What Were The Best Paint Schemes From the 2025 NASCAR Season?
Paint schemes are an integral component in NASCAR. While they don't necessarily contribute to a driver or team from a horsepower standpoint, drivers have said that when they walk up to a paint scheme they love on the grid, and climb behind the wheel, it can help give them an extra mental boost to try to will that car to victory lane.
With an ever-changing sponsorship model lending itself to multiple primary sponsorship partners for just about every car in the NASCAR Cup Series, we are treated to more paint schemes than we can shake a stick at in the modern days of NASCAR.
We have digested every paint scheme, which went on track in NASCAR's premier series in 2025, and have ranked out our 10 favorites.
Honorable Mention
Cole Custer No. 41 Texas A&M University Ford Mustang
In the penultimate race of the season at Martinsville, Cole Custer sported the iconic maroon on his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang. The maroon base scheme equipped with a white stripe, which divided a gray lower portion of the car, was a truly special design.
However, with the impressive level of paint schemes on display in 2025, Custer's Texas A&M car didn't quite make the cut for the "best" list, but it certainly earned an honorable mention. Custer would finish 17th in the car at Martinsville.
Best Darlington Throwback Paint Scheme
Austin Cindric No. 2 "Dale Earnhardt 1980" Tribute
While most everyone spent their time and resources campaigning for Kyle Larson's throwback to Terry Labonte's 2003 "Tony the Tiger" car, and rightfully so, as it was awesome, the best overall throwback paint scheme, in my opinion, goes to Austin Cindric's tribute to Dale Earnhardt's 1980 championship-winning No. 2 car.
Between the classic Osterlund Racing number font and the yellow and blue colors, the No. 2 Team Penske team did an excellent job pulling off a near-perfect throwback paint scheme. And in the end, Cindric snagged a solid 11th-place run, which was ironically Earnhardt's career average finish through his 676-race NASCAR Cup Series career.
Top-10 Paint Schemes of 2025
10. John Hunter Nemechek No. 42 Hertz Toyota Camry XSE
One of the most underrated paint schemes of the season was John Hunter Nemechek's No. 42 Hertz Toyota. With the gold, and white color combination, the design flat-out works. And I feel its one of the cleanest schemes that were used during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
While Nemechek had an incredible season for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, where he collected two top-five finishes, and eight top-10s, his 21st-place finish in this paint scheme didn't measure as one of his best outings of the season. But nonetheless, it was a good looking race car.
9. Trackhouse Racing Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolets
In an interesting twist, the three full-time Trackhouse Racing drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series were all seen in their underwear at portions of the season as Ross Chastain, Shane van Gisbergen, and Daniel Suarez were all featured in their skivvies on the sides of their race cars in a sponsorship with Jockey's Infinite Cool Underwear.
It was a unique way of advertising Jockey's line of undergarments, and the scheme, which was featured on three cars in 2025, ranks ninth on our list.
Suarez's best finish with the scheme was a 14th-place result at Michigan International Speedway, which was the best result for the three drivers in their underwear cars. Chastain finished 19th at Richmond Raceway with the paint scheme, and Shane van Gisbergen, who captured five wins during his rookie season, finished 32nd with the paint scheme at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
8. Todd Gilliland No. 34 Grillo's Pickles "Flames" Ford Mustang
Grillo's Pickles has been a fan-favorite sponsorship partner in the NASCAR Cup Series over the last couple of seasons, and they brought a unique "flames" scheme in 2025. Todd Gilliland piloted the car in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and event where Gilliland would finish 26th.
Grillo's served as the sponsor for Gilliland in a total of six races in 2025, and it did so with a variety of paint schemes ranging from a green bumpy pickle look to the flames scheme at Darlington. They had a taste of just about everything this past season.
7. Riley Herbst No. 35 BeatBox Toyota Camry XSE
The majority of Riley Herbst's 2025 season was filled by the traditional flat-black Monster Energy paint scheme, which is cool, but that paint scheme won't be regarded high on many best-of paint scheme lists. However, a two-race commitment from BeatBox led to a very colorful and fun paint scheme for Herbst.
Incredibly, the driver took the paint scheme at Texas Motor Speedway and drove it to his best finish of what was a tough rookie season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Herbst finished 14th that day.
6. Denny Hamlin No. 11 King's Hawaiian Toyota Camry XSE
Between his former long-time sponsorship partnership with FedEx, and current deals with Yahoo! and ampm, Denny Hamlin is known for purple race cars. However, it was a bright orange King's Hawaiian paint scheme, which caught our eyes in 2025.
While it was a visually appealing car, it didn't amount to great luck for Hamlin, who had one of his greatest seasons in 2025. Hamlin, who won six races and came just three laps from winning his first career NASCAR Cup Series title, had two DNFs in his four races with King's Hawaiian adorning his race car, and only mustered a best finish of 25th, which he achieved in the Summer race at Daytona International Speedway.
5. Carson Hocevar No. 77 Modo Casino "America" Chevrolet
Carson Hocevar continues to zero in on his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory, and in 2025, he had a top-five paint scheme. Modo Casino, which had several different paint schemes on the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet throughout the campaign, brought a special red, white, and blue version of the car to the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in October.
The 'Merica look was fully pulled off with a bald eagle stretched out across the hood of the car. Instead of stars on the navy blue portions of the flag design were white and blue poker chips. Ultimately, the paint scheme didn't come with a top-finish, as Hocevar finished 31st, three laps down, at Martinsville. But it was a cool looking car.
4. Austin Dillon No. 3 Dow DayGlo Chevrolet
Speaking of cool-looking cars, not many had more wow factor than Austin Dillon's Dow "DayGlo" paint scheme, which he drove in the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. The black base paint scheme featured splatters of bright, bold dayglo colors throughout. And the car really popped.
Dillon, who captured a win at Richmond Raceway to secure a berth into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, finished 18th at Gateway with this scheme on his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
3. William Byron No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet
On the podium of best paint schemes in 2025 was a renewed take on Jeff Gordon's classic Axalta/DuPont flames paint scheme. William Byron piloted a similar paint scheme throughout the duration of the season, but in the Daytona 500, a race that Byron won for the second consecutive season, the car had a gradient design within the flames on the car.
While running ninth on the final lap, Byron was able to somehow steer clear of a last-lap melee, involving leader Denny Hamlin, Cole Custer, and others, to move into the lead and he'd take the race win in a race back to the finish line.
After the Daytona 500 win, the gradient design was ditched from the paint scheme, which makes the Daytona 500 car even more special. And honestly, the gradient within the flames helped elevate the Axalta car to the next level.
2. Chris Buescher No. 17 Kroger/Cinnamon Toast Crunch Ford
It was the obsession of social media for weeks. Chris Buescher's Kroger/Cinnamon Toast Crunch car made a lasting impact, and it even allowed Buescher to come out of his shell in social media videos, where he sported Cinnamon Toast Crunch gear, and sprinkled CTC cinnamon sugar dust.
The fun colors throughout the paint scheme, which are part of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch pallette, were utilized flawlessly, and having the cartoon Cinnamon Toast Crunch character with its tongue sticking out behind the rear wheels gave the car a fun 1990s-level racecar design feel.
Additionally, Buescher led 15 laps in the race and was among one of the best in the final Stage of the race before he settled for a ninth-place result.
.@RFKRacing controlled a large portion of the final Stage of tonight’s race. @Chris_Buescher says fresher tires caused him to get picked off of Keselowski a couple of times and once in dirty air, it was over. He finished 9th & had a blast w/ the Cinnamon Toast Crunch activation. pic.twitter.com/rN8rsazdzX
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) June 29, 2025
1. Justin Allgaier No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet
The top spot on this year's list goes to a driver and team that only competed in one NASCAR Cup Series event. But for Justin Allgaier, it was an important one, as it marked the first-ever Cup Series start for JR Motorsports, the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Allgaier faced stiff competition, but was able to transfer to the Daytona 500 starting lineup, and in the race, he played things smart, and was around for the chaotic finish, where he secured a ninth-place finish. It was a solid first run in the NASCAR Cup Series for JR Motorsports, and it came with a breathtaking paint scheme.
The Traveller Whiskey paint scheme ended up being the best-selling die-cast in 2025, according to Lionel NASCAR, and while it was obvious it would do well with the Earnhardt affiliation, a beautfiul paint scheme helped push the car to the top of the charts.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.
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