Throwback Thursday-1997 Bobby Hamilton #51 Southern Pride Trucking Chevrolet C1500

1997 Bobby Hamilton #51 Southern Pride Trucking Chevrolet C1500

When he was hired as a stunt driver for Days of Thunder, Nashville, Tennessee’s Bobby Hamilton grabbed the opportunity, and proved competitive at the 1989 Autoworks 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. This impressed quite a few people, and eventually, Hamilton would get signed to a full-time racing deal. He made the most of that deal, winning 4 races in the Cup Series, 1 race in the Xfinity Series, and 10 races in the Truck Series. In 1997, Hamilton race two races in the Truck Series, finishing 5th at Topeka, and 6th at Martinsville. That season he raced a Chevy C-1500 sponsored by Southern Pride Trucking for his own team. The car has a great look, with a great color scheme, and that will always earn an A.

2019 Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 3-Toyota

By David G. Firestone

The 2019 Paint Scheme Leaderboard rolls on, this week, it’s the Toyota teams time to shine!

1-XCI Racing #81 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 1

GPA: 4.00

2-Motorsports Business Management #66 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 3rd of 9

Number of Schemes: 14

GPA: 3.82

3-Gaunt Brothers Racing #96 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 6th of 9

Number of Schemes: 3

GPA: 3.67

4-Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 4th of 9

Number of Schemes: 11

GPA: 3.52

5-Motorsports Business Management #46 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 2

GPA: 3.35

6-Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 2nd of 9

Number of Schemes: 12

GPA: 3.33

7-Joe Gibbs Racing #19 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 7th of 9

Number of Schemes: 6

GPA: 3.28

8-Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: 8th of 9

Number of Schemes: 6

GPA: 3.03

9-Leavine Family Racing #95 Toyota Camry

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 14

GPA: 3.00

Next week, the Grand Finale!

Throwback Thursday-1997 Tony Raines #19 Pennzoil Dodge Ram

1997 Tony Raines #19 Pennzoil Dodge Ram

Glasgow, Montana isn’t a place closely associated with auto racing, but it is home to Tony Raines. Tony Raines is just one in a series of drivers who had success in the Truck Series, but couldn’t succeed in the Xfinity or Cup Series. Raines had a win in 1997, and three in 1998, but his attempts in the Xfinity and the Cup series weren’t great. In 1997, he raced for Roehrig Motorsports, and won the Western Auto/Parts America 200 at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri, driving the #19 Pennzoil Ram. The Pennzoil color scheme is great, but I think the stripes are too much. I get what they were trying to do, but it doesn’t look good. Still, it’s not terrible, so I’ll give it a B+

2019 Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 2-Ford

By David G. Firestone

This week, the Paint Scheme Leaderboard shifts focus to the blue oval. Ford’s rankings are up for this week.

1-Team Penske #12 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 4th of 18

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 3.78

2-Team Penske #2 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 12th of 18

Number of Schemes: 11

GPA: 3.63

3-Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 7th of 18

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 3.60

4-Go FAS Racing #32 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 4th of 18

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 3.50

5-Stewart-Haas Racing #14 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 10th of 18

Number of Schemes: 15

GPA: 3.49

6-Stewart-Hass Racing #41 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 2nd of 18

Number of Schemes: 16

GPA: 3.42

7-Stewart-Haas Racing #4 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 6th of 18

Number of Schemes: 15

GPA: 3.36

8-Stewart-Haas Racing #10 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 13th of 18

Number of Schemes: 13

GPA: 3.18

9-Front Row Racing #34 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 1st of 18

Number of Schemes: 10

GPA: 3.12

10–Rick Ware Racing #53 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 7

GPA: 3.10

11-Front Row Racing #36 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 16

GPA: 2.85

12-Rick Ware Racing #52 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 5th of 18

Number of Schemes: 25

GPA: 2.75

13-Roush-Fenway Racing #6 Ford Mustang

Ford Mustang Rank Last Year: 8th of 18

Number of Schemes: 20

GPA: 2.66

14-Rick Ware Racing #51 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 14th of 18

Number of Schemes: 12

GPA: 2.59

15-Rick Ware Racing #54 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 5

GPA: 2.50

16-Team Penske #22 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 18th of 18

Number of Schemes: 10

GPA: 2.16

17-Front Row Racing #38 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 9th of 18

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 2.08

18-Roush-Fenway Racing #17 Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 13th of 18

Number of Schemes: 13

GPA: 1.95

Next week, the Toyota Leaderboard

Throwback Thursday-1996 Jack Sprague #24 Quaker State Chevrolet C1500

1996 Jack Sprague #24 Quaker State Chevrolet C1500

With 28 wins and three championships in the Truck Series, Spring Lake, Michigan’s Jack Sprague is tied for third on the all-time win list with Mike Skinner. Sprague’s best years came while driving for Rick Hendrick, where he won his three championships, in 1997, 1999, and 2001. In 1996, he got his first win at Phoenix, driving the #24 Quaker State C-1500. I’m not a fan of the older, lighter green that Quaker State was using around this time. It doesn’t translate well to the side of a race car or truck. The design scheme is good, but the color is off. I’ll give it a C+

2019 Paint Scheme Leaderboard Part 1-Chevy

By David G. Firestone

Thanksgiving has passed, holiday music and decorations are abound, and the 2019 Paint Scheme Leaderboard is here! Here’s how the process works. I will rank all of the Cup Series teams by their paint scheme GPA. I will rank them by manufacturer, then all of them in one final list. There is no committee this year, as Zoe chose to skip the proceedings. Here is the Chevy list:

1-JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 26th of 26

Number of Schemes: 2

GPA: 4.00

2-Tommy Baldwin Racing #71 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 1

GPA: 4.00

3-Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 7th

Number of Schemes: 10

GPA: 3.87

4-Spire Motorsports #77 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year:N/A

Number of Schemes: 21

GPA: 3.70

5-Premium Motorsports #15 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 10th

Number of Schemes: 17

GPA: 3.43

6-Richard Petty Motorsports #43 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 11th

Number of Schemes: 14

GPA: 3.41

7-Premium Motorsports #27 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 8

GPA: 3.39

8-Richard Childress Racing #8 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 25th of 26

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 3.34

9-Hendrick Motorsports #9 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 15th of 26

Number of Schemes:16

GPA:3.18

10-Hendrick Motorsports #88 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 17th of 26

Number of Schemes: 15

GPA: 3.18

11-StarCom Racing #00 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 23rd of 26

Number of Schemes: 31

GPA: 3.10

12-Chip Ganassi Racing #42 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 22nd of 26

Number of Schemes: 10

GPA: 3.10

13-Rick Ware Racing #53 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 7

GPA: 3.10

14-Richard Childress Racing #3 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 9th of 26

Number of Schemes: 18

GPA: 3.09

15-Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 3rd of 26

Number of Schemes: 4

GPA: 3.00

16-Chip Ganassi Racing #1 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 4th of 26

Number of Schemes: 9

GPA: 2.82

17-Rick Ware Racing #52 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 2nd of 26

Number of Schemes: 25

GPA: 2.75

18-Chip Ganassi Racing #40 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 3

GPA: 2.67

19-Rick Ware Racing #51 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: 9th of 26

Number of Schemes: 12

GPA: 2.59

20-Richard Childress Racing #31 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 16th of 26

Number of Schemes: 2

GPA: 2.50

21-JTG Daugherty Racing #37 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 11th of 26

Number of Schemes: 23

GPA: 2.46

22-Germain Racing #13 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 24th of 26

Number of Schemes: 6

GPA: 2.45

23-Rick Ware Racing #54 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Rank Last Year: N/A

Number of Schemes: 5

GPA: 2.50

24-Beard Motorsports #62 Chevy Camaro

Rank Last Year: 1st of 26

Number of Schemes: 2

GPA: 2.00

Next week, the Ford Leaderboard.

Throwback Thursday-1996 Rusty Wallace #22 Miller Ford F-150

1996 Rusty Wallace #22 Miller Ford F-150

Considered one of the greatest drivers never to win a Daytona 500, Arnold, Missouri’s Rusty Wallace has 55 wins in the Cup Series, and the 1989 Championship. He also raced in IROC, winning 4 races, and the 1991 IROC Championship. While he has many stars in many different series, he only has one start in the Truck Series, the 1996 DeVilbiss Superfinish 200 at Nazareth Speedway, driving the #22 Miller Beer F-150. The Miller Beer scheme was universal to all of Miller’s sponsored teams in 1996. Miller was moving away from Miller Genuine Draft, and by 1997 would switch to Miller Lite. It’s not a bad scheme, but the red and blue designs were never really explained, and are visually distracting. They take an A scheme down to a B+

The Final Paint Scheme Grades Of 2019-November 29, 2019

By David G. Firestone

Landon Cassill #00 International Marine Chevy Camaro-This is an ugly, over designed mess that doesn’t look good at all. This gets an F.

Daniel Hemric #8 myblu Chevy Camaro-I love the shade of blue, it works well with the black, and the car has a good design. This looks good, and earns an A.

Ryan Blaney #12 Menard’s/Richmond Ford Mustang-Same scheme as #21, same A grade.

Joe Nemechek #15 RoyalTeakCollection.com Chevy Camaro-It’s a smooth look, with a great color scheme, and that earns an A.

Kyle Busch #18 Skittles Toyota Camry-Same scheme as last year, same A grade.

Joey Logano #22 AAA Southern California Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same D grade.

Joey Logano #22 AAA Insurance Ford Mustang-Same scheme as last year, same D grade.

Reed Sorenson #27 Chevy Camaro-A smooth look, with a great color scheme will always earn an A.

Ross Chastain #27 Xchange of America Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as #15, same A grade.

Corey LaJoie #32 CorvetteParts.net/Skooza.com Ford Mustang-I like the flamingo motif here. It’s bold and unique. I also like the overall design. This gets an A.

Chris Buescher #37 Honey Nut Cheerios Chevy Camaro-Love the color scheme, hate the design scheme. Red and yellow is a great color scheme, but this is an ugly, over designed mess. I’ll give this a C.

Chris Buescher #37 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevy Camaro-You can’t go wrong with black with flames. This is a great look, and it earns an A.

Chris Buescher #37 Clorox Chevy Camaro-This is a bold look, it has a great color scheme, and it isn’t over designed. I give this an A.

David Ragan #38 Thank You David Ford Mustang-I miss the old Front Row template. This is why I miss it. The color scheme is great, and the car looks great, so this gets an A.

Daniel Suarez #41 Coca Cola Ford Mustang-Coca Cola has a great shade of red.  The car isn’t over designed, and it looks great.  A

Kyle Larson #42 Clover Chevy Camaro-The red numbers don’t look good, and clash with the color scheme. They take an A scheme down to a B.

Bayley Currey #52 Mtel-One Ford Mustang-The orange doesn’t really add or subtract from the scheme, so I’ll give this a B.

Josh Bilicki #53 Token 4 Token Chevy Camaro-I like this scheme. I like the brick motif, and the color works well for it. I give this an A.

Garrett Smithley #54 AQRE.app Ford Mustang-Same scheme as #51, same A grade.

Timmy Hill #66 GENEREX Generator Toyota Camry-It is a tad over designed, but it isn’t horrible. The color scheme works well, and the car looks good. I’ll give it a B-

Reed Sorenson #77 Rousseau Chevy Camaro-I like the look. The red looks good, as do the white and blue. The car isn’t over designed, and I’ll give this an A.

Garrett Smithley #77 Chevy Camaro-I like this look, and the color scheme works, so this gets an A.

Alex Bowman #88 Axalta Chevy Camaro-Same scheme as last year, same F grade.

Matt DiBenedetto #95 Procore Safety Qualified Toyota Camry–Camo does NOT work on race cars! Add in the fact that this scheme is pointlessly over designed, and you have an F scheme.

Ladies and Gentlemen…THE 2019 PAINT SCHEMIES!

By David G. Firestone

Well, it’s that time again! We have the annual Paint Schemie Awards for the 2019 season. As per the usual, every year, I pick the best and worst paint schemes and award them the Paint Schemie. 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 Zoe, who replaced the late 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:

Landon Cassill #00 International Marine Chevy Camaro

Kurt Busch #1 Advent Health Chevy Camaro

Chase Elliott #9 Mountain Dewnited States Chevy Camaro

Ryan Blaney #12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry

Corey LaJoie #32 Adirondack Tree Surgeons Ford Mustang

David Ragan #38 Exploria Resorts Ford Mustang

Joey Gase #66 Fan Memories at Richmond Raceway Toyota Camry

Matt DiBenedetto #95 Procore Safety Qualified Toyota Camry

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for Worst Regular Season Single Paint Scheme goes to:

Kyle Busch #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry

The next Paint Schemie Award is for Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes. This category is a little different, as the Schemie will go to the best and worst throwback. For this category, all exhibition race and throwback paint schemes qualify automatically.

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Millennial Ford Mustang

Kyle Larson #42 Advent Health Chevy Camaro

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for Worst Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes goes to…

Kyle Larson #42 Advent Health Chevy Camaro

The next award of 2019 is the Paint Schemie for Worst Paint Scheme Set of 2019. This is based on the total GPA of the individual grades for paint schemes. The nominees are:

Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Toyota Camry

Germain Racing #13 Chevy Camaro

Roush-Fenway Racing #17 Ford Mustang

Joe Gibbs Racing #19 Toyota Camry

Team Penske #22 Ford Mustang

Rick Ware Racing #54 Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang

Beard Motorsports #62 Chevy Camaro

Leavine Family Racing #95 Toyota Camry

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for for Worst Paint Scheme Set goes to…

Roush-Fenway Racing #17 Ford Mustang

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.

The nominees for the 2019 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme are:

Kurt Busch #1 Monster Energy Chevy Camaro

Brad Keselowski #2 Miller Lite Ford Mustang

Austin Dillon #3 Chevy Accessories Chevy Camaro

Kevin Harvick #4 Busch Ford Mustang

Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry

Martin Truex Jr. #19 Auto Owner’s Insurance 500th Start Toyota Camry

Erik Jones #20 Craftsman Toyota Camry

Paul Menard #21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang

William Byron #24 Hertz Chevy Camaro

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Regular Season Single Paint Scheme goes to…

William Byron #24 Hertz Chevy Camaro

The next category is Paint Schemie Award is for Best Exhibition or Throwback Paint Schemes, and it should come as no surprise that the competition was strong this year.

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for Best Exhibition or Throwback Paint Scheme goes to…

Austin Dillon #3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevy Camaro

The final award of 2018 is the Paint Schemie for Best Paint Scheme Set of 2019. Like the Worst Set, this is based on the total GPA of the individual grades for paint schemes. The nominees are:

Team Penske #2 Ford Mustang

Team Penske #12 Ford Mustang

Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford Mustang

Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevy Camaro

JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Chevy Camaro

Motorsport Business Management #66 Toyota Camry

Tommy Baldwin Racing #71 Chevy Camaro

XCI Racing #81 Toyota Camry

Gaunt Brothers Racing #96 Toyota Camry

The 2019 Paint Schemie Award for for Best Paint Scheme Set goes to…

JTG Daugherty Racing #47 Chevy Camaro

That’s it for the Schemies, next week, the Paint Scheme Leaderboard begins with Chevy!

Throwback Thursday-1996 Bill Sedgwick #17 Craftsman Chevrolet C1500

1996 Bill Sedgewick #17 Craftsman Chevrolet C1500

Bill Sedgwick is a member of the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame from Acton, California. Sedgwick won two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Championships, one in 1991, and 1992. His transition to the Truck Series didn’t work out, failing to score a win. In 1996, he raced a full season for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, with 6 top 5’s and 13 top 10’s. He raced this Craftsman C-1500. This works much better than the Darrell Waltrip version. The black with orange is a great look. A