In most forms of motorsport, racing teams have one specific livery that instantly makes them recognisable. That one livery largely stays the same for the entire season. However, things are much different in NASCAR, where sponsors dictate how a livery will look on the car.

Recently, Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern explained the process of selecting a paint scheme for his team. In all honesty, it isn’t so easy to just select a color and a design and paint the car. First and foremost, there are regulations to conform to with regard to the paint scheme. From keeping in mind the number placement to sponsor logo placement and so much more, teams have to be very careful.

Additionally, teams must submit their final designs to NASCAR for approval. However, as Alpern said, that is just one part of the process. As it turns out, the first design is not always the final design, but it does happen from time to time. Once everything is given approval and gets NASCAR’s approval, only then will the livery make its debut on the race track.

Alpern said on Instagram, “How many revisions do paint schemes get? The easy answer is, it depends. Sometimes we design the car and send it to the sponsor and it goes back and forth. Sometimes they design it and send it to us and maybe we do different versions. It could range from one, sometimes its one and done, we might submit a paint scheme and it gets approved. I’ve seen it go back and forth over a dozen times. Sometimes it’s just small tweaks, but from start to finish it can range anywhere from one submission to over 12 to where you get to see it on the race track.”

In other words, the paint scheme either comes from the team itself or the sponsor. However, there is still an approval process before it is revealed to the world. As such, Joe Gibbs Racing and other NASCAR teams have to be very meticulous with regard to their paint scheme. Ahead of the 2025 season, NASCAR came out with a number of provisions for paint scheme regulations.

Firstly, teams have more space available to them to apply the livery. What’s actually interesting is that the window net could also be used, along with the rear face of the spoiler base. Finally, sections in front of and behind the forward wheel well can also be painted. The bigger problem, however, is managing sponsors on the paint scheme, something that became an issue during the Darlington Throwback weekend.

NASCAR teams have been reluctant to put on these paint schemes. As Denny Hamlin explained, “I hear both sides of the argument. It’s tough to keep the enthusiasm of it and I think it’s lost some enthusiasm. I hear the other arguments of it’s not about the paint schemes even though that’s typically what this was founded on was we’re gonna have a retro paint scheme. But again, the world has changed. We don’t have sponsors in our sport now that are on these cars for 20-some races.” 

Even NASCAR’s golden boy Chase Elliott said, “Not to be a downer — I joked about this years ago, but if we kept going down the road, we’re going to be throwing it back to me in 2018. At some point, I think we’ve got to chill on it a little bit. I think we’ve rode the horse to death, and we tend to do that a little bit too much.” 

What other rules should NASCAR follow regarding paint schemes?

The rule about the number being brought forward was actually introduced in 2022, when the Next Gen car made its Cup debut.  Back then, several NASCAR-affiliated sponsor logos were present, just before the front wheel. However, with the door numbers being moved forward, those logos are all gone. Additionally, the driver’s name on the front windshield moved to the right, mirroring the Xfinity cars. This was done to accommodate a cooling duct in the center of the car’s windshield. The measure came on the back of repeated heat complaints from drivers.

Interestingly, both the driver and passenger sides of the car must share the same color pattern. However, teams do have a bit more freedom to experiment with the front and rear ends. In a way, it made sense because it could flummox spotters, NASCAR officials, and other drivers. Though this rule about the same color patterns on either side of the car did not last long and it was soon shelved.

The point is, NASCAR is very strict about little details like this, and teams are also equally strict. Though, as the Joe Gibbs Racing president said, sometimes the first draft of a livery is the final one, and sometimes it goes through multiple hoops.