Penske Begins Post-Marlboro Era

March 1st, 2010

LEEDS, Ala. — One of the most successful relationships in auto racing history ended as Philip Morris is no longer the sponsor of Team Penske in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

In order to satisfy a ban on tobacco sponsorship in the United States that was originally instituted by the Attorneys General of various states in 2000, known as the Master Agreement, the final part of that ban goes into effect in June. And while Marlboro decals have not been on the Penske cars since that team left CART at the end of 2001 and joined the IndyCar Series fulltime in 2002, the paint scheme itself was enough to remind race fans of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

Feb. 23 marked the first official day of a new paint scheme — one that is predominantly black with red striping along with some white on the top of the car.

“This marks the end of an era,” said Team Penske President Tim Cindric. “When I look at the red-and-white era of Team Penske, this is the first time since 1990 that our team hasn’t had the red-and-white colors. There are a lot of changes for us internally, but hopefully we will represent ourselves with the same success that we’ve had before.

“Philip Morris will no longer sponsor the Team Penske cars and this is the first time that we haven’t had a Marlboro association since 1990.”

For two decades, the red-and-white paint scheme at Team Penske represented excellence in auto racing. It was the famed Marlboro paint scheme, which originally was used in Formula One, but as sponsor Philip Morris increased its involved in CART in the mid-1980s before joining Penske in 1990 the mere site of race cars with that paint scheme meant “winning.”

Drivers such as Rick Mears, Al Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser, Jr., Paul Tracy, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. drove to victory in Marlboro-sponsored cars at Team Penske.

While Verizon Wireless will be the full sponsor on Will Power’s car and will have decals on all three, the team is actually looking for a new primary sponsor to replace Philip Morris.

According to Cindric, all three cars are fully funded for the 2010 season, but a new sponsor is being sought for 2011. But the team has an association with Altria Engagement Services, which works across all of its racing platforms.

“Like everything we do at Penske, it’s pretty complicated,” Cindric said. “We’ve had some time to plan for this. It’s an ever-changing legal environment for Philip Morris. From our aspect we put together a business plan this year that works. In the meantime, we are going to actively pursue primary sponsorship beyond 2010 and even this year you might see the cars look a little different in a race or two.”