Hendrick Motorsports unveils Justice League paint schemes that violate NASCAR rules
The Justice League movie paint schemes Hendrick Motorsports says Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne will drive Sunday at Texas are against NASCAR’s rules.
The team unveiled the paint schemes Tuesday and both cars have distinctly different sides. This is a problem within the framework of NASCAR’s rules. The sanctioning body explicitly prohibits cars that look different on each side.
Huh. Apparently @DaleJr's Texas car has two different sides on it. pic.twitter.com/49vSS7FVet
— Save A Click NASCAR (@RacingClickSave) October 31, 2017
Looks like Kasey's does too pic.twitter.com/OFVKR0SvIU
— Save A Click NASCAR (@RacingClickSave) October 31, 2017
Wherever you may need them, these heroes have you covered. #JusticeLeague paint schemes will hit the track this weekend @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/aVtbf2VmcK
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) October 31, 2017
Earnhardt Jr. posted a video to Twitter after the reveal and said he first saw the paint scheme on Friday. And yes, he wondered how it was going to be approved by NASCAR.
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) October 31, 2017
“I saw the car for the first time Friday and when I saw it I said ‘Hm, it has two different sides. I didn’t think that was allowed in NASCAR.’ So this is going to be fun to see how this plays out,” Junior said. “The race is Sunday.”
A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed the cars did not pass muster and said Hendrick would be revealing redesigned paint schemes. In 2014, a Terry Labonte tribute car was prevented from taking to the track at Talladega because it was yellow and red on one side and blue on the other.
From the Sporting News in 2014:
The rule is designed for safety reasons so drivers, spotters and NASCAR officials don’t get confused. Various sponsors, wanting to promote two different products on a race car, have been denied permission to split the car side-to-side. Front and back can be different colors but side-to-side is a no-no and must be the same color.
This spring, Joe Gibbs Racing teased Daniel Suarez’s Bristol car that looked like it was different colors on different sides.
When the car took to the track in August, it looked like this.
We’ll see what happens this weekend at Texas with the Hendrick cars. And we’re a bit baffled that a team as large as Hendrick Motorsports would make a blunder like this.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
