NASCAR's official motor oil hopes to strike it rich on 77

When Sam Hornish Jr. begins his rookie season as a Sprint Cup driver at Daytona, he'll have one of the most visible and longest-running sponsors in the field as a partner.

Mobil 1 motor oil, which is the Official Motor Oil of NASCAR, makes its return to primary sponsorship this season with Hornish, who made the jump from Indy cars to stock cars with team owner Roger Penske.

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According to Dermott Ryan, Americas Communications Manager, ExxonMobil Lubricants, the marriage came about neatly when three-time IRL champion Hornish committed to moving up to NASCAR and Mobil 1 was looking to expand its role with Penske Racing.

"We were excited to get back to a primary," Ryan said. "We think it compliments our Official Motor Oil of NASCAR sponsorship and builds on our 17-year relationship with Penske Racing. When Sam Hornish was interested in making the move to NASCAR, we were interested in stepping up, so the timing worked out great."

In a day and age where NASCAR sponsorship runs the gamut of packaged-goods, consumer-based and technical companies, Mobil 1 has been with Penske for a long time and NASCAR for even longer. Aside from some select races as a primary on Ryan Newman's Dodge in recent years, Mobil 1 hasn't been a primary sponsor since the late 1990s.

The sport's demographic base made the decision to bring back the dark blue, red and white paint scheme for 2008, and Mobil 1 is launching its marketing around converting drivers from standard motor oils to the power of synthetic blends.

"We have our own research, which dovetails nicely with some of the work that NASCAR has done, and we looked at how they [NASCAR fans] divided out in terms of level of interest and their motor-oil involvement," Ryan said. "It's a very prime target for us. These folks tend to be automotive enthusiasts; are interested in knowing more about their products.

"We think this is a venue that can be a catalyst that can make Mobil 1 an everyday application. As you know, Mobil 1 is viewed as the ultimate motor oil and used in high-end cars. There's a real opportunity for us to make this an everyday application and have people who use it in their high-end cars use it in all their cars. People who know it's a great product but don't think it's appropriate can use it in their everyday driving, which can be very extreme."

That's not all Mobil 1 is after, either.

"We have a fairly extensive B2B customer hospitality program with our dealer network," Ryan said. "With some of our key customers, we have a platform to talk about new products, programs and initiatives. Lubes and specialties are not just passenger-car related, we also have commercial applications. We have the leading over-the-road Class 8 Truck motor oil, Mobil Delvec. We have a very large and important business for us in industrial lubricants, where we're going after plant machinery and equipment and to provide a full suite of lubrication products for them." (Continued)