Top 5 IndyCar liveries of all time that made a statement

The exterior of an IndyCar including the color, sponsors, and the design is what makes the livery. The racing cars come in all colors and many assume it is to distinguish between different teams for easier spotting. While that is one of the reasons, the major reason behind the livery is to provide as much screen time to the sponsors/partners as possible. An IndyCar, or any race car for that matter, is essentially an advertising board, where the biggest spender gets the most space.

In F1, the teams incorporate the various sponsors into their livery. It is rare in F1 for a sponsor to dominate or decide the color of a team’s livery. Most F1 teams are owned by an Automotive manufacturer and already have a recognizable color or a historic color. For example, the iconic Ferrari Red, and the Aston Martin British Racing Green.

However, that is not the case in IndyCar, where most teams are owned by Motorsports organizations. The only connection with a manufacturer is either Chevrolet or Honda, which provides the engines. Also, the sponsors in IndyCar generally sponsor a single driver rather than sponsoring a team, hence all the cars of a single team end up with a different livery, which is heavily inspired by the signature colors of the sponsors.

Let's have a look at the Top 5 IndyCar liveries that made a statement.

#5 McLaren Special Livery to Celebrate Triple Crown

McLaren celebrated its 60th Birthday in 2023 and introduced a special livery for the IndyCar at the Indy 500 to commemorate the Triple Crown. A Triple Crown is when a team or driver has won three crown jewels of Motor Racing, the Monaco GP, the Indy 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. McLaren won the Indy 500 in 1974, the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995.

All four cars featured a different livery. Three liveries paid tribute to each of the three crown jewel wins, while the fourth was a combination of the three. The first one, driven by Pato O'Ward, was a black livery inspired by the McLaren F1 GTR that won Le Mans. Felix Rosenqvist drove a White and Papaya livery inspired by the Formula 1 MP4-2 in which Alain Prost won the Monaco GP.

The third one was a Papaya orange livery driven by Alexander Rossi, inspired by Johnny Rutheford's M16C from the Indy 500 win. Tony Kanaan’s livery features a black and orange color scheme with a papaya-orange star in the center.

#4 Al Unser Jr’s Valvoline Livery with Galles Racing

Al Unser Jr. has arguably driven some of the most iconic liveries of all time including the Doug Shierson Racing Dominos Livery and the Team Penske Marlboro Livery. However, the Valvoline Livery he drove during the Galles Racing arguably made the biggest statement in his career.

Al Unser Jr. won his first championship in the series driving the Valvoline-sponsored Galles Racing IndyCar in 1990. It was also the Livery featured on Little Al’s car when he won the 1992 Indy 500, which to date is the closest-ever finish in the marquee event. He won by just 0.043 seconds with Scott Goodyear in P2.

#3 Pennzoil Penske Livery

Team Penske and Pennzoil (currently owned by Shell) first joined hands for the 1983 IndyCar season. Penske won the Indy 500 the very next year with Rick Mears behind the wheel and in 1988. Pennzoil and Penske reunited in 2011 and the partnership is still going strong. Scott McLaughlin currently drives the infamous #3 Pennzoil-Penske IndyCar nicknamed the “Yellow Submarine”.

102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

#2 Marlboro Penske Livery

After the iconic Pennzoil era, team owner Roger Penske got the opportunity to sign with Philip Morris’ brand Marlboro. The deal was signed with the tobacco brand in 1990, with the Penske cars featuring the iconic Red and White Marlboro color scheme.

Bombardier Learjet 500 - Source: Getty

The sponsorship came as former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi joined Team Penske in 1990. The livery first appeared on his car and then on the other Penske cars in the following years. Emerson Fittipaldi won his second F1 championship with McLaren in 1974 with Marlboro as the title sponsor. Ever since the Marlboro sponsorship stuck with him.

The livery design and the proportions of the colors changed over time. However, in 2010, after 2 decades of successful partnership, Marlboro's sponsorship came to an end because of the federal advertising guidelines imposed on tobacco companies.

#1 DHL Chip Ganassi Livery for Alex Palou

DHL was Andretti’s sponsor from the 2011 season to the 2023 season. They sponsored Ryan Hunter-Reay until the 2021 season and then Romain Grosjean. However, Alex Palou, who won the 2023 IndyCar championship presented it as an opportunity for DHL to move to a bigger stage. After 12 years with Andretti, DHL made the move to competitor Chip Ganassi and sponsored Alex Palou’s car for 2024. The Spaniard won the championship in his first year with DHL as the sponsor