Last name Ever. First name Greatest. SpongeBob SquarePants has been all over American race cars this year, and the world is better for it. This weekend, Bubba Wallace will run everyone’s favorite pineapple-dwelling sponge in Xfinity, but he’s not the only one getting marketing dough from Nickelodeon this year.
At the 24 Hours of Daytona, this Prototype Challenge car had a SpongeBob movie theme, complete with Sandy Cheeks looking out from the side of the car.
Later this year, we not only get a nautical nonsense-themed Camping World Truck Series livery on Ben Kennedy’s truck, but we get an entire race named for our undersea friends.
That’s right: the May 9 Sprint Cup race is the SpongeBob SquarePants 400.
“I’m really excited to drive the Local Motors/SpongeBob SquarePants Toyota Tundra at Kansas Speedway,” Kennedy said in a press release, as reprinted by NASCAR. “I grew up watching SpongeBob and this is an awesome opportunity to have some fun with a special paint scheme.”
SpongeBob is an awesome show, and no amount of “aren’t you too old for cartoons?” will convince me otherwise. Odd undersea biology references! Pineapple houses! Krabby Patties! Squeaky pickles! Plus, the fact that it’s a kids’ show means that they have to be even more clever about any jokes that would fly over a third-grader’s head. It’s creative, strange, weird and everything I want to see on TV.
This weekend, though, it’s Bubba Wallace who flies Patchy the Pirate’s flag high.
Awesome.
If this is the new defining livery of our time, I guess we could do worse. Bright blues and yellows look great on a race car: fact.
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.