IndyCar fans can design a livery for the inaugural Nashville race

IndyCar fans have a chance of a lifetime to design the livery of a car for August’s inaugural race on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee.

The Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team and their team partners are collaborating with high-profile and emerging artists for the Vuse Design Challenge. Vuse is an e-cigarette brand that serves as a partner of the team.

The Vuse Design Challenge is a first-of-its-kind opportunity in which fans have the opportunity to showcase their creativity on an open-wheel car that will compete in the inaugural IndyCar race on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, the Music City Grand Prix, this August.

This challenge unlocks a cultural connection that has never been done before, merging street art, fashion and culture with high-speed adrenaline to accelerate inspiration on and off the track.

In this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, artists will have a chance to collaborate with a globally renowned race team to not only design a livery but to see it live on the race track.

Design submissions opened up last Wednesday. To find out more about the contest, enter a design or vote for a favorite design, race fans can visit Vuse Design Challenge. Official rules can be found here.

We had the chance to get more information from the McLaren design team, which includes Simon Dibley and Lou McEwen, amid the launch of this new campaign.

Question 1: What are you looking for in terms of criteria for those entering into the design challenge, that’s still aligned with your brand?

McEwen: It has to stand out on track, something that’s going to pop. It’s got to be really brilliant when it’s going at 200 mph. We’re looking for boldness, to push the barriers, be disruptive but overall have fun with it. When we design a livery, we have to make something that’s really cohesive for loads of reasons. So I think the opportunity to push the barriers on this one, is what’s really exciting about this challenge. We don’t want people to hold back.

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Question 2: In terms of the history of the sport and the tradition behind it, how do you go about not only incorporating the history, but also pushing the boundaries in terms of driving forward in the innovation process as well?

Dibley: It’s exciting that we don’t know what will be applied to the car. Inspiration can come from music, art, fashion, racing – whichever one they find most inspiration from. We’re always thinking from a racing point of view – so it will be interesting to see their take on how they apply it to a car – not knowing what we know, which could possibly be restricting ourselves.

Question 3: Have you seen a new interest from non-traditional fans looking for more creativity and inspiration for design?

McEwen: Due to the pandemic, we’ve seen a renewed inspiration from outside watchers since more people are tuning in at their homes in real-time. Through iRacing & Esports, we’ve been lucky to continue feeding the fans of the sport following the halt of racing last year. We’ve experienced unprecedented growth through this period in those areas, and our fanbase switched to that until TV came back.

The Music City Grand Prix, the 12th of 17 races on the 2021 schedule, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from the streets of Nashville, Tennessee beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 8.