#0 Reddit Car

I made a car for the guys over at the /r/NASCAR sub-community at Reddit.com, using the site's mascot.

2004 Ford Taurus Stock Car

Modern NASCAR vehicles have very little in common with their "stock" counterparts. Still, I decided to try to replicate a real life car in NASCAR The Game 2011. So, I looked out my window, saw my own 2004 Ford Taurus, and decided to do what I could.

Here it is out on the track. This is actually a pretty good illustration of the way the game darkens colors from how they are in the paint shop, compared to out on the track.

Brad Keselowski was not a fan, apparently.

#50 Bill Elliott Walmart Chevy

For the 2012 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Bill Elliott drove a car for Turner Motorsports celebrating the 50th anniversary of Wal-Mart stoes. The paint scheme was a bit silly, so I made a more "normal" looking version of it to race with online.

 

And just to be silly, here's the car watching itself on the big screen at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

#43 STP Pontiac - Richard Petty/John Andretti

 After making a joke car, I set about making a legit STP 43. I started with the basics:

 

There have been many variations of the iconic 43 over the years. Rather than create one of them, I decided to go for my own spin on it, partly inspired by the old 70s versions with the orange sides, and the ones John Andretti used to run.

With the paint scheme set, I decided to keep along the lines of John Andretti's car and resurrect the old STP Pontiac Grand Prix for NTG2011.

#6 Mark Martin Valvoline Ford

Here's a classic one for ya: Mark Martin's old Valvoline Ford Thunderbird.

The key to getting the 6 on the car to look right is to take a lower case "g" and flip it upside down.

#10 Purolator Derrike Cope car - "Percolator" parody

Since I can't resist the urge to turn a replica into a joke, here's Derrike Cope's #10, modified somewhat from the car he drove to victory in the 1990 Daytona 500.

#84 Nissan IMSA NASCAR

I did the Honda Prototype earlier, so I decided to do one for another possible future manufacturer that has been rumored to express interest in competing in NASCAR: Nissan.

When I think of Nissan and motorsports, only one paint scheme comes to mind: The old IMSA GTP Turbos they used to run in the late 80s and early 90s. So here it is in NTG 2011:

I went with the alternate 84 number that the secondary car usually got just because of the strong association with the 83 and the Red Bull Brian Vickers ride. (Nobody remembers the 84 Redbull.)

Google Car

For an April Fools joke, Google "unveiled" its automated driverless NASCAR vehicle. I decided to pay tribute by replicating it for the game:

The 10^100 number is a play on the number known as a Googol, for which the company is named. I couldn't get the fonts right without substantial tinkering, so I consider this car incomplete. I hope the new game will have more options in that regard.

#42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevy - 2012 Daytona 500 Jet Dryer Edition

As we all know, Juan Pablo Montoya's car lost control under caution during the 2012 Daytona 500 and careened into a jet dryer that was cleaning the track. I decided to make a tribute car to that event.

#15 Motorcraft Ford Thunderbird

Here's a version of the #15 Motorcraft Ford that Bud Moore had drivers like Morgan Shephard and Geoff Bodine pilot in the early 90s. It's not fully accurate. I kept the lining at the bottom white, and I removed some elements I didn't like, such as the black box around the Ford logo.

#51 Kurt Busch Phoenix Racing Chevrolet - Sonoma 2012

This car was really hard to design accurately. I had to change the color, and add the numbers, and... well... uh...

At some point, I'll probably try to mock up the Phoenix racing logo on the hood they have added in later races.

#13 Honda NASCAR prototype

For years there have been rumors of another manufacturer taking a serious look at joining Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota as a NASCAR manufacturer. While nothing seems to have panned out, I decided to take that as a cue for baseless speculation. Here was my first attempt at creating a Honda Accord NASCAR Prototype using the game. Now that Toyota's breached the foreign barrier, and Honda has less of a burden in Indycar, I could see it happening. What do you think? Which teams would go for it?

It honestly wasn't too hard to make a custom Honda logo using the game's tools. I'd actually reuse it later for another car I'll eventually post here that I think turned out pretty well.

#4 Kodak Chevrolet Lumina

The next car I made was the Morgan McClure team #4 Kodak Chevy, as driven by Ernie Irvan, then later Sterling Marlin. This one is definitely one of the older versions, more in line with what old "Swervin' Irvan" drove. (I actually liked his aggressiveness, despite the nickname.)

You can tell I just picked the closest symbol possible to Chevrolet in this. When it comes time to apply what I've learned, I'll probably do a custom Chevy logo and add the small distinctive swoops to the end of the 4's on the car.

This one is pretty simple. Just create overlapping rectangular layers for the distinctive color film livery.

And, since I can't resist making stupid joke cars: 

Sometimes, you drink a little too much of the ol' Vodak:

#43 STOP RACING Pontiac

The last attempt at making this joke work.

#28 Cale Yarborough Hardee's Ford Thunderbird

Cale Yarborough was a three time NASCAR champ and winner of 83 events. So for one of my first non Bill Elliott cars I decided to take the basic custom '85 Thunderbird grill work and Ford logo to recreate his old Hardee's #28. He actually put on some good runs against Awesome Bill that year, and I think he may be one of the more underrated legends of the sport, if one could be a legend and underrated at the same time. His fight in the 78 Daytona 500 gets all the highlights, when his performance on track and personality off track was arguably more interesting. Either way, this car isn't very hard to replicate in-game at all. Give it a shot, if you want to pay tribute to one of NASCAR's greats.

 

Just remember to include the black line in the transition between the red hood and white body, as well as the slight point there in the center of the hood.