Team Penske has announced that SKF has agreed to a multi-year extension with the team that will expand SKF’s technical alliance and continue its associate sponsorship of the team’s entries in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS), NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) and Verizon IndyCar Series.
A Team Penske sponsor since the beginning of the 2012 season, SKF will continue to be a featured partner on the #2 Miller Lite Ford and the #22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford in the Sprint Cup Series, the #22 Discount Tire Ford in the Nationwide Series and the #3 Hitachi Chevrolet in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
SKF will also serve as a primary sponsor for both drivers Juan Pablo Montoya at Michigan International Speedway on June 15th and Ryan Blaney at Talladega Superspeedway in the Sprint Cup Series in 2014.
In addition, SKF will expand its technical support to the team as it provides both product and advanced engineering consulting and services. As speeds and downforce levels have continued to rise in racing so have the demands on critical components.
Through the relationship with SKF, Team Penske has been able to push the limits of vital driveline components to reduce friction without sacrificing durability.
“SKF has proven to be an important partner of our organization since they first came on board in 2012,” said Roger Penske. “That was evident during our Sprint Cup Series championship run in 2012 and again during our transition to Ford Racing in 2013. We were able to maintain the high level of performance that we expect and a big part of that is because of companies like SKF and what they bring to the table. With the improvement in our qualifying performances this season, it only increases the value of our partnership with SKF and expanding our development projects means even more opportunities down the road for Team Penske.”
SKF has also been able to establish meaningful relationships with other Team Penske partners that have opened the lines of communication towards generating significant business-to-business opportunities.
“The focus on technology, teamwork and business excellence principles is fully aligned between our groups. We share a culture of winning which is why our partnership works so well together, both on the track and in our business-to-business relationships,” said SKF Group CEO, Tom Johnstone. “Our expanded Penske technical partnership is part of a greater commitment to providing more in-depth, localized technical support and development to our North American partners.”
SKF and Team Penske have over 25 different application and development projects, drawing from all five of SKF’s technology competence areas: bearings, seals, lubrication, mechatronics and services.
