One of the longest-running partnerships in motorsports will reach 40 years and beyond as Team Penske and PPG have announced a multi-year extension of their agreement across the team’s NASCAR® and INDYCAR® programs.
The distinct and popular blue-and-white PPG paint scheme will continue in NTT INDYCAR SERIES (NICS) competition as two-time NICS champion Josef Newgarden will race the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet in 2023 and into the future. PPG will also continue to serve as an associate partner on the No. 12 Chevrolet driven by reigning NICS Champion Will Power and the No. 3 Chevrolet driven by title contender Scott McLaughlin.
Under the new agreement, PPG will also return as a Team Penske partner in the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS), serving as an associate sponsor of the No. 2 Ford Mustang driven by Austin Cindric, the No. 12 Ford Mustang driven by Ryan Blaney and the No. 22 Ford Mustang driven by defending Cup Series Champion Joey Logano.
“Team Penske and PPG have been the model of business-to-business partnerships for over 30 years,” said Team Penske President Tim Cindric. “We are entering our fourth decade together and we take great pride in the successes we have had together with PPG on and off the race track. Our vision for the future remains aligned across all of our businesses, while we continue to strive to add more iconic paint schemes to our storied on-track legacy.”
The Team Penske and PPG partnership began with the 1984 INDYCAR SERIES season. Over the last 40 years, Team Penske and PPG have visited victory lane together 12 times across INDYCAR and NASCAR competition. Last season, Newgarden drove the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet to victories at Texas Motor Speedway, Road America and World Wide Technology Raceway. Among Newgarden’s 25 career NICS wins, five have come while racing in the PPG colors.
“I love getting behind the wheel of the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet,” said Newgarden, defending winner of the PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. “The beautiful paint scheme is a fan favorite and we always deliver strong results when PPG is on the car. We appreciate the outstanding support of PPG at the track and seeing their employees and guests root us on always helps us take it to another level on race weekends.”
PPG has also leveraged its partnership with Team Penske to grow its community engagement initiatives, including the COLORFUL COMMUNITIES® program. Most recently, Team Penske’s INDYCAR and NASCAR drivers helped support PPG’s enhancement of the Hawthorne Community Center in Indianapolis to make a positive and lasting impact in the local community.
“PPG has provided paint for Team Penske cars since 1984, and our relationship has flourished ever since,” said Bill Shaw, PPG director, strategic sales, Automotive Refinish. “We are so excited to be renewing our sponsorship and to have Josef driving the No. 2 PPG Chevy at the PPG 375 is just a great way to start the season.”
Shaw said PPG first connected with Team Penske owner Roger Penske when PPG was the title sponsor of the INDYCAR series. That relationship evolved into a direct sponsorship of Team Penske.
“They are a very successful racing team, and being involved with them has been very successful for us,” Shaw said.
In addition to its race teams, Penske Corporation has a lot of business units that require architectural and automotive refinish coatings, resulting in a strong business-to-business relationship. Some of those solutions translate to racing as well, Shaw said. For instance, PPG developed a key component of the Aeroscreen used in all INDYCAR race cars since 2020.
“That helped PPG to help the whole sport,” Shaw said. “It’s a very exciting partnership, and we are excited to see the next 40 years growing even better.”
Source: PPG
