Daytona 500: The best and worst paint schemes for 2026

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off Sunday at the iconic Daytona International Speedway, where 41 drivers will raise the green flag in hopes of earning career wins.

While drivers like Kyle Larson and Joey Logano were easy to spot in their classic paint schemes, we made some changes to the paint schemes for the season opener – and not all of them worked out well.

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Here are the best and worst paint schemes for the 2026 Daytona 500.

Best Daytona 500 Paint Schemes:

Austin Dillon – #3 Bass Pro Shop/Winchester Chevrolet

We’ve been missing that splash of Intimidator Silver on the iconic No. 3 Chevy, which reminds us of the classic Dale Earnhardt “Silver Select” scheme with just the right amount of Bass Pro Orange added. Hit a home run for the No. 3 team.

Alex Bowman – #48 Ally Chevrolet

The Ally scheme on Bowman’s #48 is always solid, but the added teal here looks really sharp.

Connor Zilish – #88 Red Bull Chevrolet

This is Red Bull’s approach to racing and it always looks good by default. If Max Verstappen fans are curious about NASCAR, Connor Zilisch is an exciting young driver in 2026.

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Ross Chastain – #1 Busch Lightweight Chevrolet

It looks so clean and cold that it makes me want to go to the refrigerator.

Ryan Preece – #60 Ford Viva Towel

Perhaps a polarizing choice, but it gets bonus points for being bold and easy to spot on the track. Pay homage to Greg Biffle’s signature digital style and exude elegance.

Worst Daytona 500 paint scheme:

Tyler Reddick – #45 Chumba Casino Toyota

Very reminiscent of work I created on the Kid Pix classroom computer around 1996. To be fair, it’s hard to keep something consistent with a multi-color main logo.

Kyle Busch – #8 District Chevrolet

We’re advertising jalapeño lime nicotine pouches here, so naturally there’s a bunch of lime green and…fire. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if the can area on the right didn’t have a lime green wave coming out of it.

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Look at the back of this thing.

Michael McDowell – #71 Mordo Casino Chevrolet

I don’t mind the flag design here, they just missed out on the digital design. It’s a darker chrome that made it very difficult to read in the packaging during Thursday’s Duel game. It would be a disaster for the great American race if they just went with white numbers and maybe removed the offending pink and baby blue stars.

This article originally appeared in For the Victory: The Best and Worst Paint Schemes in the Daytona 500