from
http://www.65cobra.com/
One of the things that have confused so many Shelby Cobra enthusiasts, however, has been the presence of two little stripes that sometimes appear on the King Snake of all 1960s racers and roadsters. Even today, the debates rage on in places such as Shelby Cobra fan sites and websites.
For many years in motorsports racing, teams often went to a racing event with several cars and drivers.
This could pose a significant problem for a team with, say, three or four drivers all driving the identical car. Nobody knew who was in the car until it pulled in to the pit, and it caused all kinds of problems with identity and placement on the speedway, as well as maintenance duties. Who knew what car was meant for what driver when they all looked exactly the same?
Enter the team racing stripes. With these two little strips of color, usually orange and yellow, but often could be red, black or white as well, pit crews and drivers alike could tell who needed to be in which car at a glance.