Top 10 NASCAR paint schemes you (may have) forgot about

July 29, 2019

By: Brian Cotnoir

All right, I’ve talked about the Best, the Most Iconic, and the Ugliest Paint Schemes in NASCAR History and now I want to talk to you about some paint schemes you may have forgot about. Maybe it was a paint scheme that was on a car that only ran a limited schedule or was a one-race only paint scheme, or for whatever reason, they just weren’t featured a lot. Well hopefully, I’m able to capture some of those sweet Nostalgic Feels. One more thing, I only selected paint schemes that were run across NASCAR’s Top 3 Series, so if one ran in ARCA or the Goody’s Dash, or another lower-tier series, don’t expect to see it on this list.

10.) Loy Allen Jr., Hooters Car

Loy Allen Jr. was the first driver to run a Cup Series Car with sponsorship from Hooters since the death of driver Alan Kulwicki. He was sponsored by Hooters Restaurant in his ARCA career where he had one win and seven-top-5’s running a limited schedule. Hooters sponsored him as he made his Cup Series debut in 1994, where he became the first Rookie to sit on the Pole for the Daytona 500. Allen did not have much success in the Cup Series and never ran a Full Season. Although, other drivers like Rick Mast, Brett Bodine, Greg Biffle, and now Chase Elliott have all raced with Hooters sponsorship as well, I think Loy Allen’s did it the best since Alan Kulwicki raced with it.

9.) Jack Sprague, Quaker State Truck

Jack Sprague won the first of his three truck series championships for Rick Hendrick driving a mostly green and white truck sponsored by Quaker State. It was a simple paint scheme, but iconic.

8.) Joe Nemechek, BellSouth

Front Row Joe Nemecheck drove this Bellsouth sponsored car on his Iconic #87 car in the NASCAR Busch Series. He also ran the same paint scheme on his Cup Series car when he won his first NASCAR Cup Series Race at New Hampshire International Speedway in 1999. Kenny Irwin Jr. would later run a similar paint scheme the next year before his tragic death, but to me, it wasn’t as good as the one Joe Nemechek ran.

7.) Stacy Compton, R.C. Cola Truck

Stacy Compton won his only two truck series races in 1998 driving the #86 truck sponsored by R.C. Cola. To this day, I’ve never actually drank an R.C. cola, but I sure remember watching Stacy Compton drive this truck around in the early years of the NASCAR Truck Series.

6.) Juan Pablo Montoya, Penske Truck Rental, 2014

Racing legend, Juan Pablo Montoya ran this paint scheme in his final NASCAR Cup Series race—to date—at the 2014 Brickyard 400, where he finished a dismal 23^rd by races end. Penske had run an identical paint scheme part-time in the Xfinity series, but I still think it looked better on this car

5.) Chad Little, Coors

For the most part, the Coors Brewing Company has had some pretty iconic paint schemes from Bill Elliott’s Red Coors car to Sterling Marlin’s “Silver Bullet” and even Kyle Petty’s Pink, Blue, and Silver Coors Light Car. I had never seen this car until just recently, but Chad Little ran this paint scheme for a handful of races in the late 1980’s. It’s simple, but I think it’s cool.

4.) Joe Nemechek, Oakwood Homes

Front Row Joe makes another appearance on this list. This time it’s his Oakwood Homes car from when he drove for Andy Petree Racing. Nemecheck would win his second career race driving this car.

3.) Bobby Hillin Jr., Snickers

My dad had a poster of this car hanging in the trailer of our old Quarter Midget Trailer when I was a kid, but I never actually got to see it race. This car was driven by Bobby Hillin Jr for the Stavola Brothers Racing.

2.) Mike Skinner, Glidden Paints

I only came across this paint scheme while researching this article, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of or seen this one before. Mike Skinner piloted this colorful car in the Cup Series for a handful of races in the early 90’s, and never broke the Top 20. That’s probably why it’s not well known, but it should be. I mean look at that combination of colors, and this car ran a full two seasons before Jeff Gordon ran his iconic Rainbow Warrior scheme for Dupont.

1.) Todd Bodine and Darrell Waltrip, Tabasco Cars

It pains me that this is one of the last rides Darrell Waltrip had in the Cup Series. The cars ran like absolute garbage. The team failed to qualify for lots of races and the constant driver changes led to constant disputes between team owner Tim Beverly and the teams main sponsor Tabasco Hot Sauce. While the car and team were just awful, I know a lot of NASCAR fans who have a Todd Bodine poster and diecasts of these cars (including me, I had all three!)