Paint Scheme Grades-March 21, 2015

Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Medallion Bank Ford Fusion– Green, yellow, and blue is horrible, and the design is even worse. F

Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Medallion Bank/Mercury Marine Ford Fusion-The design is bad, but the color scheme is amazing, and it brings the scheme up to a B-

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 NOS Ford Fusion-Good color scheme, but I think the car as a whole is over designed, so I’ll give it a B-

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Zest Ford Fusion-Terrible color scheme, awful design, F

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/FVP Chevy SS– I like the Menard’s template, and the color scheme works very well, so I’ll give it an A+

Landon Cassill #40 CRC 1-Tank Renew Chevy SSDecent color scheme, but the design is a bit overdone. If it didn’t have the yellow stripes on the back I would like it more, but this is a decent scheme, worth a B-

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowes Pro Services Chevy SSThis appears to be inspired by the 2010 paint scheme, but that was horrible. It is over designed, and it just looks bad, C-, and I cant’ help but say how disappointed I am for this scheme. C-

Brian Vickers #55 Janssen Toyota Camry-Great scheme and great design earns an A+

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Mountain Dew Dewshine Chevy SS– Great scheme and great design earns an A+A+

Josh Wise #98 Mike Curb 200th Start Ford Fusion– A+

Paint Scheme Grades-March 14, 2015

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Genuine Draft Ford Fusion-An amazing, drool inducing throwback with a great color scheme! A+!

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller High Life Ford Fusion– An amazing, drool inducing throwback with a great color scheme! A+!

David Ragan #18 Snickers Xtreme Toyota Camry-I don’t like the door number color, the design is bland, the color scheme is good, so I’ll give it a D+

Carl Edwards #19 Comcast Business Toyota Camry– Good color scheme, but I don’t like the general design. Flipping the design doesn’t work. D-

JJ Yeley #23 Dr Pepper Toyota Camry– Good color scheme, good design, but I hate the Dr. Pepper logo on the door numbers, and I’ll give it a B-.

Jeff Gordon #24 Axalta/Fix Auto Chevy SS-This is a great looking car, with great color and design schemes. A+

Jeb Burton #26 Maxim Toyota Camry-Great design with a great color scheme. A+

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Quaker State Chevy SS– Quaker State has a great shade of green, and it should be the dominant color of the car. The yellow base with green accents looks awkward. I’ll give it a C

Mike Bliss #32 Draft Demons Ford Fusion– The pitchfork and fire design looks really good, and the color scheme is good too, so I’ll give it an A.

Mike Bliss #32 King Taco Ford Fusion-I like the vintage logo, the design is decent, and the color scheme is good, so I’ll give it a B+

Brian Scott #33 White Tail Lodge Chevy SS– Awful design with a decent color scheme earns a D-

David Ragan #34 Southern Belle Seafood Ford Fusion-I like the Front Row template, and the color scheme looks really good. A+

Cole Whit #35 Sprouts Farmer’s Market Ford Fusion-It’s a reverse Front Row Motorsports template, which by itself would look good, but the fruit motif adds to it. Factor in a good color scheme and you have an A+ grade.

David Gilliland #38 MDS Ford Fusion-Great simple design, decent color scheme earns an A-

Travis Kvapil #44 Phoenix Warehouse Chevy SS– My first thought when I saw this scheme was it looked like the color scheme from the 1994-1995 NBA All-Star Game jerseys which is a decent color scheme. But to say the car is over designed is an understatement. This scheme is awful. Not even a great color scheme can help this car pass. F

Michael Annett #46 Cypress HQ Chevy SS– Over designed and has a goofy color scheme earns an F every time.

Matt Dibenedetto #83 BurgerKing Toyota Camry– Good color scheme, good design, but I hate the Dr. Pepper logo on the door numbers, and I’ll give it a B-.

Paint Scheme Grades-February 28, 2015

Brad Keselowski #2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion-Black and blue could be a great combo, but the blue here is much too light. If the blue were darker, it would earn an A+ grade. This scheme earns a C- grade.

Sam Hornish Jr. #9 Camping World/Medallion Bank Ford Fusion– Green, yellow, and blue is horrible, and the design is even worse. F

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #17 Fifth-Third Bank Ford Fusion-Much smoother look, good color scheme, A+

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Duracel Chevy SS-Great color scheme, great simple design, A+

Cole Whitt #35 Rinnai Filters Ford Fusion-Same scheme as last year, same A+ grade.

Kyle Larson #42 Energizer Eco Advanced Chevy SS-Same scheme as last year, same D grade

Brett Moffitt #55 Aaron’s 60th Anniversary Toyota Camry– They took the A+ scheme from this year, reversed the color scheme, and added an additional logo on the hood. It works well and will keep the A+ grade.

Paint Scheme and Helmet Grades-February 21, 2015

By David G. Firestone

Jamie McMurray #1 Cessna/McDonald’s Chevy SS-Love the fade, the look is really smooth, the colors work well, A+

Paul Menard #27 Menard’s/Peak Chevy SS– Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Landon Cassill #40 Cars For Sale Chevy SS– Same Scheme as last year, same C- grade

Kyle Larson #42 White Target Chevy SS-Same scheme as last year, same B- grade.

Brian Scott #62 Shore Lodge Chevy SS-Good color scheme, much too over designed, it looks terrible, B-

Josh Wise #98 Phoenix Construction Ford Fusion-Simple, smooth design, with a great color scheme, A+

I get tired of just doing paint schemes, and I wanted to do something different, but I had no idea what to do. Then I came across this, and it gave me an idea. I’m gonna grade these helmets in order. The grading will be different from car schemes, since racing helmets have different design standards to me than cars.

Jeff Gordon-The red looks really good, the carbon fiber design looks really good, I don’t like the white, so I’ll give it a B+

Dale Earnhardt Jr.-The matte black with silver designs looks really good, but the Nationwide logo looks so out of place. It looks awkward, and it takes an A scheme to a B-

Trevor Bayne-The blue design would look good by itself, as would the red and white design, but the two schemes together look forced and awful. D-

Aric Almirola-Great design, great color scheme, A+

Brad Keselowski-The black carbon fiber design with logos on it looks really good. A+

Kyle Busch-The racing helmet design would work without the M&M’s logos all over the place, and vice versa, but the color scheme is good, so I’ll give it a C+

Matt Kenseth-Great design, great color scheme, A+

Kyle Larson-Great design, great color scheme, and I do like the subtle red Target logo. A+

Kevin Harvick-The red and gold Anheuser Busch design looks good, and the logos on the white banner across the front works very well too. A+

Kasey Kahne-Like the color scheme, and the design is decent, A

Jimmie Johnson-I like the overall design, the color scheme is good, though I do think that the silver should be darker. Still it’s an A design.

Josh Wise-I liked the whole Dogecoin thing when it started at Talladega last year, but it’s getting to the point where it’s just overdone. The color scheme is good, the adjectives on the back are interesting, but it’s just too silly to earn anything above a C-

Greg Biffle-Black with silver designs has been done, but the bugs that look like they are crawling over the helmet make it work, and it works quite well. I’ll give it an A

Austin Dillon-Good color scheme, I like the bird design on the side, a bit over done, but still an A scheme.

Danica Patrick-One of the only helmets where the color scheme does not match the sponsor. Danica has worn this design for quite a while, and it looks great! A+

Denny Hamlin-The helmet matches the car, and earns a matching A+ grade.

Tony Stewart-One of the most underrated designs in gasoline history, the Mobil Pegasus takes the lead in this design. I like the numbers and all white design as well, A+

Jamie McMurray-I gave Kyle Larson credit for the subtle Target logos, but this design is overdone. The subtle Golden Arches take an A design to a C- design, which not even a great color scheme can help.

Clint Bowyer-Overall design is good, has a good color scheme, and the Zombie Elvis is a quirky touch that I like. A+

Joey Logano-Good color scheme, and I love the vintage hot rod on the side, and will give it an A+

Paul Menard-Digital camo doesn’t look good on the side of a race car, and doesn’t look good on the side of a helmet either. I’ll give it a D+ for a good color scheme, and a cool spider.

Ryan Newman-My big complaint about Ryan Newman’s Cat scheme is too much white. Black and yellow is a great color scheme, but too much white takes it from an A to a B-.

Brian Vickers-Metallic gold is under used on race cars, and I’m shocked that it is, this helmet looks really good. It’s a A grade.

Martin Truex Jr.-Digital camo doesn’t look good on the side of a race car, and doesn’t look good on the side of a helmet either. I’ll give it a D+ for a good color scheme.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-The subtle nut logos work well, the color scheme is good, can’t say anything bad, A+