Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports fans received an early Christmas present. Although a whole lot is not changing within the No. 9 team, there are subtle changes to the race car that will be visible from 2025 onwards. Hendrick Motorsports dropped the NAPA Auto Parts paint scheme on social media, and the changes made in the scheme have certainly caught everyone’s attention.
Elliott, for the most part, remains inactive on social media, but this year has been rather different. He recently revealed the schemes for UniFirst for the 2025 season, and he also capitalized on Denny Hamlin’s viral social media post. So, this is indeed a welcoming change for Elliott’s fans, and they are enjoying every bit of it. However, the release of the NAPA paint scheme has led to discussion among the fans on the improvements and the flaws.
The new paint scheme largely remains unchanged but comes with some minor tweaks. The first and obvious change is the side skirt on the new NAPA Chevy car. The white outline around the skirts is gone, and the triangle that covers the NAPA logo only features the outline of a yellow color. The basic idea here is that the Navy Blue color on the car is dominant now, and the Yellow is restricted to just highlights.
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From a general view, this paint scheme is rather fresh while retaining its original charm. However, the fans on Reddit had a rather broader perspective on this new paint scheme. They scrapped out every single minute detail, and while most of them appreciated the efforts, there were a few who wanted more changes.
Hendrick Motorsports fans had a lot to say about Chase Elliott’s NAPA scheme
The simple yet most eye-catching change was the threads of the white stripes being replaced by yellow across the car. Not only are the stripes gone from the back bumper of the race car, but the white color is also discarded from above the side skirts. This change was appreciated by this fan who replied, “Yeah, like I said in the other thread, those yellow stripes make a huge difference. They definitely pop a lot more than the white ones.”
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Well, the big change that was visible from the rear of the car was the branding of Chevrolet instead of Camaro. General Motors has stopped the production of the ZL1 car, and therefore they have opted to go for a regular Chevy branding rather than opting for other models like Cadillac and so on. Reacting to this change, another user wrote, “Some little changes here and there. Most notably, the white pinstripes become yellow. While not a scheme change, all Chevrolets now no longer say Camaro on the rear bumper but instead say Chevrolet. This might be the least change between seasons we have though for a Napa scheme with Elliott.”
One of the reasons fans are so concerned about the schemes is that they have a historical significance. We know Richard Petty is known for the iconic blue car, Jeff Gordon for the rainbow Dupont scheme, and Dale Earnhardt with his iconic #3 black car. So changing paints and designs would temper with the memory that fans have built for a driver in their NASCAR career. But, despite staying true to the basic theme, there were a few who nitpicked on the 2025 NAPA scheme. This clearly goes to show that NASCAR fans are indeed hard to please, and this fan felt the same way. “Fans: We need continuous schemes to help build legacies!!! Also Fans: No!!! How dare they!!”
Well, here’s the first of many who had issues with how the white color shades and stripes were ditched. This user felt the white helped the whole NAPA scheme to pop out, but with blue now being the predominant color the scheme is a bit monotonous. “It looks worse IMO. The white around the bottom and the yellow line between the number and “NAPA” really tied the scheme together. It’s too blue now.”
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For some, the whole debate between white and yellow didn’t make sense at all. They’d rather have the paint scheme where NAPA brought the white car and the blue and yellow would act as secondary shades. “I really miss the predominantly white napa schemes. All navy looks too bland imo.”
What did you make of the NAPA 2025 paint schemes on Chase Elliott’s #9 Chevrolet car?