Well-known tobacco company Philip Morris USA is officially gone from Team Penske, which means the famous day-glo orange-and-white livery is gone from Indy-car racing, too. Team Penske officials confirmed the end of the 20-year association on Tuesday, when the Izod IndyCar Series convened in Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park for its first open test of the season.
"It's the end of an era," team president Tim Cindric said.
Roger Penske's organization picked up Philip Morris's Marlboro brand as a sponsor for the 1990 CART season on the cars driven by Emerson Fittipaldi--who used the colors in 1989 when he won the Indianapolis 500 for Patrick Racing--and Danny Sullivan. Rick Mears's car soon had the backing, too, and the livery was used in the years to come by Al Unser Jr., Paul Tracy, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr., Ryan Briscoe and others. The change comes as part of federal advertising guidelines imposed on tobacco companies. Penske's new livery features the same colors, but they are used in different amounts and places, with black being the prominent color. The day-glo is still prevalent, per Penske's orders, but the overall scheme is jarring after seeing the famous Marlboro livery for so long. Penske himself designed this new appearance, Cindric said. "He's got a pretty good eye for knowing what looks good," Cindric said of his boss. The team will field cars this year for Castroneves, Briscoe and Will Power, who ran a partial schedule for Penske last year with Verizon sponsorship. The cellular network provider is now featured on all three cars. Penske has a host of secondary sponsors to meet its budget, but Cindric said primary sponsors could come on board during the upcoming season. That means it might not be 20 years before the colors change again.
This was information from Autoweekracing.com
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