“Certainly Charting Into New Waters”: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Take On the Evolving Nature of NASCAR’s “Cluttered” Paint Schemes

NASCAR faces a strong need to bring in more revenue today than it ever did in the past. Displaying the names of sponsor brands on stock cars is a big route through which it brings the dollar in. However, an overdose of this approach to meet that need in recent times might be becoming too tiresome for the fandom.

A fan recently expressed his thoughts on X by posting images of excessive brand decals on the cars of Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland. They wrote, “Straight up NASCAR should not allow the team to do this like 100% at all this is so fucking ugly and dumb.” Documentarian Brock Beard reposted this opinion on his handle, along with an additional viewpoint.

He said he doesn’t understand why NASCAR is determined to make Cup Series cars appear more like Touring Cars in overseas markets and that the paint schemes are too cluttered. These words drew a response from the popular icon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. He stated, “We are certainly charting into new waters.”

His words do not indicate whether he supports the over-the-top branding. However, Gilliland, whose car was used as an example, took a big stride toward solving the fan’s issue. He wrote in a direct response, “Damn, you said my car is ugly.” The fan explained that he did not love the idea of brand logos on roofs, and the driver decided to make the problem disappear.

Todd Gilliland solves the issue that the fan had with his car

Gilliland drives the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. He secured four top 10s in 2024 and finished 22nd in the driver standings. The Ford logo on his car’s roof was the point of the discussion on X. Adhering to the fan’s desire, he made a few calls to corporate to have the logo scraped.

He then posted pictures of the car without the logo, much to the delight of the fans and others. He wrote, “Hey, I made a few important calls for you, your welcome.” He explained, “Also, it just so happened to change but the timing was great.” Regardless of what made it happen, the social media community was pleased with Gilliland.

The car is one of the prime real estate spaces for advertising in NASCAR. More branding equates to more money in the pocket of the team. A hazy answer awaits those who question how the promotion and its teams could make up for reducing the branding on cars.