Over the years, NASCAR fans have witnessed the sport go through several changes. Most notably, the introduction of the Gen-7 car has proved to be a game-changer so far. The 2023 Cup Series saw 15 different winners, once again showing the impact of the Next-Gen car. However, there is one thing the fans dearly miss from the older days.

The undeniable truth of NASCAR is how deeply rooted the sport is. To date, the fans cherish the memories with the minutest details involved. Recently, Alpha Prime Racing’s graphic designer Ryan Pistana made the fans recollect some fond moments.

Did NASCAR take the right call in 2018 with contingency sponsorship?

It is no secret how sponsorship plays a massive role in NASCAR. The fact that it prompted Kyle Busch to make a move away from Joe Gibbs Racing last year speaks volumes. While sponsorship holds a key place in a driver’s career, it also does on a NASCAR car.

Since the sport’s inception over seven decades ago, the contingency sponsorship program remained a part of it. This type of sponsorship allowed race teams to place company decals on the cars in their bid to win awards or meet performance goals.

Very often, rectangular decals were used to fill up the front fenders of the car. However, in a bid to free up the space those decals occupied, NASCAR transitioned to a digitally based program in 2018. While the governing body granted online sponsorship assets, the look of the car changed significantly.

As reported by sportsbusinessjournal.com in 2018, Race Team Alliance chairman Rob Kauffman explained what NASCAR was trying to achieve by the move. He said, “The basic idea [of the contingency program] is good, but like the CD versus music downloads, we need to rethink how this works.”

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Kauffman continued, “Just filling up the front quarter panel with a ton of stickers is not really effective in and of itself. So is there a better way? That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” While NASCAR went ahead with the transition, recently, Ryan Pistana felt nostalgic and demanded the contingency decals be back.

Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t alone as many fans supported him with a similar notion.

NASCAR fandom expresses their love for the discontinued contingency decals

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Clearly, one of the major reasons to eliminate the contingency decals was to bring more revenue to the NASCAR teams. After all, sponsorship plays a massive role in a team’s annual revenue. While it might have turned out in favor of the teams, some fans wish to have those decals back as Ryan Pistana did.

One fan had a clear demand as he said, “I want that on cup cars.” Another fan spoke on similar lines but it involved the cars in the Xfinity Series. He said, “I need this team and scheme on some xfinity cars while we’re at it”. 

Additionally, one fan vouched for the discontinued program. He said, “Love me some contingency programs.” On the other hand, one fan expressed how the elimination of the program affected him. He said, “I gotta be honest, Cup getting rid of them has made me hate contingency logos. On IRacing I delete them off my truck.”

However, one fan took it very dearly when another fan disapproved of the hype around the decals. He said, “If you ever hear someone say “I hate contingency decals”, there is 100% certainty they know nothing about racing. These were the companies that would follow the series and supply parts to teams.

“If your car had contingency decals it meant you raced. They still mean that today and are representative of a “racer’s racer”, or someone who understands the ins and outs of racing and the sponsorship/parts supplier industry.”

Well, that’s true and certainly worth noting. However, it is difficult to bring this idea back given the revenue it brings to the NASCAR teams. What do you think would be the right thing to do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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