Back in September, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) announced it would continue its involvement in NASCAR by staying on board with the Richard Petty Motorsports team for the 13th consecutive season. Ok, not USAF per se, but the Air Force Recruiting Service (AFRS), the one tasked with “inspiring, engaging and recruiting” new blood for military service.
What AFRS did not say when it announced the extension of the partnership with Petty was that a new exterior design for the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro driven by Erik Jones would be needed. It did that this week, when it announced a design challenge open to its existing Airmen (so, no civilians).
Entries for the design challenge are accepted from now until December 5 and the submitted ideas can pretty much be anything, provided they’re Air Force-themed, and do not contain profanities and trademarked content. Also, because the numbers on the car will be white, no white designs should be submitted.
The top three choices (no details on who makes the selection were provided) will be displayed on the 43 Camaro at Talladega in April, Road America in July, and Bristol in September.
“This car represents all Airmen, active, Guard and Reserve, so we want all Airmen to participate who think they have a winning design to showcase our Air Force,” said in a statement Master Sgt. Shawn Emmerling, AFRS national events liaison for the Air Force Reserve.
“We want Airmen to be a part of this great 14-year partnership we’ve had with Richard Petty Motorsports and the iconic No. 43 car. With 2022 being the 75th Anniversary of the Air Force, we want to see what our creative Airmen come up with.”
At the moment, the most recent design for the NASCAR Camaro (but also Indy 500), features red tails, yellow stripes, and a yellow star, being a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. In October, the design shown in the main pic of this piece was featured at Talladega.
Entries for the design challenge are accepted from now until December 5 and the submitted ideas can pretty much be anything, provided they’re Air Force-themed, and do not contain profanities and trademarked content. Also, because the numbers on the car will be white, no white designs should be submitted.
The top three choices (no details on who makes the selection were provided) will be displayed on the 43 Camaro at Talladega in April, Road America in July, and Bristol in September.
“This car represents all Airmen, active, Guard and Reserve, so we want all Airmen to participate who think they have a winning design to showcase our Air Force,” said in a statement Master Sgt. Shawn Emmerling, AFRS national events liaison for the Air Force Reserve.
“We want Airmen to be a part of this great 14-year partnership we’ve had with Richard Petty Motorsports and the iconic No. 43 car. With 2022 being the 75th Anniversary of the Air Force, we want to see what our creative Airmen come up with.”
At the moment, the most recent design for the NASCAR Camaro (but also Indy 500), features red tails, yellow stripes, and a yellow star, being a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen. In October, the design shown in the main pic of this piece was featured at Talladega.