With the 2019 season of NASCAR quickly approaching, there have been quite a few new paint schemes revealed – some good and some really bad. Although there are a number of great designs we’ve seen before, I wanted to preview some of the best and worst new paint schemes for the 2019 season.
Best New Paint Schemes for 2019
Although Ford has now replaced the Focus with the Mustang – which looks so much cooler – the list of the best new paint schemes for 2019 was surprisingly dominated by the Chevy Camaro. My list of favorites also didn’t include a single Toyota, completely contradicting the results of the 2018 season.
Kurt Busch #1 Monster Energy paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
It’s honestly hard to put a finger on what makes this particular car look any cooler than Kurt Busch’s previous Monster Energy #41 car with Stewart-Haas Racing. Maybe it’s the black side skirt rather than the neon green or the removal of the bold Haas logo on the side. Maybe it’s as simple as just a flatter matte black. Whatever it is, Kurt Busch joining Chip Ganassi Racing is already seeing a great start.
Austin Dillon #3 Dow paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Richard Childress Racing
First of all, if you haven’t already become an Eric Estepp fan you need to immediately listen to the Chairgatin’ Podcast NASCAR Offseason episode because Eric is a NASCAR wiz. The reason I mentioned this was because Eric recently uploaded a new video, NASCAR 2019 Paint Schemes Reaction, on his YouTube show Out of the Groove. In this video, he perfectly expresses my feelings towards AD’s new paint scheme that I couldn’t have said better myself.
“I like this because it kind of feels like it’s being more personalized to Austin Dillon. Before, it looked like he was sort of driving a rip-off of Dale Earnhardt’s old car. Giving him the red number three and the more red accents on this thing, kind of makes it feel more Austin Dillon.”
Clint Bowyer #14 Rush Truck Centers paint scheme
- Make: Ford
- Model: Mustang
- Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
The Ford teams have officially moved to the Mustang from the Focus and boy do they look cooler. This addition to the list however was a tough one because Clint Bowyer’s 2019 Rush Truck Centers paint scheme looks nearly identical to his previous Rush scheme and this article is reserved for new designs. Nevertheless, Bowyer’s 2019 Rush scheme is in fact slightly different yet with the addition of the Mustang logo, looks exponentially cooler than before.
Bubba Wallace #43 Plan B Sales paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Richard Petty Motorsports
I previously ranked Matt DiBenedetto’s Plan B Sales paint scheme at number 4 on my list of the top 10 worst NASCAR paint schemes of 2018. I mocked the Plan B Sales marketing tactic of hoping to attract sexually active females at a NASCAR race with a pink car. Apparently Plan B is still confident in their NASCAR target audience but made one crucial change, the car actually look cool. This paint scheme was selected from a contest and designed by a fan. By maintaining the classic Richard Petty design and including multiple tons of blue and white on top of a black body, kudos to whoever made a Plan B car one of the coolest looking for 2019.
RCR 50th Anniversary paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Richard Childress Racing
With one of the first 2019 paint schemes to be revealed, RCR set the bar high for the new NASCAR season with one of the simplest yet best designs. Richard Childress is commemorating their 50th year in racing by running both of their full-time cup series cars in the same gold design and in classic RCR fashion – the paint scheme was modeled after Dale Earnhardt’s 1998 Winston All-Star car. By choosing to run their new full-time cup series driver Daniel Hemric in the 8 car rather than the 31 and giving Austin Dillon some spectacular designs, RCR is planning to have a big 2019 season.
Jimmie Johnson #48 Ally paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Hendrick Motorsports
This may be the most controversial new paint scheme. During Jimmie Johnson’s Make-A-Wish reveal live from Times Square on Good Morning America, race fans everywhere were immediately torn on JJ’s new look. After 15 years, 7 championships and 83 wins, Jimmie Johnson fans had a hard time swallowing the new Ally paint scheme pill. As someone looking at this car unbiasedly however, I honestly think the different shades of purple on top of the black car looks excellent and his traditional neon yellow numbers actually work well.
Chase Elliott #9 Hooters paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: Hendrick Motorsports
Chase Elliott had a huge 2018 season with not only his first cup-series career win but rather, three in the same year. I also ranked him at number 2 on my list of the top 10 best NASCAR paint schemes of 2018 with his spectacularly metallic Mountain Dew car. Although Hooters is not a new sponsor for Chase Elliott, his new paint scheme is as perfectly Chase Elliott as it can get – subtle yet cool. In fact, this 2019 Hooters paint scheme looks nearly identical to years past but the orange number 9 on the side rather than white looks perfect.
Worst New Paint Schemes for 2019
As always – with great NASCAR paint schemes, comes some terrible ones. Here is my list of the worst new paint schemes for 2019.
Ryan Newman #6 Oscar Mayer paint scheme
- Make: Ford
- Model: Mustang
- Team: Roush Fenway Racing
In all fairness, this is a much-improved Oscar Mayer design compared to Matt Kenseth’s car last year. In fact, this paint scheme is almost pretty cool. Unfortunately, using actual Oscar Mayer wieners as a pattern on a race car is just not cool, in my opinion. Tough luck for Ryan Newman right out of the gate as his first car with Roush Fenway. It was so close.
Kyle Busch #18 M&M’s Chocolate Bar paint scheme
- Make: Toyota
- Model: Camry
- Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
Kyle Busch is notorious for driving an array of M&M’s paint schemes that represents all the different types of candy options they offer. This M&M’s Chocolate Bar paint scheme however might be the worst yet. I understand brown is obviously an important color when advertising a chocolate bar but was maintaining the limitedly-visible yellow body necessary? Plenty of other Kyle Busch M&M’s designs used different base colors – maybe this paint scheme should have done the same.
Kevin Harvick #4 Hunt Brothers Pizza paint scheme
- Make: Ford
- Model: Mustang
- Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
Kevin Harvick has consistently had some of the coolest paint schemes in NASCAR – particularly with his Busch sponsor. Yet, his newest sponsor Hunt Brothers Pizza has put Harvick in one of the worst new NASCAR paint schemes I have seen. Given the current financial state of NASCAR, it’s great to see teams able to find new sponsors but this is just unfortunate to look at. In hindsight, I guess Stewart-Hass did the best they could with the Christmas-like Hunt Brothers Pizza color scheme.
Ryan Preece #47 Kroger paint scheme
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Camaro
- Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
Choosing a patriotic design is usually a pretty safe bet when it comes to a NASCAR paint scheme but somehow Kroger managed to mess that up. If the mismatch of red, white and blue wasn’t bad enough, they decided to include a random red bar across the hood. It’s not like the red bar makes the blue Kroger.com logo any more visible either – it just seems unnecessary and out of place. As I said in my prediction ranking of the best NASCAR teams for 2019, “hopefully Ryan Preece is a future star,” because in this car, he does not look the part.
