Artist Spotlight: Michael Carey

Editor’s Note: Michael Carey is a well-known name in the motorsports design community, particularly in the North American oval-racing world. Michael works as Digital Media Manager for JR Motorsports in a multi-faceted role involving primarily social media and graphics creation. Previously, he led social and creative efforts at Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), and had a hand in bringing the series’ cars to iRacing. (Michael also uploaded all the official series paints to his Trading Paints profile!)

Over the years, Michael has embraced his role as the de-facto “mayor” of the motorsports design circle, bringing attention and much-due credit to designers and artists that make the racing world tick. In fact, his efforts helped inspire this very Artist Spotlight series.

For 2025, we’re handing the Artist Spotlight keys to Michael, who’s joining Trading Paints as a content contributor. He’ll interview designers familiar and unknown in a way he’s always done so well. But, we thought it would only be appropriate to first properly introduce the man who’s contributed so much to the community at large.

1️⃣ How did you get your start designing?

Honestly, I remember creating paint schemes on NASCAR ’09 through Xbox 360 and EA Locker. The idea of creating a truly unique paint scheme was fascinating to me and I can recall even creating paint schemes for Facebook friends at the time. That first step turned into an obsession with paint scheme designs and checking Jayski every day in school to see what new paint schemes were coming. I didn’t touch anything design-wise until my freshman year at Temple University and my first course in Adobe Design. But truthfully, I don’t remember much from that course – I studied other NASCAR/motorsports designers and talked with them through DMs and phone calls and that’s where I learned everything I know now. 

2️⃣ Where do you turn for inspiration?

Two separate places where sparks are – everyone and everywhere. In almost every project I work on, whether a Spotter’s Guide, a graphic for JRM/Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] channels, or a personal project, I am always studying what others who are better than me are doing. The key is to land on what style I need to achieve, and then, based on my knowledge of specific people/entities, I scroll through their portfolios and find inspiration there.

When I was designing Kyle Busch’s Zariz No. 51 Truck in 2023, a key piece was the logo which was the horse. Thinking back to the Red Bull Racing days, the bull over the rear wheels was the perfect inspiration.

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

I would pin two of them as my most proud – the first one would be the Thursday Night Thunder logo design for SRX. That is a sacred moniker in motorsports and to have the chance to design the branding for it was a high honor. I scrubbed through hours of footage from the late 80’s and 90’s for inspiration and the 1995 season branding was perfect because during that year, multiple SRX drivers competed during that time. It was one of my first cracks at a major logo design in my career – and this was to be seen on TV, physical branding, etc. so there was some anxiety but plenty of excitement around it.

The second one would be the No. 51 Zariz Transport Silverado I designed for Kyle Busch in 2023. I spent years designing concept paint schemes for fun and always dreamed of getting a car on track. For Kyle to win the pole and race at Las Vegas and then score the 100^th and final victory for KBM at Pocono was something I only dreamed was possible. My friend Daniel Ryan was there in Pocono and was able to take some great photos of the truck for me and I was glad that if I couldn’t be there, someone I knew was there to enjoy the moment. Then came the ability to buy the die-cast at the LIONEL store in Concord Mills and seeing the design on the roof of Big Daddy’s in Lake Norman just minutes from my apartment – the entire deal was a surreal experience.

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

Honestly I wouldn’t even say I have a ‘trademark’ style per se – but one of my favorite things to utilize are bold assets such as a specific color or features (i.e. orange paint strokes during the SRX days) or for JR Motorsports specific pieces, utilizing logos/assets from paint schemes. I always believed in combining graphics involving a partner as close to the car branding as possible to ensure perfect harmony. For JRM, one of my favorites was the Roto Reveal we did for Connor [Zilisch] – I utilized what looked like rusted/peeling metal pieces with different pieces of the paint scheme to tie everything together.

The paint strokes from SRX I thought were such a great brand identifying feature because at the time, I didn’t see any other teams/entities I always look at utilizing that component. I was thankful that CEO Don Hawk and the ownership group of SRX entrusted me to run wild with the social media branding and have fun with it.

5️⃣ What’s different from working on a team compared to working for a league?

The scale of it truly is the biggest difference. When I was with SRX, not only was I running the socials for them, but I was helping to figure out car branding, the colors of the cars and even physical assets such as display stands, the Victory Lane banner, the medals for the podium finishers, crew shirts – nearly all physical pieces of SRX branding, I had to help create it, especially in Year 3. On top of that, I was in communication with many of the partners during the year and especially closer to race season to ensure deliverables were met. I even designed graphics for every driver to utilize every week during the season – that was something that no one really asked for, but I did it as a way to overdeliver on my duties at SRX because I cared immensely about promotion for the series. 

Working for a team, it’s a smaller scale from a league – the pool of drivers and sponsors is less and I also have more hands in the office that each have a focus of area that I had at SRX. The SRX role was challenging at times, but spending two years with the various duties nearly solo, It wouldn't have made me into the worker that I am today.

6️⃣ What makes you want to shine a light on other artists in the community?

Much of that ties to Sam Bass. I was/am a huge fan of Sam’s work – he crafted so many of the most iconic paint schemes that fans still talk about today. After he has passed away in 2018, I always felt that he never received the proper recognition he deserved – I give Harris Lue of LueCreative a lot of credit for the immediate spotlight on him after he had passed when all the cars at Atlanta ran the decal that Harris created. But I wanted to change the narrative and give designers/artists more recognition. 

When COVID hit NASCAR and the Atlanta race was cancelled, I remember tweeting out a post about trying to spread some positivity and I asked folks to showcase their favorite designers. I remember sitting in my kitchen, and every 20 minutes or so, posting about many of them. That turned into “Spotlights” on my pages where folks would DM me projects based on a specific topic, a NASCAR Design Community Discord Server I created to help bring collaboration instead of competition with each other and even in-person meetups with many of them in Charlotte.

When I joined TobyChristie.com as a writer, I remember asking Toby about including the designer in my articles and he couldn’t have said yes fast enough. Whenever I wrote about a paint scheme, I always ensured I tried to get a quote from the designer. They’re just as important to the story because it was their creative mind that produced often times a darn good looking race car – and that’s a critical piece that is often overlooked – someone spent hours creating that car.

The least that can be done is to recognize them properly.

7️⃣ You’ve accomplished a lot in your career in a short amount of time. Where will you be in 10 years?

I am not sure where I’ll be in 10 years, but that’s the excitement of it, too, right? I would love to stay in motorsports in some capacity and continue to build on my love for the sport and design. I’ve got some ideas that I’ve ruminated on for a number of years; perhaps I finally go and launch one of them. But as long as I’m happy, I’m ready to follow the journey life is ready to throw me on.

8️⃣ Share a design tip for people just getting started.

Never. Stop. Designing.

Even on the days you feel your break is never coming – the right one will. I like to tell rising designers the story of Kyle Sykes, the Creative Director at Trackhouse. Kyle’s first major NASCAR project win was a Kasey Kahne hero card design contest – and within a decade, he’s now in a leadership role. 

I’ve seen designers score their first gig via socials just by posting a concept scheme and tagging the right people. Social is every evolving but we’re all connected to it. You NEVER know who is watching and where. 

One post can change everything.

Thanks to Michael for taking the time to share his story before taking the wheel of our Artist Spotlight series in 2025!