Life in the fast lane: High-speed graphic production for NASCAR’s Richard Childress Racing

Nick Woodward, RCR Graphics Center manager at NASCAR powerhouse Richard Childress Racing in Welcome, North Carolina, knows a lot about performing under pressure. Last year alone, Nick and his team designed, produced, and installed more than 300 wraps on some of the fastest cars in the field.

In addition to race car wraps, the RCR Graphics Center produces and installs each car’s team branding graphics, including their transport vehicle wraps, promotional signage, displays, and more.

We talked with Woodward about how the 2026 season is going so far, what’s new in his production room, and what he’s looking forward to this season.

For those who aren’t familiar, please tell us a bit about the RCR Graphics Center. 

Woodward: The RCR Graphics Center was founded in 2010. We service the entire Richard Childress Racing team, in addition to other clients outside of motorsports. We operate in a 7,800-square-foot facility with eight full-time employees.

How has the 2026 season been for you so far from a graphics perspective? 

Woodward: It has been going great! We are working with a lot of different schemes and some great color combos. You’re going to see a lot of red, white, and blue schemes this summer around the 250th celebration of the founding of the U.S.

What’s new in your production area?  

Woodward: We’ve been a Roland DG-exclusive shop since 2010. Recently, we added two Roland DG TrueVis XP-640 64″ wide-format printers. The XPs are great for speed, and importantly, the additional speed doesn’t cause any sacrifice in quality or color vibrance. We are seeing a great color spectrum with the expanded gamut these next-generation inkjets offer, along with a significant increase in production speed. We run both machines almost around the clock each day and have had smooth and consistent production and high reliability.

How have the TrueVis XP-640 printers performed for you in terms of image quality? 

Woodward: We’ve seen great detail in each image and color. Some of our wraps have complex images and detailed backgrounds, so the image quality is very important for our prints.

Adding the red ink has also been huge for our program. It seems like everything we print at RCR has red and black in the design, so it always helps to have that color option within the ink set. The red ink also helps us build other CMYK colors better.

Do you need to produce new branding for every team every year?

Woodward: A few are rebrands from last year, but most designs are new. While the base may be the same in some cases, the logos or branding imagery the sponsor wants to promote often changes. We have some cars that have maintained the same branding and imagery for a while, but we also have brands that change each time we race them to a different product or program. Some of the new race car wraps for 2026 are Austin Dillon’s No. 3 car, Kyle Busch’s No. 8 car, Jesse Love’s No. 2 car, and the No. 21 car driven by Austin Hill.

What additional graphics does your shop provide?

Woodward: We design, print, and install all of the graphic elements for each team, including the hauler wrap, helmet wrap, pit wall banner, pit equipment wraps, and graphics for the in-car camera.

Did RCR add any new sponsors this year? 

Woodward: We did add a few partners this year, but thankfully, most of our partners have been with us for a while, so we just provide rebranding on their designs as needed.

What are the most critical factors for your shop in terms of print production?

Woodward: The amount of time it takes to print a wrap is always huge for us because we often work on quick turnarounds, and having the speed of the TrueVis XPs allows us to print quickly and move to installation. We have days where we print in the morning and wrap the car in the afternoon. The amazing thing about the TrueVis XP printers is that they allow us to maximize productivity without sacrificing image quality and color accuracy.