Shell Racing Fast Facts

Shell leverages motorsport technical alliances to test our fuels and lubricants technology and products in the demanding conditions of the racetrack. Much of the technical knowledge we gain is transferred from the track to the road.

Shell employees are motorsports fans, as are the customers of our many fuel and lubricants brands. Because of their spirit, passion and love for the sport, we have worked hard to find the perfect opportunities to showcase and test our products, and we know we’ve found it with the various teams we are aligned with.

Shell currently has several multi-year motorsport technical co-operations in place, including the following:

• Ferrari in Formula 1 - opens in new window
• Audi Sport in Le Mans/Endurance Racing - opens in new window
• Ducati in MotoGP - opens in new window
• Richard Childress - opens in new window

Shell has aligned with race teams since the 1920’s, and some of our highlights include:

• Powered Ferrari’s Formula One team to eight FIA Constructors’ Championships in the last eight years.
• Partnered with Ducati Corse to take seven World SBK Manufacturer’s Championships plus the first ever MotoGP rider and manufacturer championship in 2007, and again in 2008.
• Helped Audi make history, as the R10 became the first diesel-powered car ever to win the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2006 and followed that up with wins in 2007 and 2008 – making it three straight.
• Racing lubricants made with Pennzoil technology were in the engine of the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship-winning car driven by Kurt Busch with Roush Racing.
• Teamed with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) as the primary sponsor of the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil car driven by Kevin Harvick to mark the Shell brands re-entry into NASCAR in 2007. Shell and its family of brands also support all RCR race teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series including Cup teammates Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears and Jeff Burton.
• Won the prestigious Daytona 500 in our return to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2007 with RCR and driver Kevin Harvick.
• Racing lubricants made with Quaker State technology were in the engines that helped Jimmie Johnson make history by becoming the first NASCAR driver to capture four straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).  Also, Hendrick Motorsports scored the first ever 1-2-3 points finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordon occupying those positions.

NASCAR

Shell began its relationship with NASCAR in 1992, becoming a sponsor with Joe Gibbs Racing. After starting as an associate sponsor with the team’s Sprint Cup Series program, Shell became a primary sponsor for the Joe Gibbs Racing Nationwide Series program. Shell experienced its first NASCAR victory when Bobby Labonte won the Opryland 320 in 1996.

In 1995, Shell became one of the first sponsors for the newly formed Joe Gibbs Racing-NHRA Division, with both a Top Fuel Dragster and a Funny Car. Despite starting from scratch, the team had experienced personnel and used engine oil specially formulated by Shell to help the Dragster finish second and the Funny Car third in points in their first years on the circuit.

In 1998, Shell began a marketing alliance with Texaco. At this time, the Shell name moved out of NASCAR, however the company remained intimately involved in the sport, managing the Texaco alliance with Robert Yates Racing.

Pennzoil has been involved with NASCAR since 1991, and was an associate sponsor of Roush Racing’s Sprint Cup Series Program from 2004 through 2006.

Kurt Busch’s No. 97 engine ran motor oil with Pennzoil racing technology when he captured the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship in 2004. All five Roush drivers were in the 2005 “Chase for the Championship” with Pennzoil racing oil in their engines.

Mark Martin and 2003 Cup Series Champion Matt Kenseth won multiple times in NASCAR with Pennzoil racing oil in their engines.

In 2005 and 2006, Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin drove the Pennzoil Platinum car at select NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

Quaker State motor oils owe their high-performance excellence, in part, to testing and specific product feedback from some of racing’s best. Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon came within a few points of the Sprint Cup Series championship with Quaker State motor oil technology in their engines in 2004 and 2005. Now, Jimmie has notched a place in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history by winning four consecutive championships in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He is the first  driver in the history of the sport to accomplish this monumental feat.

Shell Rotella T sponsored the No. 85 Morgan-Dollar Motorsports race truck and driver, Dennis Setzer, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as a primary sponsor in seven events and as an associate sponsor in 18 events.

The 2007 season marked the return of Shell-Pennzoil as a primary sponsor in NASCAR. After a successful inaugural year working with Richard Childress Racing, all of the RCR teams that competed in 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series competition again raced with Pennzoil  technology in their engines, scoring a total of five wins. Clint Bowyer captured the Nationwide Series drivers’ championship for RCR powered by Pennzoil technology.

RCR was the only top-tier NASCAR Sprint Cup organization to get all of its teams into the NASCAR Sprint Cup “Chase for the Championship” in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Working closely with RCR throughout the past three seasons has allowed Shell engineers to develop motor oil formulations that help maximize horsepower and engine reliability for the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil car driven by Kevin Harvick and all of the RCR teams.