in my mind and is one of my favorites here. Tony Stewart drove this Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway in 2011. The Clearings was apparently a crime drama that ran on A&E for a few years that had this random one-time commercial… in the Midwest, not at Daytona International Speedway.

They know where the Everglades actually are.

I’ve written about places in the Glades for another publication, and this place is kind of spooky – planes crash there, and it seems quite possible that one of them could disappear and never be found or heard from again.

Still, it’s a cool scheme. Simple: white background with an orange with a bullet hole in it and blood running out. Effective.

Corey LaJoie — The Crew, Scooby Doo

Although there has been some controversy regarding Corey LaJoie’s driving on the track this year, this was back when Spire Motorsports was still a young organization that was receiving support from all over. Boss Baby Sequel? Sure, why not?

The NASCAR sitcom on Netflix The Crewstarring Kevin James? Makes sense.

I was able to ask Kevin James a question during a virtual press conference at the premiere of this series, and Reed Sorenson drove a car wrapped like the one in the show for on-track shots.

And let us not forget that LaJoie has a Scooby Doo-Themed car in the design of the Mystery Machine from 2019, when he drove for Go Fas Racing.

Brian Vickers — Scooby Doo

This is probably my favorite here, simply because it was so weird. I’m sure there’s a backstory, but why was Scooby on Vickers’ car at the 2005 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway?

Even more fascinating is the question of why this scheme has essentially been lost. As far as I know, photographs of it literally only found via CIA Stock Photo.

And yet somehow a die-cast model was made of this thing: Winner’s Circle, 1:64 scale, 2005. I have it somewhere in my house. Great idea, but totally bizarre circumstances.

Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart — Peanuts

Joe Cool? In NASCAR? Sure, bro.

Simple scheme with several variations of Snoopy on Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 – Joe Cool on the hood, the Flying Ace on the sides. I’m not sure if this is actually Financial support a special – I don’t think – but it’s tied to the TV and comic copyright and it worked really well.

Stewart doubled down on the Peanuts theme, racing with day and night versions of the scheme. To me, this is one of the most entertaining scheme designs in NASCAR – dual paint schemes for racing under the sun or under the lights.

Tony Stewart drove both of these Peanuts cars in 2002.

He drove the black Home Depot/Search For The Great Pumpkin Pontiac in the Bristol Night Race and finished 24th.

He drove the orange Home Depot/It’s The Great Pumpkin Pontiac in the fall race in Atlanta and finished fourth.#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aTypit1slI

– Sean Sedor (@SASedor2994) December 13, 2022

Others that I will not go into here are Looney TunesThe Muppets, The page contains the lyrics and the German translation of the song “TMNT” by The Movie. and the fleet of about seven SpongeBob Cars and trucks that drove in Kansas in 2015. Particularly noteworthy are the two-tone The page contains the lyrics and the German translation of the song “TMNT” by The Movie. Truck driven by John Hunter Nemechek.

Cartoon Network Cars included Steve Grissom’s The Flintstones Machine, Wally Dallenbach Jr.s The Powerpuff Girls Car, Lake Speed’s Tom and Jerry Livery and — my favorite — Robert Pressley’s Scooby Doo No. 29, which made a famous twisting fall through the air at Daytona.

He should have been sponsored by Twisterswhich came out the year before.

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Yiamastaverna

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