Artist Spotlight: Cosmin Ioaneșiu

With a race recap from the “EuroSport” Channel, a magazine from his grandfather and later on YouTube, Cosmin Ioaneșiu’s fandom for one of America’s largest spectator sports was born, eventually evolving into designing in NR2003 and now, eNASCAR.

1️⃣ How did you get your start designing?

When I was little there was this magazine that had the first-ever NASCAR article I had ever seen. I used tracing paper to outline the borders of the cars and then filled in the rest on my own. I destroyed that page in the process. After that, years later, I started replicating real world NASCAR liveries as well as my own fictional “what-ifs” for NR2003 [NASCAR Racing 2003 Season] for community use.

2️⃣ Where do you turn for inspiration?

You can find inspiration anywhere you look. From cartoon shows and live-action movies to advertisement campaigns, anything can spark an idea. I particularly like to look at comic book covers for their vivid color palette. I also scroll through social media to see what the rest of the community comes up with and what the latest trends are.

3️⃣ What project of yours personally are you most proud of and why?

The most fun projects to me are the ones involving a certain theme. In 2024, the eNASCAR team Letarte Esports acquired Sunoco as their primary sponsor, and I was tasked to create the social media assets as well as the liveries. One of the schemes kept a certain classic (throwback to a past Sunoco scheme) look for most events, and the other changed each week to highlight the event’s location. While working on this I also educated myself about the landmarks and special locations each state and city has to offer.

4️⃣ What's your ‘trademark’ style that helps you stand out from other designers?

As I mostly work on livery designs, I’d like to think I am somewhere in between the bold, aggressive, over-the-top, flashy designs you see at a local dirt track and the clean, modern, organized ones you see in the top NASCAR series. I like to fill out every panel while also giving the sponsor decals room to breathe.

5️⃣ For a sport that has strong American roots in its foundation, how does someone from Romania become a fan of NASCAR?

My introduction to the sport was through a late night “EuroSport” channel race recap from what I now know was Bristol Motor Speedway. Some of the cars did not even have body parts on them and they were still going. Little me thought that was very cool.

A few years later I found a NASCAR article in a car magazine my grandfather had a subscription to. After that I sought out a NASCAR computer game (NASCAR Heat 2000) and tried to watch the race recaps. The problem was, they were always late Sunday through Monday nights, so I couldn’t watch any because I had school the next day. There wasn’t much on the internet back then either, only on YouTube. The first full live race I could watch was the 2009 Aaron’s 499. That’s when internet speeds rose and streaming was becoming more prominent. These days it’s easier, but people here still prefer to be a fan of other sports and racing types.

6️⃣ Splash N’ Go Graphics has become a staple in the sim racing community in recent years. Where does the origin story of SnG begin?

While I was still creating community paints for NR2003 I used the pseudonym “Schnitzl Designs” and had a Facebook page to go with it. After a while, after the website I was doing those real-world schemes for went down I rebranded that page to “Splash N’ Go Graphics” and started creating and selling my own designs.

7️⃣ SnG has also become more popular in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series as many teams turn to SnG for their needs. How does that fee, and which paint schemes have been your favorites to see hit the track?

It feels very rewarding to know that so many people put their trust in my “scribbles” and are happy with the results as well. I am extremely grateful and thankful for it. This year I am fortunate to have the most designs on track I have ever had. Without counting the two NASCAR teams whose real-world artwork I translate to the sim, there are about 17 other original designs of mine hitting the virtual track each week. 

It is hard to pick out a favorite, but there are a few that come to mind. Two of them are Casey Kirwan’s 2026 No. 24 KCP Coca-Cola and Zack Novak’s 2024 No. 5 Coke Zero schemes, simply because they are the parent sponsor brand’s cars and were easy to pick out on the broadcast.

Another is Dylan Duval’s No. 199 2026 TrakRacer Toyota. Dylan is a talented designer whom I have followed since my beginnings online and I enjoyed working with him on it.

8️⃣ Are there any vehicles in particular on iRacing that you feel showcases your talents best when you’re designing a paint scheme?

I work mostly with the top NASCAR series vehicles, but I feel like the Cup Series Toyota Camry ones stand out the most. The car has the best template layout and the least amount of side-body detail. I enjoy working on those the most. A close second are all the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series cars.

9️⃣ As the younger generation of designers is on their way to break into the scene, how do you position Splash N’ Go to maintain its status as one of the top services in the sim racing space?

There is nothing much you can do other than to keep up the effort, adapt to the scene and keep building on it. The philosophy of SnG has always been to keep active and let the work speak for itself. 

🔟 Share a design tip for people just getting started.

Do not be afraid of constructive criticism and asking for help.

For more, follow Cosmin on Trading Paints and Instagram.