With the year coming to a close, it’s time to reflect on what went down in 2019.
But this isn’t some serious retrospective on the events witnessed in NASCAR over the last 12 months.
Nope, we’re going to talk about paint schemes.
That’s it.
Without further ado, here are 10 of the coolest paint schemes that graced the track this year.
Corey LaJoie’s No. 32 Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine Ford
For the second year in a row, Go Fas Racing and sponsor CorvetteParts.net expressed their inner child for the Martinsville Cup race ahead of Halloween.
Following their “Peanuts” car in 2018, LaJoie’s car was transformed into the Mystery Machine from the Scooby-Doo cartoons.
It definitely echoes the Cartoon Network cars that competed in the 1990s and we don’t have a problem with that.
Kurt Busch‘s No. 1 Star Nursery Chevrolet
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver didn’t wait until the Southern 500 to bring a throwback scheme to the track.
Busch had Star Nursery on his car for the spring race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A local Las Vegas sponsor, the company backed Busch when he won the 1999 Southwest Tour championship.
William Byron‘s No. 24 City Chevrolet … Chevrolet
Hendrick Motorsports dropped the hammer with Byron’s Southern 500 scheme, almost a direct copy of a car Cole Trickle drove in the movie Days of Thunder, which Hendrick Motorsports advised on the making of.
City Chevrolet is a real car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina, that Rick Hendrick owns.
Michael Annett‘s No. 1 Baby Ruth Chevrolet
JR Motorsports trotted out this tribute to Jeff Gordon’s 1992 Xfinity Series car at Darlington.
Having both the right number and the sponsor to complete the ensemble made it the MVP of the Xfinity Series’ portion of the throwback weekend.
Alex Bowman‘s No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet
The Hendrick Motorsports driver arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway with this scheme for the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Unlike the typical red, white and blue schemes for the Memorial Day race, Bowman’s had a more subtle approach and came away with a very slick look.
Bubba Wallace‘s No. 43 Air Force P-40 Warhawk Chevrolet
Richard Petty Motorsports unleashed this scheme at the Bristol night race.
A tribute to World War II fighter planes, we can imagine being startled by seeing this car approaching in the rear-view mirror.
Brad Keselowski‘s No. 2 Miller Lite Holiday Knitwear Ford
Sure, this paint scheme was raced in Arizona in the middle of November.
But we’re not going to fault the timing of this holiday-themed car.
While it would be easy call this an “ugly Christmas sweater” design, there’s nothing ugly about it.
Kevin Harvick‘s No. 4 Busch Beer Gen X Ford
The folks at Busch Beer proved it’s possible to have a sequel paint scheme … or would that be a prequel?
Harvick drove this Gen X-themed scheme at Pocono in July. Two months earlier, Harvick competed in the All-Star Race with a Millennial paint scheme.
Ben Rhodes‘ No. 99 Havoline Ford
Rhodes and ThorSport Racing provided a blast from the past with this sponsor and scheme in the Truck Series.
Havoline made its return as a NASCAR sponsor for the first time since 2008. It was on Rhodes truck for eight races.
Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Harvick Beer Ford
Using the excuse that it was tired of giving free promotion to Kyle and Kurt Busch, Busch Beer turned the No. 4 car into the “Harvick Beer” car for the playoff race at Dover International Speedway.
For anyone who has played a NASCAR video game or collected diecasts, it’s a reminder of the kid friendly cars that replaced beer names with the names of the driver.
What was your favorite paint scheme this season? Let us know in the comments.
