10 Of The Best NASCAR Paint Schemes Of 2025

When it comes to pure, unbridled Americana, few institutions are more iconic than NASCAR. While some might be bored by the idea of going to a racing arena to watch a bunch of cars drive around in circles for hours on end, there's something magical about being there in person, sitting in the stands, feeling the stampede of racecars going so fast they make the seats rumble. Perhaps the aroma of burning Sunoco Green E15, the official fuel of NASCAR, serves as something of a secret ingredient to give the beer and hot dogs an extra kick.

In any case, this is not an article about the ins-and-outs of NASCAR, the stats of its drivers, or the history of its dozens of racetracks. This is an article about the pretty colors they use to decorate the cars, and the sponsors that pay for them. In order to stay in business, every NASCAR racer is sponsored by multiple corporate brands who pay to put their logos on various racecars. Some are gaudy and some are gorgeous. How do you differentiate between the two? That's where we come in. Here are our picks for 10 Of The Best NASCAR Paint Schemes Of 2025.

To date, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s biggest claim to fame is winning the 2023 Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious events in NASCAR's annual cycle and the opening race of the season. The Memphis-born driver entered his first NASCAR race back in 2009, and he's had his foot on the gas ever since. His career has seen some ups and downs; contrasting his 2023 victory, he fumbled the 2024 Daytona 500, ultimately placing 31st with a DNF, or "did not finish."

Stenhouse's 2025 racecar features a number of unique paintjobs from sponsors as varied as Betr and Real American Beer, but our favorite has to be America's other favorite drink, Sunny D. Older generations know the "not-quite-orange-juice" as Sunny Delight, a sweet treat with a nigh-radioactive bright orange coloring. This color is front and center on Stenhouse's car, with some blue highlights to mix things up. 

In 2011, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship, inheriting the victory from the previous year's champion, Brad Keselowski. Keselowski's been in the NASCAR game since 2004, and he inherited his need for speed from his father, the late Bob Keselowski (1951-2021), who was also a NASCAR driver. Brad's uncle and brothers are also professional racers, so it's safe to say that racing is in his blood.

Keselowski has a number of sponsors in 2025, including Oscar Meyer, the paint scheme for which features a tasty sandwich plastered on the vehicle's side. For our money, his greatest look has to come from Castrol, a British motor oil company. The car features some splashy gold-colored oil against a black background, which looks great, even if the overall design is a bit too busy with various decals and text. For example, the hood is emblazoned with the words, "Critical Areas of Performance & Protection," which barely registers in photographs and surely can't be read by fans in the stands. We'd prefer it to be left blank or with a repeat of the Castrol logo to keep things simple. Still, the splashy oil motif is so striking, it makes up the difference.

As with Brad Keselowski, racing is the family business for Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, former racer and owner of RCR (Richard Childress Racing). Dillon won Rookie of the Year for the 2008 NASCAR season, but the last couple of years have not been kind to the driver. He finished the 2024 season with a career low in points following a controversial Richmond win that saw his unsportsmanlike aggressive driving cause two drivers to spinout in the final lap.

The world always seems to be in the midst of one energy crisis or another, and NASCAR is often seen as the poster child for reckless energy usage with dozens of cars burning through thousands of gallons of gasoline over the course of a single race. Contrast that to Dillon driving a car sponsored by Get Bioethanol, which aims to spread awareness for plant-based alternatives to traditional fuel. Dillon's car is outfitted with a striking color scheme of black and seafoam green. Combined with a simple "droplet" logo on the hood. This paint scheme photographs spectacularly well, especially against the dark asphalt track.

In addition to his career as a NASCAR driver, Danny Hamlin hosts an auto racing podcast called "Actions Detrimental." He got into some hot water (and a $50,000 fine) when he admitted to intentionally wrecking Ross Chastain during a 2023 race on an episode of his show.

For a driver so closely associated with his role in a high-profile car crash, it's perhaps ironic that Hamlin's biggest 2025 sponsor is Progressive Insurance. Regardless of the optics of the situation, the optics of the car itself are quite gorgeous. Hamlin's No. 11 vehicle is adorned a solid coat of Progressive's signature light blue, with his vehicle number displayed in a bold white alongside the word "Progressive" on the vehicle's side. The front hood features a strikingly large letter "P", the root of which goes across the vehicle's right headlight and front grille. This gives the vehicle a roguish, asymmetrical look that looks downright intimidating when viewed through an opponent's rearview mirror.

One of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, Jimmie Johnson is an icon in the same league as legends like Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. He's won the NASCAR Championship Series seven times, most recently in 2016. The 2020 season marked his final year as a full-time racer, but he still drives part-time. Outside of racing, he runs the Jimmie Johnson Foundation, which raises money for The American Red Cross, education funding, and other important causes.

Johnson's car number, No. 84, is just as iconic as any sponsor, and the 2025 season sees his Toyota Camry sponsored by the online used car retailer, Carvana. The blue and white color scheme pops against the gray road, while the pinstriped pattern across the whole vehicle adds a sense of speed and texture to the car. Curiously, the livery was designed by, of all people, basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, with whom Johnson has had a longstanding friendship and playful rivalry. The whole design pattern is a call back to Shaq's jersey from his Orlando Magic days, complete with his classic "Dunkman" logo on the hood of the car. Shaq won the right to design Johnson's car after winning a surprisingly close free-throw competition.

One of the younger drivers on this list, Ty Gibbs is only 22 years old. To that end, he earned Rookie of the Year in his 2023 debut season, which indicates a bright future for the up-and-comer. Gibbs is the grandson of former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, also the owner of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs is sponsored by Monster Energy and boasts their iconic "M" logo on his No. 54 racecar. Whether on a can of soda or the hood of a racecar, that logo is one of the most instantly recognizable in modern history, and it looks absolutely gorgeous against the car's coat of black paint. The three lines are meant to look like the claws of a monster. When applied to the hood of a racing vehicle repping 670 horse power of raw, squealing energy careening off NASCAR tires, the quasi-subliminal message of that logo rings especially true: behind this design, there's a beast.

For the past few years, Chris Buescher has been part of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, or "RFK Racing," along with Brad Keselowski. Buescher made headlines at the 2024 Kansas AdventHealth 400, when he finished in second place to Kyle Larson. In a photo finish that was impossible to call with the naked eye, Buescher lost by .001 seconds, the closest finish in the history of NASCAR.

In the current 2025 season, Buescher carries several sponsors, including Old El Paso tacos, which  features a uniquely earthy color scheme compared to most NASCAR liveries. Nevertheless, we have to give the edge to Dasani water, with its aqua-inspired blue and white paint scheme. Just looking at the slick vehicle makes us thirsty for a bottle of water, which is likely exactly what the marketing and design team at Dasani had in mind when they came up with this particular livery. Is anyone else thirsty?

Hélio Castroneves made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in the current 2025 season, but the 49-year-old Brazil-born racer has been behind the wheel for decades, having his first major win at the 2001 Indy 500. He's competed in over 300 races as an IndyCar competitor, let alone the countless other times he's suited up in other organizations. He even won the fifth season of Dancing With The Stars. This year, Castroneves finished 39th at the Daytona 500 after getting trapped in a multi-vehicle collision through no fault of his own. Combined with the controversy surrounding his entry into the race, it was an unfortunate NASCAR debut for the star racer. 

Castroneves' NASCAR vehicle is sponsored by the popular fast food chain, Wendy's. The side of the vehicle is emblazoned with the tagline, "Fresh, Never Frozen," as well as a colossal burger, complete with cheese, crispy onions, and Wendy's signature square-shaped meat patty. Perhaps the appearance of a tasty burger is meant to distract drivers as they attempt to pass the car. Maybe they'll try to pass, but upon glimpsing the sight of a picturesque Wendy's burger, they'll become enamored at the sight of a "fresh, never frozen" meal. Actually, maybe that's what caused the crash that knocked him out of the Daytona 500 in the first place.

Outside of NASCAR, Josh Berry is the driver with the most wins in CARS Tour history. Between his slew of racing victories and his time as crew chief for his mentor, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Berry's proven that he knows racing from both inside and outside the car. He's only been racing with NASCAR for a few seasons, so despite his impressive past, the future looks bright for the experienced 34-year-old.

Berry boasts a number of paint schemes, but his Ford Motorcraft paint scheme is truly a thing of beauty. With its old-timey fonts, rustic yellow and green paint scheme, and even the retro font on his #21, Berry's car looks like a tribute to the origins of NASCAR, a distinctly American institution. It makes sense, then, that he's sponsored by Ford, a distinctly American company (in theory). One could argue that his car looks more like a billiards ball than a proper racing machine, but we'd counter by saying a billiards ball going 150 miles an hour coming out of a sharp turn looks pretty good in our eyes.

Shane Van Disbergen came swinging out of the gate, winning his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series debut at the Grant Park 200, becoming the first New Zealand-born racer to win in the NASCAR Cup series. He'd been racing around the world for years prior to joining NASCAR, but to fans who don't necessarily pay attention to the international world of auto racing, he might as well have been an overnight success.

Perhaps to offset his status as a non-American, Van Disbergen's No. 88 car is emblazoned with the American flag, courtesy of the sponsor, Jockey, the underwear brand. It almost seems like cheating to use American flag imagery on a NASCAR vehicle, but is there anything more crowd-pleasing than the iconography of America herself adorning the livery of a world-class racecar? If there is, we certainly can't think of it. NASCAR is pure Americana, so it's only natural for Old Glory to have a prominent role on the vehicle of a fan-favorite racer.