Few NASCAR sponsors have created a more readily identifiable look than DuPont's fire and flames on Jeff Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet, so changing the paint scheme for 2009 came with considerable consternation.

DuPont initiated the idea of creating a fresh look in December 2007, and it wasn't until late July that the paint scheme was completed, with Larry Deas, DuPont's motorsports manager, wringing his hands in between.

''The process took a lot longer than I would have thought,'' Deas said with a laugh.

There's a reason the new look was handled with such care, and the result was greeted with such relief. In Gordon's 15 years at Hendrick Motorsports, DuPont has been his only primary sponsor, and together they own the longest-running sponsor-owner-driver combination in the sport.

During that time, DuPont has changed the paint scheme once. The rainbow design ran from 1993 to 2000, and the fire and flames look, started in 2001, will run through the 2008 season. The seven-year itch to redesign struck again, coinciding with DuPont's extension to remain on the car through the 2010 season.

''We look at it as the third chapter of DuPont, Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports,'' Deas said.

The new paint scheme, designed by motorsports artist Sam Bass and featuring black as the base color, was unveiled last week on NBC's Today show. DuPont and Hendrick Motorsports took special care to keep the paint scheme a secret so that it would debut on national television. It's common for new designs, whether they're one-offs or more significant changes, to find their way onto the Internet before they're revealed at the track. Such a leak would have undercut the unveiling, which licensees hope will create momentum for their sales.

''It's significant because of the force Jeff Gordon is and has been for 15 years,'' Mark Dyer, CEO of licensee Motorsports Authentics, said of the design change. ''He's had one of those iconic paint schemes, and in this generation of race fans, nothing has been more of a constant than No. 24 and DuPont.''

It wasn't long after the paint scheme aired on Today that merchandise featuring the new colors — hats, T-shirts, trinkets — was expected to hit http://www.jeffgordon.com and http://www.nascar.com. Chinese-made diecast cars require at least 120 days of lead time before they hit the shelves in the United States.

The merchandising impact probably won't approach what Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team and sponsor switch meant to the market late last year and this year, but Gordon is still easily the No. 2 driver in sales to Earnhardt and this change is expected to provide a healthy boost. About 100 licensees own the rights to Gordon's No. 24.

More of the new product will be in stores for holiday shoppers, but licensees will be careful not to flood the zone, said Scott Hammonds, Hendrick's vice president of licensing and new business development. They'll want to preserve the excitement so that sales peak at Daytona next February, he added.