When my husband and I found out we were moving to Mooresville three years ago for him to pursue a career within the motorsports community, a lucky connection was made with Greg Stumpff, owner of Off Axis Paint (OAP) and fellow Missouri Ozarks native. Anyone who knows Stumpff will tell you he’s the nicest guy in the world. He became an instant friend and supporter of my husband upon meeting which has been a huge blessing.

Off Axis Paint is an airbrush company that specializes in race helmets. Arguably the most important part of the racing uniform is the helmet which drivers are required to wear to ensure their safety. The helmet is also the only part of the uniform that can be customized to reflect drivers’ personalities. OAP takes pride in its ability to not only create unique pieces of art for drivers to wear on the tracks, but also in its training to ensure no helmet goes out the door without having properly met safety regulations. Stumpff takes this very seriously as most of his clients quickly become friends, and you never want to send a friend out on the track with safety in question. 

I was more than excited when Stumpff took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his journey to creating and maintaining a successful business right here in Race City, USA.

When did your love for motorsports begin?

Some of my earliest memories were at a local short track, but it was always dirt racing back when I lived in Missouri. I never really paid attention to what was going on in the NASCAR world since it seemed so far out of reach. Once I was old enough, I jumped in a truck with a friend, Will Vaught, who was racing a dirt late model at the time, and we began years worth of traveling the country to just about every dirt track from Florida to Arizona. This is when I knew I wanted a full time career in the motorsports industry. 

How did you get your start in professional painting?

My story began as a hobby in the back of an art room at a small school in Reeds Spring, MO. I had a great art teacher, Matt Locke, that showed me how an airbrush worked and introduced me to the business side of visual arts. By my junior year in high school, we were bidding jobs at other schools in the district and spending weeks at a time decking the halls with murals and custom art. Then, as a bonus at the end of it all, we got paid. So, I guess this is really where I became a “professional” artist. We were just having fun, doing what we loved and it never felt like an actual job. 

After your move from Missouri to NC in 2012, how did Off Axis get its start?

After a few years of being on the road with the dirt team, I was still painting a few helmets on the side for drivers while living in Missouri. I continued to network with more people in the NASCAR realm while adding names like Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader and Mark Martin to my resume. The more helmets I began to acquire, it kind of just snowballed out of control and the thought of picking up and moving to NC seemed like a realistic idea if I wanted to try to paint for a living. In October of 2012, I found a small storage unit to work out of, loaded up a U-Haul trailer and made the jump to give this career a go. I told myself that if I failed and had to move home in six months, at least I tried and that was better than always wondering “what if” when I got older. So far, it’s working out. I have a team of incredible artists working by my side. Noel NcEwen, Michael Sauers and Ryan Timm possess the same passion for quality, and without this well-oiled machine, Off Axis wouldn’t be where it is today. We’re all incredibly blessed to have a career doing what we love. 

What project are you most proud of?

Everyone usually asks what my favorite helmet has been over the years, but it’s such a hard question since each one takes about 30-40 hours to produce. Each one of us in the shop really tries to make the next one better than the last. I would say I’m really most proud of the helmets that have a story behind them. Whether it’s a helmet to commemorate a 500th start or a retirement gift for a long-time sponsor, I love to see the look of surprise or joy when they open the box. Every year, we paint a playoff helmet for Justin Allgaier. His daughter, Harper, comes in and helps us with every step from designing to the finishing details. It all comes from her ideas, and he has no idea what it looks like. We started when she was three years old, and she’s now 11, so it’s become such a cool tradition in the shop. It’s a great project everyone looks forward to, and I know having that timeline of helmets for Justin is special for him to look back on one day after he’s done racing. 

What detail do you believe makes a good helmet a great helmet?

I really believe having our shop in Mooresville or around your customers is key. The helmet is the last piece of the car the driver can add some personal creativity to, so when they can stop in and talk face to face, it really helps us bring what’s in their head to reality. I’m sure some artists are different, but I couldn’t imagine trying to do what we do strictly over phone calls or email.  

Who has been your biggest mentor in the industry?

I’ve had a few over the years in different areas of my life as I’ve grown into a business owner, but I’d say the biggest would be Sam Bass. He was NASCAR’s first officially licensed artist and really paved the way for commercial artists in racing. He taught me more of the business side of things than anything. A lot of artists use one side of the brain very well, but to be well rounded and be able to use both to run a business can be very challenging. He taught me to not give up, and he set an amazing example of how to treat people. Since he passed in 2019, I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard of people walking into his gallery and him stopping whatever he was doing to show them around or just have a long conversation with them. I really try to keep that same atmosphere alive in our shop today. 

Besides being able to paint and produce incredible helmets for world class athletes, what’s the most unique work of art to come from Off Axis Paint?

You literally never know what’s going to come through the door here! We’ve painted shoes for Snoop Dogg, helmets for NFL players and guitars for tons of music artists. We stay booked up with helmets year round, so we can’t take on as many side projects as we used to; but it’s always nice to take a break and paint something different for a week especially after a long offseason getting ready for Daytona. 

Follow @offaxispaint on Instagram to view artfully crafted helmets you can expect to see showcased by some of your favorite NASCAR drivers!

Full throttle,

Clair