The memories have flooded Sam Bass for the past 24 hours.
Fitting, since the driver of the No. 24 is the cause with Jeff Gordon announcement that 2015 will be his final full Sprint Cup Series season. After 23 years at NASCAR’s premier level, Gordon is ready to close that chapter of his life though it will also close one for Bass.
NASCAR’s officially licensed artist, Bass has been Gordon’s paint scheme designer since his arrival in the sport and created Gordon’s iconic image. It was Bass all those years ago who helped Gordon and the No. 24 team become the “Rainbow Warriors” following the debut of their colorful DuPont paint scheme in 1992.
“What a great story to be a part of. I will probably never have that type of longstanding relationship and be identified as the designer for another driver for that long again. That’s pretty special,” Bass told POPULAR SPEED. “You never know when you meet these guys where they’re going, what’s going to happen, how their careers are going to work. And because of sponsor changes and marketing agencies and stuff that impact different things, how long you’re going get to be associated with them and work with them.
“This Jeff Gordon relationship has just been incredible. To have known him from the beginning and to have worked with him and designed for him and to have seen the success, and the level of success, that is really unparalleled over that career span. It’s amazing.”
Bass has had the honor of designing paint schemes for drivers such as Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. He designed the rookie cars both Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson ran. It’s been Gordon, however, whom he’s worked with the longest after asking Ray Evernham for a favor.
Evernham was just newly hired at Hendrick Motorsports; DuPont was just announced as the sponsor and Gordon had just been named the driver. When Evernham went to Bass’ old shop looking for a birthday present for his new driver, Bass asked him for an opportunity to design Gordon’s car.
The morning of his presentation, it hit him. Thinking over and over about the company and what DuPont was trying to do – promote their automotive finishes – Bass saw that a natural rainbow appeared because of the way DuPont arced. Bass did the famous rendering that same morning it was submitted to DuPont for consideration.
“I knew the minute I got that drawing done that was the best of the three,” Bass said. “Then as I understand, it went up to headquarters at DuPont and mine was three of 43 that were submitted from various ad agencies and hands down that was the one chosen.”
Gordon loved it as well. For that period, it was different and stood out in many ways. But when it came time to designing his uniform, Bass remembers how Gordon told him to make sure that he didn’t look like a clown. Like the paint scheme, Gordon ended up wearing his uniform for the next nine seasons.
As for what the day was like when the car first came to life, Bass can’t help but smile even if later he laughed that the team wanted to inflict bodily harm because of the difficult in using so many colors and fluorescent paint.
“It was better than I could have ever hoped for. You just felt like you were a part of something really, really special and magical, and it was a cool feeling. It had numerous colors and because it had so much fluorescent it really stood and didn’t have straight lines on it, which are even more of a challenge,” he said. “Back in the day, that was a difficult car to paint; it really was but they worked at it, and they were all proud of it.
“The coolest thing I think about everything, is that Jeff Gordon came into this sport as No. 24 and he’s going to go out as No. 24 and I’m not aware of any drivers that can say that. I think that is just so awesome. To have been a small part of that with my designing and paint schemes, that is such an honor and such a lucky thing to have been a part of.”
While the original 1992 paint scheme will always be his favorite, Bass has other memorable projects. And it’s at this point in the conversation that Bass is pulling out die-cast cars with his designs. From the original rainbow to what became the fire and flames scheme in 2001.
He laughed when revealing the pressure he felt in changing the paint scheme, not wanting to ruin an image that had been created. While the fire and flames remained entering 2009, black became the primary color, which was a tribute to Gordon’s childhood colors.
In 2010, Bass worked on what he called his favorite project, designing “My Papa’s Car” with Ella Gordon. Bass will forever cherish that day, not only because he was trusted to work with Ella, but also because he watched as Gordon and wife Ingrid drew pictures, which they ended up leaving with him.
They are some of his most prized possessions and sometime this year, Bass would love to do a similar project now with both Ella and Gordon’s son, Leo.
Following Thursday’s announced, Bass had not yet talked to Gordon but plans to see him during the Media Tour next week. Friday he did spend time emailing with Gordon’s stepfather, John Bickford, whom he says paid him one of the ultimate compliments.
“He said he remembered sitting in Sandwich Construction Company and Jeff saying to him, ‘I’ll know I made it when Sam does a painting of me.’ John was just throwing out those memories and he said ‘man oh man, I just cannot believe it,’” Bass revealed. “And I couldn’t either. I thought back, of all the cool things I’ve seen and done for him and his foundation, and the working relationship I’ve had with him over the years has just been stellar. Who can ask for more?”
A throwback paint scheme appearing at some point in 2015, as many are hoping, appears to be a dream. There would have to a lot to happen behind the scenes to make it a reality and Bass is hoping that it does.
It would be the ultimate honor of being able to do something for Gordon that reverts back to the beginning. In the meantime, the gallery will continue to house plenty of pieces with more Gordon memories to come.
“Definitely the artwork I can promise you is coming,” Bass said about plans for this year.
Except beyond artwork and paint schemes, Bass is proud to have worked for Gordon through his career and even if that book closes he’s excited to see what he does next.
“I can’t say I’m surprised by the announcement because Jeff Gordon has truly done everything there is to do, and he has so much more left to do outside the racecar,” he said. “He’s extremely talented and he has really transcended the sport – Saturday Night Live, Regis and Kathy Lee, Regis and Kelly – all these different things and it’s not like everything’s over for him once he stops driving.
“His foundation work has been incredible. His foundation and the missions he’s done all over the world is just amazing. The level that he has given back in his career, not only to fans, but to all the charities he supports, that’s as good as it gets.”
Perhaps just as special for the artist as being able to work with Gordon, would being able to see him at the top of the NASCAR mountain one last time.
“I’m just really excited for him; I really am. As competitive as he was last year and think about this … I was at the Brickyard when he won it the first time and I was at the Brickyard last when he won it for the fifth time and he was driving my paint schemes in both of those,” Bass smiled. “But when you think about the fact that that’s a 20-year span, and he’s been competitive that entire time and how many drivers can say that?
“That’s an amazing statistic and last year was arguably his best year since he won his last championship. He was just on it. There’s no reason to believe that won’t be the same case this year. So I’m really excited for him.”