Pennzoil leaving Kevin Harvick, RCR, headed to Penske, Kurt Busch
The Pennzoil sponsorship is leaving Richard Childress Racing next year for Penske Racing. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Illustrated
Shell/Pennzoil is leaving Richard Childress Racing and driver Kevin Harvick at the end of the season and will sponsor the No. 22 Sprint Cup car at Penske Racing for 2004 seres champion Kurt Busch beginning in 2011, according to a news release.
Busch, whose current contract with Penske runs out at the end of this year, has signed an extension with the team, and the Shell-Penske deal is a multiyear agreement, according to the Shell news release.
Busch’s current sponsor, Miller Lite, will keep its No. 2 and move to Brad Keselowski, MillerCoors announced Wednesday morning. Keselowski's 2010 car does not have sponsor logos but gets support from Verizon, which cannot be on the hood of a Sprint Cup car because of Sprint’s sponsorship of the series.
Shell/Pennzoil will become the team's official fuel and motor oil supplier, meaning that Mobil is going away since Mobil and Shell are competitors. Mobil sponsors Penske Cup driver Sam Hornish Jr., a three-time Indy Racing League champion who has competed in Sprint Cup since 2008.
Penske Racing spokesman Jonathan Gibson said Wednesday that the organization plans to have new sponsors for Hornish for 2011.
"He's shown a lot of progress in 2010 and our plan is to continue with him in 2011 and beyond," Gibson said. "We've already gotten some partners for Sam, but we'll be ready to announce some others in the next few months for him."
ExxonMobil released a statement indicating it would partner with another organization next year.
"It has been a long and successful relationship, and we wish the Penske team continued success on the track," an ExxonMobil statement said. "Mobil 1 remains 'The Official Motor Oil of NASCAR' and the choice of lubricants for more than 50 percent of the NASCAR teams. ExxonMobil remains fully committed to motorsports and will continue to strongly support Mobil 1 in NASCAR going forward."
Shell/Pennzoil has been with Harvick since 2007, while Busch has been the Miller Lite driver since 2006.
“Kurt is a champion, a great driver and has been an enthusiastic ambassador for Miller Lite over the past four years,” said Andy England, chief marketing officer at MillerCoors. “We want to thank him for that, and we look forward to chasing the 2010 Sprint Cup championship with Kurt and the whole team at Penske Racing.”
The departure of Shell/Pennzoil from RCR leaves that organization, as well as Harvick, looking for a sponsor. Harvick’s contract expires at the end of this year.
