Who's your driver? If you're a NASCAR fan (and many people are here in the South), you can answer that question right away! You probably also can describe the car your driver races in with quite some detail. Obviously, the cars need some way to look different so that you know who's who on the track as cars are zooming by at over 200mph. Because of this, the tracks are full of cars covered in colorful and (sometimes) gaudy displays of graphics and logos.

Just like NASCAR race cars, good ole regular cars, trucks and trailers on the road can display the same kind of unforgettable images. Now these vehicles don't move nearly as fast on the regular road, but the information that they relay to viewers is just as priceless. Just think, you can be somebody else's driver! Let me tell you how advertising wraps work.

We designed this graphics package for the 2013 Nissan GTR that was driven at the Miami Speedway Grand Prix race.

Take a moment to calculate the average number of hours you spend in your car every week. For some of us, that number may be depressing. Just think - you aren't alone! For those who get stuck in rush hour traffic morning and night, you most definitely know you aren't alone. Now, think about how many people could be looking at the vivid graphics, logos and contact information on your vehicle as you meander through your day. Tons! Okay, let me get a little more technical with some statistics:

• 95% of Americans are reached by vehicle graphics.
• Vehicle graphics boost name recognition 15 times greater than other forms of outdoor advertising.
• Vehicle graphics get 30,000 to 70,000 impressions (views) each day!
• Reflective graphics gain up to an additional four million impressions per year. (We can add those!)
• 80% of people recall information from a vehicle with graphics after seeing it only one time.

The stats say it all. There's something to be said about the marketing value of vehicle wraps. Our talented 12-Point designers create advertising wraps and graphics to fit on just about any vehicle on (and off) the road. We also can take designs already made and digitally print and laminate them for installation. 

This is only one of a fleet of custom advertising wraps for Mossy Oak Properties. The other trucks are very similar in design but have different accent colors.

Now let me get back to the NASCAR part. I recently was asked if I knew anything about NASCAR wraps. Honestly, I didn't, so I did some research.

Vinyl film was used as a replacement for paint for the very first time in 1993 in Germany. The vinyl was used by taxi companies to unify their fleets without damaging the paint underneath. Fast forward to 1997 when Darrell Waltrip asked John McKenzie of Motorsports Designs to wrap a car in chrome to commemorate his silver anniversary season at the Daytona 500. A year later, McKenzie was hired by NASCAR to wrap a car in gold chrome to honor the sport's 50th anniversary. And so it began.

By 2007, about half of the cars racing in a Cup event were wrapped in vinyl. Some teams wrap more than others, and some continue to paint their cars. Much of the draw toward wraps is the timing. Paint takes several days to perfect on a car, but a wrap can be completed in just a few hours (depending on the team installing it). Overall, paint also weighs a bit more than vinyl material, and it can take some time to get the colors just right. Wrapping is just a faster process.

Although a wrapped vehicle may cost more than a painted one, the turnaround time is a big benefit for teams who change sponsors or have a featured car scheduled for a particular week. We haven't even mentioned the intial design time. Using a wrap allows for more extravagant and detailed themes (think M&M's or Snickers). Since NASCAR approves each and every design, creating the design on a computer makes it much easier to tweak. With high tech digital printers, the entire wrap can be ready for an install in just hours. It just makes sense. 

Here's a speedy video, showing how we wrapped this Ford Explorer with a Jurassic Park theme in our shop. You can see more by checking out our Project of the Week blog post.

This video shows Matt Kenseth's No. 20 car being wrapped for the race in Las Vegas in March of this year. Video courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Next time you tune in to a NASCAR race, try to pick out the wrapped versus painted cars. It will make you look at them differently! 

Looking for your own NASCAR replica? Let us know! No matter what you want to advertise, we can help you turn your vehicle into a mobile billboard that will be noticed. Contact us at (615) 595-6564 or by clicking on the link below to get started.

Statistics provided by the TKO Graphix infographic.