Category: paint scheme grades

Paint Scheme Grades-April 29, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Austin Cindric #2 Menard’s/Duracel Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Corey LaJoie #7 AeroVanti Chevy Camaro-I don’t like the yellow, other than that, this is a good scheme. A-

Kyle Busch #8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevy Camaro-Great color scheme, the smoke is a nice touch, and it isn’t over designed. A

Chase Briscoe #14 Mahindra Tractors “You Old Goat” Ford Mustang-A smooth look with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

Riley Herbst #15 Mechanix/Monster Ford Mustang-There are two contrasting styles here, and they look odd together. F

A.J. Allmendinger #16 Black’s Tire Chevy Camaro-This is a great look, especially when compared to last year’s scheme. A

Bubba Wallace #23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry-This is a good fade, and the fish motif works well. This gets an A.

Ryan Preece #41 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang-Same scheme as #4, same A grade.

Noah Gragson #42 Wendy’s Chevy Camaro-A smooth look with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

Erik Jones #43 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Kroger/Cheez-It Chevy Camaro-Get rid of the blue stripes and this will be a solid A. With the blue stripes, this gets an A-.

JJ Yeley #51 Jacob Companies Ford Mustang-The new stripes don’t really detract from the scheme, and this gets an A.

Paint Scheme Grades-April 22, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Ross Chastain #1 Worldwide Express/Unishippers Chevy Camaro-This is actually worse than World Wide Express, the added colors do NOTHING to help, and everything to hinder. F

Austin Cindric #2 Menard’s/Libman Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Kevin Harvick #4 Hunt Brothers/Realtree Ford Mustang-No white, no orange, perfect ratio of black to camo, this is a good scheme that gets an A.

Kyle Busch #8 Mark III Employee Benefits Chevy Camaro-A smooth look with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

JJ Yeley will drive the #15 Isaacson Concrete & Excavating Ford Mustang-Get rid of the white, and this would be a solid A scheme, but with the white, it’s an A-

Chris Buescher #17 Esperion Therapeutics Ford Mustang-Blue replacing beige is a major step up, and if this wasn’t already an A graded scheme, would make it an A scheme.

Christopher Bell #20 DeWalt Power Stack Toyota Camry-First off, I swore that this was a scheme last year, but I was wrong. With that said, the black lightning works, the yellow works, but this just doesn’t. It looks like two different people designed the same scheme. As such, this gets a C.

Christopher Bell #20 SHINGRIX Toyota Camry-Same scheme as #11, same A grade.

Joey Logano #22 Verizon Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Michael McDowell #34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang-Same scheme as #38 same C grade.

Todd Gilliland #38 Frontline Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Anthony Alfredo #78 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as #3 same A grade.

Daniel Suarez #99 Worldwide Express Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as #1 same F grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-April 15, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Light #Break4Busch Ford Mustang-I like the idea, but this isn’t well done. The dirt looks off, and it’s over designed. It’s not awful, so this gets a C.

Ryan Blaney #12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menards/Maytag Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Chase Briscoe #14 Magical Vacation Planner Ford Mustang-I hate picture motifs, and this would be much better without it. With the mosaic, this gets an F.

JJ Yeley #15 Public SQ Ford Mustang-Same scheme as #51, same B+ grade.

AJ Allmendinger #16 Gain Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Bubba Wallace #23 McDonald’s/Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry-I hate this look, it’s not great, the random white areas are just awful, and I can’t say anything good. F

Justin Haley #31 Tide Chevy Camaro-These new designs are too much. They don’t look good, and it takes a B scheme down to a D, I do like Tide as a car sponsor.

Erik Jones #43 Club Wyndham Chevy Camaro-A smooth look with a great color scheme and earn an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Kroger/Irish Spring Body Wash Chevy Camaro-This is a better look with the cleaned up sides. This goes from a C to a B

Austin Hill #62 Realtree Chevy Camaro-As much as I hate camo, this isn’t bad. The lack of orange helps, and this gets a C.

Anthony Alfredo #78 Dude Wipes Chevy Camaro-I like the look here, the color scheme is good, and the car looks great. A

BJ McLeod #78 GUNK Chevy Camaro-I would like this with smaller logos. The giant GUNK logo is so visually distracting, that it takes an A grade down to a B+

Paint Scheme Grades-April 8, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Brad Keselowski #6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menards/Moen Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

JJ Yeley #15 CW & Sons Infrastructure Ford Mustang-Good color scheme with a great design scheme will always earn an A.

Harrison Burton #21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Michael McDowell #34 Stage Front Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Tyler Reddick #45 SiriusXM Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Kroger/Kraft Mac & Cheese Chevy Camaro-I think that the car is a bit too over designed, but this isn’t bad. B

Paint Scheme Grades-April 1, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Kevin Harvick #4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang-It’s a smooth look, with a great color scheme, and that will ALWAYS earn an A.

Brad Keselowski #6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Corey LaJoie #7 OpTic Gaming Chevy Camaro-The paint splatter motif could be better, but the giant logo along with it is just horrible, and I can’t give this higher than an F.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Knauf Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Bubba Wallace #23 MoneyLion Toyota Camry-This is even worse than last year, and that fade helps NOTHING! F

Noah Gragson #42 Black Riffle Coffee Resort Chevy Camaro-The small stripes alone would get an A, but this looks so awful, it gets taken down to a C.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Kroger/Blue Buffalo Chevy Camaro-I get the use of blue, but there are too many blues here. Add in that the front is a bit over designed, and this gets a C.

Cody Ware #51 Public SQ Ford Mustang-If the black on the front was replaced with the fade, this would get an A, it’s still good enough to get a B+

Jimmie Johnson #84 Club Wyndham Chevy Camaro-It’s a smooth look, not over designed, and it gets an A.

Daniel Suarez #99 Quaker State Chevy Camaro-This color scheme works a little better than the Freeway Insurance color scheme. B-

Paint Scheme Grades-March 25, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Austin Cindric #2 Menard’s/Knauf Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Kyle Busch #8 Lenovo Chevy Camaro-A slight difference between last year and this year doesn’t really change anything. A

Ryan Blaney #12 Body Armor Ford Mustang-Very clean, very sharp, great color scheme, gets an A.

Chase Briscoe #14 HighPoint Ford Mustang-A slight difference between last year and this year doesn’t really change anything. A

Jenson Button #15 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang-I like the basic, yet bold design, and the color scheme is great! A

J.J. Yeley #15 Barnett Southern Corporation Ford Mustang-It’s a little over designed, especially in the front. It’s got a good color scheme, and that earns an A.

Chris Buescher #17 Violet Defense Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same C- grade.

Kevin Harvick #29 Busch Light Ford Mustang-Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! This might be one of my favorite throwback schemes EVER! This gets a solid A!

Todd Gilliland #38 Wellcare Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Todd Gilliland #38 Gary Martin Hays & Associates Ford Mustang-This isn’t pinkwashing, and I like the look here, smooth, clean and bold. A

Ryan Preece #41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Tyler Reddick #45 Xfinity 10G Network Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth look with a great color scheme, and that will ALWAYS earn an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Kroger/Nature Valley Chevy Camaro-This is another example of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. This cleaned up scheme is still awful, and gets the same F grade as last year. F

Paint Scheme Grades-March 18, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Ross Chastain #1 Moose Fraternity Chevy Camaro-Nothing really wrong with these new changes, still a bold look with a great color scheme. A

Austin Cindric #2 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Austin Cindric #2 Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Austin Dillon #3 BetMGM Chevy Camaro-It’s amazing how getting rid of clutter makes the scheme so much better! A

Aric Almirola #10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang-No real change here. A

Denny Hamlin #11 SHINGRIX Toyota Camry-I like the color scheme, you can’t go wrong with red and white. A

Ryan Blaney #12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Chris Buescher #17 Socios.com Ford Mustang-I like this look, the blue and green work really well with each other, and the design scheme is great. A

William Byron #24 Valvoline Chevy Camaro-Too many stripes, too over done, this gets a B.

Tyler Reddick #45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth look, with a great color scheme, and that will ALWAYS get an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Thomas English Muffins and Bagels Chevy Camaro-It’s amazing how cleaning up the sides makes a car look better! A

Alex Bowman 48 Ally/Best Friends Chevy Camaro-This is not a good look, the orange stripes look forced, and this is just awful! F

Ty Gibbs #54 He Get us Toyota Camry-It’s a smooth look, with a great color scheme, and that will ALWAYS get an A.

Ty Dillon #77 Mutoh/General Formulations Chevy Camaro-The design is decent, but could be toned down more. B+

BJ McLeod #78 Circle B Diecast Chevy Camaro-Horrible color scheme combined with a terrible design scheme will ALWAYS earn an F

BJ McLeod #78 Superior Logistics Chevy Camaro-The new design is a bit more cluttered and over designed from last year. B+

Kimi Räikkönen #91 ONX Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-March 11, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Brad Keselowski #6 Fastenal Ford Mustang-The blue lettering is hard to see without a black outline, and that takes this scheme from an A to an A-

Corey LaJoie #7 EnviroXstream Chevy Camaro-I like the shades of blue, but this isn’t a good look. D

Corey LaJoie #7 Bluegrass Vacations Chevy Camaro-The green looks awful, and the car is somewhat over designed. I give this a C-.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Pennzoil Ford Mustang-The newer black numbers stand out more, and have a bolder look. This gets an A.

J.J. Yeley #15 OTR Employment Service Ford Mustang-I like the color scheme, but the car is very cluttered at points, and the odd X logo on the side is confusing. C

Joey Logano #22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang-This takes me back to the Steve Park era Pennzoil scheme, which was a great scheme, and a great look! A

Bubba Wallace #23 Columbia Sportswear Chevy Camaro-This is a hell of an upgrade from last year’s multi-colored pastel mess. This is a great look, and gets an A.

Todd Gilliland #38 Ruedbusch Development and Construction Ford Mustang-The cleaner look makes for a better look, and goes from a B+ to an A.

Tyler Reddick #45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry-The giant eye in a sea of black is an amazing look, and it reminds me of of the horror game Iron Lung. This is worth an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Coke Zero Chevy Camaro-The lack of white really works here, and the car has a bold and smooth look. A

BJ McLeod #78 Hartford Gold Ford Mustang-A smooth look with a great color scheme will ALWAYS earn an A.

Paint Scheme Grades-March 4, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Austin Cindric #2 Menards/Quaker State Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Austin Dillon #3 Behr Dynasty Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Light Ford Mustang-The darker blue works well here, and the scheme looks great. A

Kyle Busch #8 Lucas Oil Chevy Camaro-I like the shade of blue, and the white and red designs work well. A

Ryan Blaney #12 Wurth Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

JJ Yeley #15 ActOne Group Chevy Camaro-It’s a smooth look, with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

AJ Allmendinger #16 Farmsmart Chevy Camaro-Great color scheme with a bad design scheme will always earn a C.

Martin Truex Jr. #19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same B grade.

Harrison Burton #21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang-Less can be a lot more, and with these new designs, it’s a bit too much, this gets a B+ down from an A-

Bubba Wallace #23 Leidos Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Michael McDowell #34 Horizon Lobby Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Todd Gilliland #38 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang-The new white on front scheme isn’t an upgrade or a downgrade, so it gets a C.

Erik Jones #43 U.S. Air Force Chevy Camaro-The Thunderbird scheme looks great, it translates to a race car well. This gets an A.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Cottonelle Chevy Camaro-This much more blue scheme isn’t an upgrade or a downgrade, so it gets a C.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #47 Ralph’s/Tree Top Applesauce Chevy Camaro-Horrible color scheme paired with a bad design scheme will always earn an F.

Ty Dillon #77 Nations Guard Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same D grade.

Daniel Suarez #99 Freeway Insurance Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same C grade.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 25, 2023

By David G. Firestone

Austin Dillon #3 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevy Camaro-Much better than last year, with a better color and design scheme. A

Corey LaJoie #7 Schluter Systems Chevy Camaro-I like the waffle designs, and the white has a much cleaner look, so this gets an A.

Chase Elliott #9 LLumar Window Film Chevy Camaro-It’s a good, unique look, I really like the color scheme, and the shades of white and red look really good. A

Chase Elliott #9 UniFirst Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx 50 Toyota Camry-I like the vintage look, but I do think a retro logo would work. Still, this is great, and gets an A

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Peak Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same B+ grade.

Christopher Bell #20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota Camry-Adding more black to the scheme takes it from an A- to an A.

Bubba Wallace #23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry-This gets an F because it’s the worst color choice…seriously, who associates McDonald’s with GREEN??

Noah Gragson #42 Wendy’s Chevy Camaro-Nothing really improves, or is made worse, so this gets an A-

Erik Jones #43 GUNS N’ ROSES Chevy Camaro-A smooth look with a great design will always earn an A.

Ty Gibbs #54 Monster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry-This scheme made me do something I never thought I would…it made me give an A to a current Interstate Batteries scheme. This works well. A

Travis Pastrana #67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota Camry-I HATE PLAID ON RACE CARS!!! IT NEVER LOOKS GOOD!!! F

Daniel Suarez #99 Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge Chevy Camaro-I didn’t think that I could hate a Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge scheme more, until I saw this. The found a way to make this worse, so this gets an F.