I'm not breaking any new ground... just following the instructions at the other forum... not all of them can be found in 1 thread there tho and it can get :? 

decals.xml id the key to removing sponsors visually but not functionally - you can see I still have my sponsors but they aren't seen.
Removing the numbers requires editing the alpha masks of a few different files... pain in the ass.
Changing the stripes or branding is easier but it looks like all you can do is edit and replace existing patterns - can't add new ones AFAIK.
[URL=http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3025/20080714091744zv1.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/3025/20080714091744zv1.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL][URL=http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7654/20080714091759ar7.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/7654/20080714091759ar7.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL][URL=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/8440/20080714091813ri1.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/8440/20080714091813ri1.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL]
[URL=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/743/20080714091829xi8.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/743/20080714091829xi8.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL][URL=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/7389/20080714092112sj0.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/7389/20080714092112sj0.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL][URL=http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5871/20080714092139mg1.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5871/20080714092139mg1.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL]
I'm not convinced I want to do all this work for every car but it was fun just to get it done at least for the derby stock car... the stripe/branding will go on any car and getting something to line up the way you want can be hit or miss.
[URL=http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/1235/20080714092334ce6.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/1235/20080714092334ce6.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL][URL=http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9206/20080714092531fi4.jpg][img:c922205fee]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9206/20080714092531fi4.th.jpg[/img:c922205fee][/URL]