Day 3: Team Penske Adds Sponsors, More Races for Blaney

By Ron Lemasters Jr.

CHARLOTTE -- Team Penske announced today that 20-year-old Ryan Blaney will expand his driving duties for its championship-winning program beginning in 2014. The third-generation driver will compete in 15 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) races with Team Penske in 2014 and will also make his debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS), running at least two events behind the wheel of the No. 12 SKF Ford Fusion with the first coming at Kansas Speedway in May.

Blaney’s first Nationwide Series start of 2014 is scheduled to come at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 22.  The remainder of his NNS schedule will be announced at a later date. In addition to Kansas, Blaney’s other scheduled Sprint Cup Series start will come at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

“I am excited to continue my racing career with Team Penske,” said Blaney, who’s earned one win, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 10 starts behind the wheel of the No. 22 over the last two years. “I’m really looking forward to racing more in the Nationwide Series and it will be a dream come true for me to race in the Sprint Cup Series. I want to thank Roger Penske, our team sponsors and everyone at Team Penske for this opportunity and for believing in me.”

In addition to his expanded schedule for Team Penske this season, Blaney will also continue to race full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR), the team owned by Blaney’s Team Penske teammate. Blaney, the son of Sprint Cup Series driver Dave Blaney, has produced two wins, one pole and 16 top-10 finishes in 28 Truck Series races for the BKR team over the last two seasons. He finished sixth in the series point standings last season.

“We believe Ryan is one of the most promising young drivers in NASCAR and we want to continue his growth and development with Team Penske,” said team owner Roger Penske. “Ryan’s win at Kentucky in the No. 22 car last year showed what he is capable of and we hope to experience many more moments in Victory Lane with him in the coming seasons.”

On the sponsor side, Penske added multi-year agreements with EnerSys and Gulfstream.

Team Penske and EnerSys announced today a multi-year agreement that will call for EnerSys to become an Official Partner of Team Penske beginning in 2014. EnerSys will become an integral partner with Team Penske and will have its ODYSSEY Battery brand on the b-post of the No. 22 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) Ford Mustang beginning in Daytona.

EnerSys is the largest industrial battery manufacturer in the world, operating manufacturing and assembly facilities worldwide for customers in over 100 countries with worldwide headquarters located in Reading, Pennsylvania and regional headquarters in Europe and Asia. EnerSys is positioned to provide expertise in designing, building, installing and maintaining a comprehensive stored energy solution for industrial applications throughout the world. 

The company's products and services are focused on three primary markets - motive power, reserve power and aerospace & defense.  Commonly known EnerSys® brands include PowerSafe®, Genesis®, ODYSSEY® Battery, Ironclad® and General Battery™ brands among many others.

The agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., manufacturer of the world’s most technologically advanced business aircraft will create unique cross-promotional opportunities between the two organizations. 

“It is an honor to bring Gulfstream into our organization as a new partner,” said Roger Penske. “I am very familiar with their business and Gulfstream is a world-class organization. We look forward to building a unique relationship with Gulfstream that has immense benefits on both sides.”

“Team Penske is one of the most successful organizations in sports,” said Scott Neal, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales and Marketing, Gulfstream.  “Like Gulfstream, the team is known for its reliability, efficiency, speed and teamwork.  So this is a natural fit – one great brand supporting another.”