Today I wanted to start a column that will take a look back at the racing action from the previous weekend and discuss the fortunes of the various drivers who were running the race in special paint schemes. Richmond is always a place that has the teams showcase their new colors, and Saturday's race was no exception.
Kyle Busch brought his special Combos paint scheme home with the win, capping a weekend of track domination for Busch. The Combo's brand certainly got some major television exposure with Kyle's first place finish. The Combos car spent much of the evening up front, providing it with great on-screen time. The Combos logo was clear and easy to read on the hood and rear quarterpanels. The diamond plate pattern on the car was a good idea, and looked great up close, but from afar it created a strange pattern on the orange background.
Mark Martin was able to overcome some on track excitement to bring the Cheez-it car home in the fifth spot. Mark showed his trademark smooth driving style and his calm under pressure all night long. After being involved in a spin, some drivers may not have been able to gather themselves up the way Mark did on Saturday. Despite his troubles during the race, Mark drove the #5 car to an impressive fifth place finish.
There were a few other special paint schemes that had a good night at Richmond on Saturday. The #31 of Jeff Burton, sporting a Prilosec OTC paint scheme, finished the night in the third position.The lightning based paint scheme looked a bit busy on the #31, but provided Prilosec with some great on-screen exposure all night long. Marcos Ambrose, driving the Bush's Baked Beans special paint scheme, was able to bring his Toyota home in 11th spot.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was driving a special "Drive the Guard" paint scheme on Saturday but spent much of the evening not being able to "Drive the Car". Dale Jr. struggled all night long and only managed a 27th place finish, the first car one lap down.
David Ragan looked great under the Richmond lights in his silver based UPS Freight paint scheme, but was only able to manage a 23rd place finish.
David Stremme was commanding the USS Enterprise in his special #12 Star Trek paint scheme on Saturday night. The race for Stremme and the Star Trek car looked much like the action-packed trailers for the upcoming movie, lots of action and excitement. Stremme had more than his fair share of on-track battles on Saturday night.
The #41 of Jeremy Mayfield featured new sponsor SmallSponsor.com. The car only managed to finish in the 35th position on Saturday night, but got some good TV time for the new sponsor. The sponsor logos were easy to read and provided them with some solid exposure. It will be interesting to see how this Small Sponsor idea progresses over time.
As usual, Richmond provided fans with a great racing weekend, and gave us the opportunity to see many special paint schemes under the Virginia lights. This race has a long history of exciting racing and for showcasing some of NASCAR's best special paint schemes each year.
Comments