For years one of the reasons given that sponsors lean towards NASCAR instead of Indy cars is the lack of places for sponsors.

In recent years it has almost felt like teams were willing to just smack a name on the side of a car and call it good while NASCAR entials some interesting paint jobs increasing merchidise sales and sponsor awareness.

One of the recent Indy Cars that I thought did a good job bridging the gap was the tabasco sponsored car that Jeff Ward drove in the late 90's

Yesterday, Marco and Townsand Bell both practiced in beautiful cars that drew your eye them and the sponsors.........

http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=11222 Marco's Car
http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=11223 Bell's Car


Which recent Indy Cars have been your favorite from a cosmetic point of view?

You are correct....I always thought the Team Players of Greg Moore; Paul Tracy, Carpantier were really cool.....TV didnt do those cars justice....they looked awesome up close...

I'm just glad to see some new sponsorships involved with the series!

I noticed that the Penske cars are now carrying Jim Beam logos on their nosewings. That might be a case of the rich getting richer, but the more companies get involved, the better!

Getting back to the original question, I've always thought Danica's car was sharp. I really like black race cars. Also, Michael's Indy 500 car from last year was cool looking as well.

It must be a nightmare for graphics guys trying to come up with cool schemes for Indy cars. There's such a small footprint to use and still make logos recognizable. That's what makes cars like Penske's so cool, because you know that it's a Marlboro car just by the color. I don't know if it was last year, but there had been a yellow car running that I would've swore had Pennzoil on it. After checking it out, it was just a yellow car! Makes me think Pennzoil is still getting their money's worth!

A buddy of mine works for a graphics company, and there's an NHRA Funny Car that they have to do a new wrap every week. The team wasn't able to land a primary sponsor for 2008, so they got a different one for each separate race. Can you imagine if they had to still actually paint them every week instead of the wraps!

Penske cars not have marboro on them do to the tabacco settlement.The did studies without the logo and no one noticed it.

I think that's a pretty strong statement to how "branding" works in marketing. An image is more powerful than an individual word or number. I think it backs up the original poster's thoughts.

I think it would help to have the numbers painted in large numerals on the tail tanks:confused:........after they add the tail tanks back:applaud:.......after they put the motors up front again.:Steer