By David G. Firestone
For the end of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season, the Paint Schemies have returned! The Schemies will reveal the best,and worst paint schemes of 2015. I’ve eliminated the exhibition and improved categories for 2015, with exhibition replaced by throwback paint scheme.This was done using the Driver Suit Blog executive committee for paint scheme analysis and consists of me and Driver Suit Blog assistant, my cat Alejandro, and uses the following standards:
Color Scheme:How the colors look, and how they work with each other.
Overall Design:How good the design itself looks, is there too much, or not enough.
Primary Sponsor Logos: How the primary sponsor logos look on the car
Originality: How original is the scheme.
All of the above can work for or against a scheme, and all will be taken into consideration.
Let’s get the bad paint scheme awards out of the way.
First, the Paint Schemie Award for Worst Regular Season Single Paint Scheme .
The nominees are:
Austin Dillon #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy SS
Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Lyons Financial Ford Fusion
Matt DiBenedetto #83 Voodoo Grills Toyota Camry
The Schemie Award for Worst Regular Season Single Paint Scheme goes to…
Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Lyons Financial Ford Fusion
The next award is for Worst Paint Scheme Set, meaning the team that is running consistently bad schemes all year. The nominees are:
GERMAIN RACING #13 CHEVY SS
TEAM PENSKE #22 FORD FUSION
BK RACING #26 TOYOTA CAMRY
PREMIUM MOTORSPORTS #66
The The winner of the Award For Worst Scheme Set of 2015 goes to…
GERMAIN RACING #13 CHEVY SS
The next Paint Schemie Award is for Throwback Paint Schemes. This category is a little different, as the Schemies will go to the best and worst throwback. For 2015, the nominees for Worst Throwback Paint Scheme are…
Chase Elliott #25 NAPA Fauxback Chevy SS
Denny Hamlin #11 Sport Clips Throwback Toyota Camry
Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Winn Dixie Throwback Ford Fusion
The Schemie for Worst Throwback Paint Scheme of 2015 goes to…
Chase Elliott #25 NAPA Fauxback Chevy SS
Now after talking about the bad, we discuss the good. Here are the winners in the best category…
First, the Paint Schemie Award for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme.
Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy SS
Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion
Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry
Kyle Busch #18 Skittles Toyota Camry
Matt Kenseth #20 DeWalt Toyota Camry
Ryan Blaney #21 Motorcraft/Quicklane Ford Fusion
Jeff Gordon #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy SS
David Ragan #34 CSX Ford Fusion
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Windows 10 Chevy SS
And the winner of the Paint Schemie Award for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme is…
Ryan Blaney #21 Motorcraft/Quicklane Ford Fusion
The next category is best throwback, and it should come as no surprise that the competition was strong this year.
Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Genuine Draft Ford Fusion
Trevor Bayne #6 Advocare Mark Martin Throwback Ford Fusion
Clint Bowyer #15 Buddy Baker Throwback Toyota Camry
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Cargil David Pearson Throwback Ford Fusion
Jeb Burton #23 Estes Cat Throwback Toyota Camry
Jeff Gordon #24 Axalta Throwback Chevy SS
Josh Wise #32 Beer Frost/Corvetteparts.com Tide Throwback Ford Fusion
Mike Bliss #33 Harry Gant Throwback Chevy SS
Kyle Larson #42 Mello Yello Chevy SS
Aric Almirola #43 STP 1972 Throwback Ford Fusion
Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Valvoline Buddy Baker Throwback Chevy SS
The Schemie for Best Throwback of 2015 goes to…
Clint Bowyer #15 Buddy Baker Throwback Toyota Camry
The final award of 2014 is the Paint Schemie for Best Paint Scheme Set of 2015. The nominees are:
TEAM PENSKE #2 FORD FUSION
JOE GIBBS RACING #11 TOYOTA CAMRY
MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING #15 TOYOTA CAMRY
JOE GIBBS RACING #20 TOYOTA CAMRY
WOOD BROTHERS RACING #21 FORD FUSION
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS #24 CHEVY SS
RAB RACING #29 TOYOTA CAMRY
FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS #35 FORD FUSION
JTG DAUGHTERY RACING #47 CHEVY SS
FURNITURE ROW RACING #78 CHEVY SS
PHIL PARSONS RACING/PREMIUM MOTORSPORTS #98
The Schemie goes to…
FURNITURE ROW RACING #78 CHEVY SS
Now for my annual top 10 list, this year, we are looking at the 10 worst paint schemes of all time…
10. Tony Stewart 2011 #14 El Monterey/Office Depot Chevy Impala-Dark red, Petty blue, and gold do not work as a color scheme.
9.Jimmie Johnson 2013 #48 Yellow Lowe’s Chevy SS-As awful as this scheme is, at least he didn’t wear a yellow uniform, or he would look like a peep, though I do like the chrome helmet.
8. AJ Allmendinger 2003 #51 Neil Bonnett Tribute Chevy SS-This scheme worked in 1994, and really should have stayed there. Also, you couldn’t have used throwback door numbers?
7. Marty Robbins 1978 #42 Marty Robbins Dodge-As deomnstrated above, pink and yellow is NOT a good color scheme.
6. Any paint scheme run by Travis Pastrana in NASCAR-This is just a representation, but anything Travis Pastrana has driven in NASCAR is awful.
5. Brian Keselowsk 2014 #52 Support Millitary Toyota Camry-There is a reason this scheme won the Worst Single Scheme Schemie for two years in a row.
4. Jeff Green 2003 #43 Yu-Gi-Oh Cheerios Dodge Avenger-”Hey! NASCAR fans really like Yu-Gi-Oh, so we should advertise to them” said no one ever.
3. Various Teams 2007 57 Chevy Monte Carlo-To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Chevy, one of the most beautiful cars ever made, Chevy convinced NASCAR to run one of the ugliest paint schemes ever run.
2. Kenny Irwin 1997 #27 Tonka/Winner’s Circle Ford Thunderbird-I really think, given the sponsor, a 9 year old helped design this car.
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2000 #3 Peter Max Chevy Monte Carlo-I was a die hard Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan since watching my first race, the 1990 Twin 125’s. I loved that black #3 with the silver stripe on the bottom. For what would be his last race, Dale raced this car, which looks like a clown threw up all over it. I have yet to find a Dale Sr. fan who will defend this scheme. At least he didn’t wear a matching driver suit.
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