How Do You Feel About Offset Numbers on Race Cars?

for rally we have the number panel at the very front of the door in white on black, and then the number again on the rear side window in bright orange. I'm fine putting numbers wherever the series says to put them, or where ever they fit. I noticed in the original post the car had the numbers set farther back, but I can't say it struck me either good or bad. 

mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:

wait, NASCAR is relevant? 

As much as F1 these days.

I was going to ask why waste time typing on this subject, but then realized I just did. 

Cole Trickle.

I think it looks just spanky.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158589833804222&id=74504559221

I was just looking at the All-Star Race car Ganassi posted last night with the number moved back, and tried my hand at an alternate number placement (full transparency, my day job is running creative for a race team, but not a NASCAR team).

I think having something centered on the door is good for balance...just nudging the number back and putting a sponsor in there makes two things fight for the same area is awkward and unbalanced. I'm sure teams would like to have more freedom to put a big sponsor on the side of the car, and while I think car numbers are crucial for consistent driver branding, I'm not sure they need to be as big as they are currently on the doors.

I'd throw the number on the quarter panel behind the rear wheel and center the sponsor on the door. More balanced. Ganassi's scheme is on top, my quick-and-dirty late-night Photoshop is on the bottom.

With the variety of sponsor related paint schemes that most teams are running on each car these days it's really important that the number be large and visible so you can tell which car is which.  I agree that the number on the rear quarter panel looks better but I think it would be harder to pick out of a pack of cars on TV.

In reply to APEowner :

You know, I kinda like the numbers in the corner--assuming everyone else does it. 

drock25too said:

I had a friend do that . III = #3 Right? The announcer started calling it ,One Eleven.  Even with the bars on top and bottom.  

That way when the car is tumbling down the track, it continues to present the correct number; smart

I honestly don't care. As others have mentioned other circle track series (dirt and asphalt) have been doing it for as long as I can remember. I enjoy that NASCAR doesn't require numbers to be in a box with a specific font. I will say the Comic Sans that SCCA Speed GT series (and whatever it's transformed into today) used for years was not that flattering. 

I feel it's a decent marketing ploy by NASCAR to drum up the attention train that's been focused on them during the pandemic. 

I can only imagine the MS Teams meeting when someone said "Okay idea time: Let's move the numbers back and add underglow for the All Star race! Fans will love it or hate it" 

APEowner said:

With the variety of sponsor related paint schemes that most teams are running on each car these days it's really important that the number be large and visible so you can tell which car is which.  I agree that the number on the rear quarter panel looks better but I think it would be harder to pick out of a pack of cars on TV.

This is true.  Easily identifiable cars make it way easier for fans to get involved.  It's one of the problems with Indycar, I think.  When Hinch was driving the gold car, it was easy to find him.  I'm pretty lost these days, because I enjoy it, but as a more casual fan.

Nascar wise, I was cheering for Matt Debenedetto, which is fine, except I was cheering for the Menards yellow, which should be on Blaney's car, but Blaney was red and yellow, and I knew that Matt was 21, and Blaney 12, so I figured it out quickly...

It was easier to cheer for the black three, and hate the blue deuce.

I hate that numbers are considered afterthoughts in most racing. In NASCAR the numbers are pretty important these days as cars seem to have completely different colors and sponsors each week. Having the same font/size/location for the number goes a long way towards easily identifying each driver's car. So I dislike the numbers reduced in size and not in a prominent location.

Wally, this forum is probably the last one that I frequent that I would expect to see Glenn Sullivan race car pictures.

In reply to Claff :

Glenn is good people, he helped corrupt me into the person I am today. 

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

Glenn is a character, no doubt about that.

I chased Busch North as media from 1996 til 2009, including an eleven-year stretch where I attended every race. Drivers like Glenn made being at the track fun.

I worked for Glenn in 94&95.  That series was a ridiculous amount of fun, I'm still surprised I got out of without any arrests or STDs.