All the incredibly designed helmets we see drivers sport in the NASCAR Cup Series sure don’t come cheap. They just might be some of the most expensive helmets in the world today. Recently, Greg Stumpff, who works on the design of the helmets for Cup Series racers, talked about the cost of these helmets on a recent episode of Kenny Conversation.

Greg Stumpff, the founder of Off Axis Paint [Mooresville, North Carolina-based company, which specializes in custom-painted helmets], recently spoke to Kenny Wallace about the prices of said helmets and said that Cup Series helmets often cost more than a whopping $2000. Apart from the odd below $1000 helmet, these designs rarely come cheap and they can take about 30 to 40 hours to complete. Despite the quality of the materials used, the long hours of work, and the fact that for the artists, this is their livelihood, some may suggest that the prices are too high for helmet designs.

“It just really depends. Every once in a while we’ll do $650, $850. Our Cup helmets are well over $2000 so it just depends on honestly how much work, 30 to 40 hours and I have a whole team of 4 artists here and this is how they make a living. It’s not a hobby for anybody here so. I think when that comes in mind, it’s like oh this guy is not doing it out of his garage, they’re using top-of-the-line paint and nice, clear coats,” Stumpff said.

“It is hand done artwork which takes a ton of time. It’s much easier just to print on the computer and wrap one of these things but it just doesn’t look as good. You would not like it if I took an hour to do yours and it just looked okay. That’s the biggest thing. It’s just figuring out what they want, making it personable and then the price kind of follows there after just knowing what they want to do on the helmet,” he added.

Helmet designs are personal for a lot of drivers and it gets a lot easier for an artist to understand what their client wants if they are also involved in the creative process. Kyle Larson was one such driver who liked to be involved. However, he recently lost the man he trusted with his helmets, and he shared a heartfelt message about him on Instagram.

NASCAR Cup Series helmet designer’s demise stunned former champion

The artist in question was Ryan Young, who had worked with Kyle Larson on several occasions to design his helmets. In February, when Young passed, the driver of the #5 shared a few stunning designs along with a message for his dear departed friend. Instances like this not only show how much a helmet design means to certain drivers, but also how much the artists are appreciated and valued.

“Hated getting the news of @indocil Ryan Young passing away yesterday morning. Such an extremely passionate and talented artist that I’m going to greatly miss. I’m not sure people realize how involved I like to be on the design process of my helmets. I always loved talking to him and working through fun ideas for designs. We would both come up with off the wall thoughts and probably confuse each other most times but he ALWAYS knocked it out of the park and supplied me with the sickest helmets in the pits. Just a great guy and will be missed by so many! RIP,” the Hendrick Motorsports racer wrote.

Given his recent demise, it’s possible he designed at least one of the helmets that Larson used in the opening four races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series. He would want nothing more than to win the championship this year in one of his artist’s older designs and pay him the perfect tribute.

Read More – WATCH: “THIS Is Why We Wear Helmets” – Kenny Wallace Sends a Public Safety Alert to All Fans and Drivers as He Reveals the Risk of Racing