Garrett Smithley’s creative-looking racecar, featuring a nostalgic Microsoft look, and Clippit have drawn the eyes and attention of the NASCAR community ahead of this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway, with some fans asking how Smithley is able to do this.
In 1949, NASCAR’s paperclip, Martinsville Speedway, held its first Cup series race. Nearly four decades later, Microsoft introduced its own paper clip, Clippit, better known by his online nickname Clippy, who, despite not appearing in their products since the latter half of the 2000s, has lived on in online infamy.
As Clippy is a very important piece of online culture, with everything from memes to merch, the large-eyed paperclips’ inclusion on the side of Garrett Smithley’s No. 0 SS-Greenlight Racing Chevrolet this weekend is a welcome sight for many NASCAR fans.
One look at the car shows that it goes beyond just Clippy’s inclusion, with references to Clippy’s many questions, Microsoft Pinball Arcade, Minesweeper, and the legendary Windows XP background.
Of course, some fans are wondering how the team is able to do this, whether they were allowed to do so by Microsoft or even by NASCAR, as in a sport with sponsorship as its backbone, intellectual property is on the minds of any paint scheme designer and team executive.
In an April 12, 2025, article from Deb Williams of Autoweek, RFK Racing driver/owner Brad Keselowski spoke about the difficulties of working around trademarks, specifically regarding throwback paint schemes at Darlington.
Nonetheless, while this paint scheme is fun and, let’s face it, one of the more creative looks of the 2026 season so far, these are questions worth asking.
The first question is harder to answer than the one about NASCAR approval.
Clippy, per the USTPO, is still a trademark of Microsoft and is up to date, with its most recent notice of allowance coming in March 2024. Without permission, there is quite a bit of risk being taken on by racing this paint scheme.
Last year, Smithley played an identical card, which raised similar questions at Watkins Glen, dressing his car with the Lizard meme that stemmed from a sneak peek at the Disney/Pixar film Hoppers.
At the time, fans wondered what was going on and if Disney allowed him to run the car, with Smithley responding to one user on X saying, “Didn’t make any money on it, so there’s no issue.”
Now, this is a common assertion, though, even if you are not profiting off something, major companies, like Microsoft and Disney, have not held back from acting on such instances in the past.
So, is Microsoft even aware of the car? Well, sort of.
In one post, Smithley got a response from the designer of Clippy, Kevan Atteberry.
In another post showing off the car on X, the official Windows account responded saying, “looks like Clippy got promoted from assistant to crew chief.”
This got a lot of attention, and for good reason, but a post from a social media manager is hardly approval from a company that, very likely, has a whole department dedicated to their intellectual property.
After all, for example, if the official Disney account responds to an edit of a character from a movie, does that give you permission to make your own merchandise?
The other question fans are asking, and have asked in the past, is whether NASCAR is going to do anything, or has anything to say about this.
For almost anything a team does ahead of a race weekend, NASCAR has to give the thumbs up, and, like any corporate entity, officials will be on the lookout for things they do not want to see on a race car, be that sponsors, designs, or intellectual property.
Smithley announced this paint scheme Thursday night during a Twitch stream, two days before the race, not only in time for entry into the race, but also with approval from NASCAR.
In a post on X, the paint scheme designer, Jordan Tiegs Designs, responded to a question about trademark infringement and NASCAR approval, saying that the sport approved the paint scheme but, with a few tweaks ahead of its official announcement.
So, with the last check on the car from NASCAR, and barring any interference from Microsoft (as unlikely as that seems), it means that Clippy will take to the paperclip this weekend.
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