Back to movie cars!
The new millennium’s first decade was crammed full of movie paint schemes in NASCAR.
By my count, there were 90 total schemes across the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Truck series, with 59 total movies represented and 47 different drivers piloting at least one promotional livery.
However, 2009 marks the beginning of a turning point in the trend: only three movies showed up on NASCAR schemes throughout the year, the fewest since 2002. Part of this change can probably be chalked up to the NASCAR bubble (and the economy) bursting and 2010 is a continuation of that.
To be fair, I can’t say I would’ve expected Inglourious Basterds to be on a car. Same with (500) Days of Summer, Fantastic Mr. Fox (any Wes Anderson product, really) or Zombieland — though I love all those movies to death. But I feel like there was some potential with stuff like Avatar or Watchmen.
All that said, this is a timely article, considering the news that came via Jeff Gordon (who has a scheme later on in this article) a few weeks back.
This is relevant because 2009 began at Daytona International Speedway with Tom Cruise and Rick Hendrick driving Chevrolets — a 1990 Lumina and 2009 Impala SS — mocked up to resemble Cole Trickle’s No. 46 City car in Days of Thunder. Cruise showed up at Richmond Raceway and Sonoma Raceway that year, as well.
It took almost three more months for the first actual movie cars to hit the track, though.
Star Trek
Back when Richmond had Friday-Saturday Xfinity-Cup weekends, with both races at night, Justin Allgaier rolled out in a space-themed Star Trek scheme.
Then, in his rookie season for Team Penske, Allgaier started 39th and finished exactly one spot better. Certainly not how we’re used to him running now.
Less than 24 hours later, David Stremme hit the track in a Cup car for Penske bearing the same livery. He started 11th, but finished 38th, and also ran the car the following week at Darlington Raceway.
I’d argue this is one of the more underrated movie cars: largely forgotten about due to Allgaier’s forgettable performance and Stremme generally being under the radar, but it’s a very well-executed scheme.
I give Stremme’s version the slight edge; it looks better on Allgaier’s car, but the red outline of the numbers (due to the Verizon sponsorship) clashes with the scheme more than Stremme’s uniformly blue accents. The blue-rimmed wheels on both cars carry a ton of weight, too.
Juan Pablo Montoya‘s Axe Apollo car in 2013 was reminiscent of this one. Love how they worked in the eclipse-esque design behind the number, the Trek insignia and the USS Enterprise on the sides.
Up
Taking the track with Stremme’s Star Trek car at Darlington in the spring of 2009 was another movie car: Carl Edwards‘ scheme promoting the Pixar film Up.
Edwards started ninth, but finished 32nd.
This one is also largely forgotten about, but it’s a fun, colorful scheme in a time that felt like it needed a pop of color in the field, in terms of paint jobs. Certainly eye-catching, if nothing else.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Grossing over $86 million at the box office, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was Michael Bay’s follow-up to his 2007 blockbuster hit and proved to be the fourth-highest intake of the 2009 box office.
Kyle Busch ran an M&Ms-themed Transformers car at Sonoma, dialing up a second-place qualifying effort but falling to 22nd at the checkered. I do like how the Toyota grille design fits with the Optimus Prime helmet graphic on the hood.
Eventually, I’ll do a “which actors were in movies that were featured on paint schemes the most” list. This is one of the most random ones: Isabel Lucas was in both Revenge of the Fallen (as the bombshell college student Shia’s character falls for, who eventually turns into a robot, because, sure, why not?) and Immortals, which will show up an article or two from now.
Later in the year, when the movie came out on home media (including as a then-newfangled Blu-Ray), two more schemes ran at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s fall race.
Weirdly, there were more cars for the blockbuster’s home release than the theatrical run. Seems counterintuitive.
Gordon’s Decepticon-themed machine was somewhat eye-catching, but Ryan Newman’s flamed livery was the standout.
Gordon finished fourth, while Newman came home 11th.
The 2000s comprise a whopping 57% of the movie schemes run in NASCAR history. We’re going to see a significant fall-off in the years coming, but that’ll allow me to have to cram less into each article and spend a little more time on them.
However, our first movie scheme of 2025 just dropped, as Tyler Reddick piloted an Upper Deck / Superman-themed car at Atlanta a few weeks back. Yes, I did buy the e-Pack (but will get a physical trading card when it releases), and no, for all the Twitter commenters, they did not “butcher” the Superman logo.
That is literally the logo of — and in — the new movie.
Excited to see it and glad we got at least one movie scheme in 2025.
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.