Ill go farther and close to the first post.

Not saying that a field of the same cars is 'bad', but it doesnt take much to make a car stand out. We do the wraps because it supports a local business down the road from our shop. And can make changes to colors to tie the whole car together. (We match the contigency logos to keep the car only a few colors) But at the same time, its not saying that a wrench cant hit the panels with some Krylon for some pop. Rattle can in the right places with good lines can make a car look awesome.

I believe a sharp car, can attract sponsors and fans alike. Lets fans know that the team is organized, takes pride in their work, and tries to unolad like they've got a clue. As a fan, a blank car tells me that 1: Either starting out, or 2: Doesnt really care to interact with the crowd, and ONLY chases the flags. Not saying this is true ALL the time, but thats the impression I would get from a hodgepodge car if it was my first time out.

Even if had two down tubes, Kent Christian's sticker mobile would be pretty easy to spot on the track. Growing up watching racing in California, the cars had bright paint jobs, graphics and everything was shiny. It was probably the influence of the hot rod culture out there.

Well guys..I helped a Champ car/Sprint car team here in Southern Illinois for many years...and our cars were always in fresh appearance...after a Champ car race...things got pretty sand blasted at Indy & DuQuion...we took "PRIDE" in making the car look good.....Have you people noticed the amount of Micro-Sprints in the MidWest...that are all different colors and really look nice on the track....these are mostly low budget racers and alt of tehm are using other than black & white main body colors, but putting small vinyl graphics on their cars to make them different.
Could be in the midget and sprints that we have a owner, crew, and a hired shoe for a car...and no one give a &@^@ what the cars looks like. Think alot could be gained by driver/car to race fan car appearance...just saying

Using the basic black or white is Ok but for the fan to know which driver is running where, it would be nice to have a different color design or number on the nose and tail and the right side panel. Also racers are like sheep, if a car with color starts winning, then everyone will follow thinking that is a 'speed secret' of some kind.

I agree that the look of many sprints and midgets these days is bland, and undifferentiating.

I try to bring a newbie to the races with me quite often, and without fail, whoever I may bring along, they say something about the Hoffman 69, and something to the effect of, "Ooh, I like that car. Who drives that one?".

(Think about that for a second....)

Is that not the culmination of pretty much everything that is b!tched about on here? We need asses in the seats people! And for the casual dirt-track fan, to get his ass into a seat, he needs to be excited... about something.

Let's face it- every race, in itself, is not going to be the "race of the year", and some might even be plain boring. If a fan happens to be unlucky enough to attend a show that ends up being "boring", should they ride home thinking about the "follow the leader" feature, or should they at least be thinking about how "cool" those cars were? Give the fan something to get excited about.

Finally, I'm thinking most of these car owners with the "blah"-looking cars are the same owners who's haulers are rolling down the highway before Joe Fan even gets out of his seat.

I'll say this, when I go and look at the view stats on my photo web site the cars that are the most colorful or nicely detailed get more views. I'm not try to tell guys how to spend their money, but I'm just passing along what stats I see.

It wasn't just the influence of the hot rod culture, it WAS the hot rod culture; at Ascot on a given Saturday you'd have sprinters painted by Dean Jeffries, Stan Betz, Molly, pinstriping by Von Dutch. Even without the multiple lacquer coats and the pearl it's not that hard to achieve a distinctive look (see avatar); Yellow gelcoat from TQ Fiberglass, a couple of cans of Rustoleum, some striping tape and a nice set of numbers. If you get too close you can see the ridges, but it gets noticed. I'm not fast (yet) but I'm gonna look good while I get this figured out...

Jim, I got to agree with you, I built my current car in 1998, used the tank off the one I built in 1996, painted the chassis with 6 cans of Rustoleum Sunrise Red, made all the panels out of yellow, prepainted aluminum, same with hood, added my own ARROW chassis decals, in red, and a few others from parts suppliers, and I think it still looks nice, even from 20 ft, it gets washed after every race, the yellow makes it last longer, and the nice thing about the prepainted aluminum is it's even, and its cheap, and it holds up well, and it is easy to spot on the track, I'd like to be able to do it over every couple of years, but it suits me like it is, the paint is easy to match, so I'll probably go thru another season with it, good Lord willing! By the way, hand painted numbers, and most of the lettering! Bob

We go back to "Basic Design Class 101". Form follows function. Keep it clean and functional. Put your money where it will best help the desired results.

We used to spend a lot of money on paint and graphics. Corvette Chrome Yellow was my favorite color with grabber blue accents color for frame and numbers. The cars were pretty but it gave the fellow racers a heads up on who was besides them. With some racers that is not a good idea.

Honest Dad himself

I'm thinking about having a design competition for our 13e sprint car. People can submit designs and our team will pick the one we like the best.

Winner gets to pay for it.