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Olympic cars highlight latest wave of paint schemes

By Van Cox, NASCAR.COM
August 20, 2004
04:22 PM EDT (20:22 GMT)

The guys who paint the cars that compete in NASCAR's top three touring series have been working faster than Earl Scheib on steroids this season.

SUPERSTORE
•  Special Paint Schemes

Of course, special paint schemes drive the die-cast market, and even the drivers themselves are suitably impressed with how the concept has evolved over the past decade.

"I think it's awesome," said Jeff Green, driver of Petty Enterprises flagship No. 43 Dodge. "The '43' is on the side of the car year-round, but we have different brands that we carry for General Mills -- PopSecret, Berry Burst, things like that to promote their products. Cheerios is not the only product that General Mills makes. To promote that for our sponsor is the best of both worlds.

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"The fans get to see the different brands out there under the General Mills name. We're getting the best of both worlds advertising it, too. As die-cast have come along, they've gotten very nice and they're so realistic it's unreal. And to put it all together with different die-casts for the special paint schemes is just another way for fans to be connected and to support the sponsor."

A pair of die-casts celebrating the 2004 U.S. Olympics program headline the most recent replications derived from special paint scheme promotions.

Former NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champions Tony Stewart and Terry Labonte are the featured drivers. Labonte ran his special paint job at Pocono three weeks ago; Stewart's Olympic car hits the track this weekend at Michigan.

Team Caliber has replicated Labonte's No. 5, while Action Performance has reproduced the No. 20 Stewart will pilot. Both are now on sale at the NASCAR.com SuperStore.

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Those are just a couple of the new offerings. Here is a brief rundown of a few more. Many -- if not most -- are, or will be, available at the NASCAR.com SuperStore.

Action Perfermance

(Note: Retail versions of many Action cars are marketed under the company's Winner's Circle brand.)

  • No. 5 Kyle Busch Lowe's/SpongeBob SquarePants NBS Chevrolet Monte Carlo (Busch will run this paint job promoting the new SpongeBob movie in the 10/15 Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway

  • No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser/Dave Matthews Band Chevrolet Monte Carlo (Junior will race this car at California on 9/5 as a warm-up to the following week's Chevy Rock 'n' Roll 400 at Richmond.)

  • No. 8 Martin Truex Jr. Wrangler Chevrolet Monte Carlo NBS (Wrangler colors were raced at Pike Peak in July and will be back for the November event in Darlington.)

  • No. 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot 25th Anniversary Chevrolet Monte Carlo (This predominantly silver car raced at Indy on 8/8.)

  • No. 38 Elliott Sadler M&Ms Halloween Ford Taurus (This paint scheme will haunt Atlanta on 10/31.)

  • No. 40 Sterling Marlin Coors Light Aspen Edge Dodge Intrepid (This car ran at Pocono on 8/1 to promote Coors' new low carb beer.)

  • No. 41 Casey Mears Target/SpongeBob SquarePants Dodge Intrepid (Will race at Charlotte on 10/16.)

  • No. 47 Tony Stewart Axciom Celebrity All-Star Sara Evans Chevrolet Silverado (Tony goes trucking at Richmond on 9/9.)

  • No. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's/SpongeBob SquarePants Chevrolet Monte Carlo (Johnson makes a rare return to the Busch Series to race as a teammate to Kyle Busch at Charlotte in October.)

  • No. 66 Rusty Wallace Duraflame Dodge Intrepid NBS (Rusty will drive a 'reverse' Duraflame paint scheme on the No. 66 at Michigan and Phoenix.)

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  • No. 92 Kevin Harvick GM Goodwrench Chevy Silverado NCTS (Harvick in a truck at Bristol in August. Look out!)

    • Team Caliber

    (Note: Retail versions of many Team Caliber replicas are produced by TC's marketing partner, Mattel Hot Wheels.)

  • No. 5 Terry Labonte Cheez-It/Spiderman Chevrolet Monte Carlo (This car was raced at Daytona on 7/3.)

  • No. 12 Ryan Newman Mobil One Speedpass Dodge Intrepid (Mobil One assumes primary sponsorship for six events this year.)

  • No. 16 Greg Biffle National Guard Ford Taurus Camouflaged (Biffle will run a camo paint scheme at California on 9/5.)

  • No. 17 Matt Kenseth Smirnoff Ice Ford Taurus (The popular predominantly black color scheme is being reprised for six races in 2004.)

  • No. 43 Jeff Green Pop Secret Dodge Intrepid (The "43" car will run a flamed-out paint scheme with bursting pieces of popcorn in the Pop Secret 500 at California on 9/5.)

  • No. 45 Kyle Petty Brawny Dodge Intrepid (The Brawny brand will assume primary position on the "45" in select races.)

    • Racing Champions

  • No. 22 Scott Wimmer Caterpillar Rental Dodge Intrepid (Wimmer piloted this car at the Brickyard.)

  • No. 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 20th Anniversary Chevrolet Monte Carlo

    • Stay tuned to continuing updates on special paint schemes, including spotlights and features stories on some of the more high profile promotions like Kasey Kahne's newest program and a trip to the Emerald City.

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