DuPont is one of Hendrick Motorsport's sponsors, which gives them a big jump on the latest in automotive paints. One of the most spectacular paints is an irridescent paint that was used on 'Blacker', the car driven by Jeff Gordon and discussed in Chapter 3 of my book.

Surprisingly, a lot of the designs you see on cars aren't painted–they're wrapped. Motorsports Designs pioneered the wrap, which is a vinyl material on which the design is printed that is literally wrapped around the car. Wrapping allows very complex designs to be used. You can watch the wrapping process on the Motorsports Designs website.

Sometimes, wrapping and painting are used. Jim Gravlin of Hendrick Motorsports made a spectacular car for Terry Labonte's last NASCAR Cup ride before his retirement. This car combined paint and wraps to make a spectacular going away gift.