Sam Bass

Samuel Mark Bass (November 20, 1961 – February 16, 2019) was an American motorsports artist known for being NASCAR's first officially licensed artist. A lifelong NASCAR fan, he began working on designing drivers' cars paint schemes with Bobby Allison in 1988. He later designed various paint schemes for drivers like Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, and designed and painted dozens of Race program covers for races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and others.

Early life Bass started following racing when he was young, attending races at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia with his uncles. Eventually, he began drawing pictures of the sport; during NASCAR's offseason, he drew what he believed the upcoming Daytona 500's cars would look like; "Then, when the Daytona broadcast would come on TV, I would be like, 'Oh, so that's how it looks.'," Bass said in 1999.

At 20, he worked for the government as a graphic designer. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a fine arts degree. His studio Sam Bass Illustration and Design opened in 1991, located near the track's turn one.

He was later commissioned by Allison's merchandise team member Hank Jones to create a poster of Allison to sell, followed by doing the same for fellow Miller Brewing Company-sponsored driver Bobby Hillin Jr.

Bass was the designer for four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon's No. 24 cars throughout his Cup career. The partnership started in 1991, before Gordon made his Cup debut, when crew chief Ray Evernham purchased one of Bass' prints as a birthday present for Gordon; instead of requiring money for the drawing, Bass asked if he could design Gordon's car.

Bass also designed the cars and uniforms for the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. He was also the logo designer for the minor league baseball team Kannapolis Intimidators.

Personal life and death Bass' widow Denise is a paralegal. The two were friends in sixth grade prior to starting their relationship, eventually marrying in the early 1980s. In 2014, he was nearly killed by septic shock after suffering a diabetic blood inflection.

Joey Gase running a special paint scheme honoring Bass at Richmond, April 2019. Bass died on February 16, 2019, at the age of 57, of a kidney disease.