UPDATED 1-15-2013 WITH MORE DRIVERS AND LIVERIES — Gentlemen, start your sofas. Another NASCAR season is almost here. To make your TV viewing easier, here’s a guide to  sorting out the driver, number, and paint-scheme changes for 2013.   

NOTE: For an all-new edition of this story with tons more 2013 cars and liveries, click here.

First, thank you to Lionel NASCAR Collectables (the official diecast of NASCAR) for these great digital renderings of the 2013 Sprint Cup cars. These images do an excellent job of illustrating the numbers, colors, and graphics.

Not all the 2013 Sprint Cup entries and their liveries are included here. MCG hopes to add more as they become available.

Note that a number of teams employ multiple paint schemes and sponsors over the season. This has become the new normal in NASCAR as annual title sponsor deals have passed the $20 million mark. The list of companies that can swallow a deal of that size is a fairly short one. If the cost is cut up into two, three, or more smaller bites, the list of potential sponsors grows considerably longer.

NASCAR has mandated some changes in the number/graphics layouts for 2013 (you can read more about that here) with smaller numbers to make more room for the $ponsor $ignage. Also, the driver’s name is now featured on a banner across the top of the windshield.

Of course, the biggest change for the sixth-generation cars of 2013, as NASCAR would like them to become known, is the effort to make them look more like production automobiles. While the new cars have yet to turn a wheel in actual competition, the response among fans and competitors so far has been quite positive. What do you think? Slide show gallery below.