What’s Happening?

From the bold, creative car wraps that define a driver, sponsor and team, to the unique, intricate artwork that adorns virtually every drivers’ helmet, NASCAR is an inherently artistic sport. 

Artists, such as those employed by Off Axis Paint, a world-renowned racing helmet paint shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, put thousands of hours into making the dreams of race teams, sponsors and drivers a reality.

But Off Axis owner Greg Stumpff is quick to remind people, “We don’t make it go any faster on the track, but we definitely make it look cooler in Victory Lane.”

Stumpff, a Missouri native, comes from a racing family and fell in love with art at an early age. With the help of his high school art teacher, Matt Locke, Stumpff learned how to airbrush and quickly started painting “whatever I could make five bucks at.”

After graduation, Stumpff, then working for a dirt-racing team, decided to start painting helmets. He met drivers from across the country, took their helmets home and painted them, slowly piecing together what would be his future career in motorsports.

“I started meeting some people in the NASCAR world, who got their helmets painted professionally by people who do this for a living, and it was like, ‘Oh, this is what I want to do, and this is a hobby into a career.’”

Custom-painted helmets are not new to NASCAR, but as more sponsors have entered the sport the need for additional helmet designs has grown.

In 2012, Stumpff moved to North Carolina to pursue airbrush work as a career, telling himself that if it didn’t work out, he could always go home. So far, he’s not gone back.

Off Axis Paint has become one of the most recognized names in the game, working with not only race teams but also the MLB, the Savannah Bananas, various Olympic teams and action sports legend Travis Pastrana.

Of course, Stumpff doesn’t take all the credit for his company’s success. He has a team of talented artists who each has their own specialty.

“It’s kind of like a tattoo shop: One guy’s good at portraits, one guy is good at the symmetrical clean euro lines and one guy’s good with the dirt helmets,” Stumpff explained.

Once he works with a race team, driver or sponsor, Stumpff knows which member of his group has the skills to best match that specific job. For instance, some drivers, like ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton, a 15-year customer of Off Axis, know which artist is the best suited to execute their vision.

“Either they have a great relationship with the artist, and they’ll come in and bypass my desk and go straight to the artist they have worked with, that’s OK,” Stumpff said. 

The company’s reputation keeps the Off Axis team busy year round.

“Every one of these helmets takes about 40 hours, so once you get about 10 in line, that’s you, that’s a ton of weeks of work right there,” Stumpff said.

With the massive number of orders the team fills during a given season, Off Axis has found Victory Lane quite a few times, including the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

But it’s not about the accolades for the Off Axis team; it’s about the drivers’ emotions and getting to share their journey. Some of the company’s long-time customers include Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, a client since his late model days, and JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier.

Off Axis’ journey with Allgaier came full circle last fall when the Illinois veteran won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship wearing a helmet painted and designed by Off Axis (with a little help from Allgaier’s daughters). For Stumpff and his team, these emotional moments are what their art is all about.

“I feel like when we can capture that emotion or get someone a little misty-eyed looking at a helmet, that’s when you’ve done your part and you have something really special,” Stumpff said.