IndyCar: Shell extends with Team Penske
This Sunday, Josef Newgarden drove the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet to his first Indianapolis 500 win in his 12th start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. The victory was a record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 win for Team Penske, and the 100th win for Team Penske while carrying a Shell and/or Pennzoil primary livery in a points-paying event across a variety of professional racing series. The achievement marks another milestone for Shell as the winningest primary sponsor during Team Penske’s historic 57-year run in motorsport.
Together, Team Penske and Shell-Pennzoil will commemorate the milestone with a special scheme on NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano’s No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang for the June 4 race at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. The design will feature a mosaic of each victory that led to the 100 triumphs.
Shell’s 100th win as a primary sponsor on a Team Penske race car, which dates back to the 1980s, puts them 23 wins ahead of long-time sponsor Miller Brewing Company. Shell, Shell-Pennzoil, Pennzoil and Shell V-Power have all carried primary liveries dating back to the first victory by Rick Mears in 1983 at Michigan International Speedway when Rick carried a Pennzoil livery in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Along the way, many of these wins were significant in their own ways including:
Shell Livery/Year/Location/Driver
Pennzoil – 1984 & 1988 Indianapolis 500, Rick Mears
Shell V-Power – 2012 Chevrolet’s return to INDYCAR at St. Petersburg, Helio Castroneves
Shell-Pennzoil – 2015 Daytona 500, Joey Logano
Shell-Pennzoil – 2018 Homestead-Miami Speedway securing NASCAR Cup Series title, Joey Logano
Shell V-Power – 2019 Bathurst 1000, known as “The Great Race” in Australian Supercar, Scott McLaughlin
Shell V-Power – 2018, 2019, 2020, Australian Supercar Championships, Scott McLaughlin
Shell-Pennzoil – 2022 Phoenix Raceway, securing a second NASCAR Cup Series title, Joey Logano
Shell – 2023 Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden
Just over a year ago, Shell announced a multi-year extension to the relationship with Penske Corporation, Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, continuing a years-long motorsports, technical and business relationship.
“With Shell, we have experienced great success on and off the track, but its moments like this when you realize the magnitude of the triumphs we have enjoyed together,” said Roger Penske, Chairman of Penske Corporation. “There are a lot of areas our companies are focusing on in the future in both competition and multiple business and sustainability initiatives that are key to our partnership. It’s truly a business-wide relationship that we look forward to continuing well into the future.”
“Shell is very proud to celebrate such a milestone with Team Penske, especially in such a prestigious race and setting,” said Steve Reindl, Senior Vice President, Shell Lubricants Americas. “For an organization that has been racing for over 55 years, it’s quite an accomplishment to become the first brand to hit that mark with such a legendary and winning race team. Shell just celebrated 100 years in the United States in 2022 and its long-lasting relationships like we have with Roger Penske, Team Penske and Penske Corporation that go beyond the brand and become the very fabric of the people and products the company produces.”
Shell and Team Penske reunited in 2011, as an extension of the Shell and Pennzoil racing legacy with the legendary motorsports team. Pennzoil first aligned with Team Penske as part of its INDYCAR program in 1983 and won two Indianapolis 500s (1984 & 1988) with driver Rick Mears. In 2022, Shell and Pennzoil announced a multi-year extension and expansion of their alliance with Penske Corporation, Team Penske and Penske Entertainment, which includes the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Pennzoil became the Official Motor Oil and Lubricant supplier of INDYCAR and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2021 and Shell expanded and extended the agreement in 2022, including the announcement of becoming the Official Fuel of INDYCAR and NTT INDYCAR SERIES starting in 2023. The fuel developed and supplied by Shell made the NTT INDYCAR SERIES the first United States-based motorsports series to run on 100% renewable race fuel.
Josef Newgarden became one of eight legendary and iconic drivers to contribute to the 100 wins total. Scott McLaughlin leads the way with 48 wins collected during his time as a DJR Team Penske entry in the Australian Supercars Championship Series. Two-time and defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano runs second with 29 Cup Series victories in Shell livery. Legendary driver and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears started the tally with 10 wins, mostly in the 1980s. DJR/Team Penske driver Fabian Coulthard scored eight wins in Supercars while former NASCAR Cup driver Kurt Busch contributed two victories. Amazingly, two more four-time Indianapolis 500 winners, Helio Castroneves (1) and Al Unser, Sr. (1) round out the 100 wins with one victory each in Shell colors.