The Penske Sponsorship Patchwork

Great news for fans of IndyCar's most storied team: You will not be seeing much - if any - of the sponsorless black/white/red livery on the #3 & #6 cars this year. Roger Penske has lined up a number of companies that are all willing to share time on the sidepods. 

Series sponsor IZOD has parted with Andretti Autosport, and will be the primary sponsor on the #6 car (driven by Ryan Briscoe) at Indianapolis and "other races" - which/how many still to be decided. Likewise, the #3 car (driven by Helio Castroneves) will sport the colors of petroleum giant Shell at Indianapolis, and AAA (the Automobile Association of America) at "a number of races": again, it's a case of which/how many to be revealed at a later date.

Yesterday came news of even more sponsorships. Automotive paint/finishes giant PPG, a series sponsor of CART back in the 80's, will be featured on Briscoe's car for three races in '11. Furthermore, Guidepoint Systems, a vehicle tracking service, will grace the sides of Helio's car for five races and Ryan's car for two.

Owing to the 'still to be determined' nature of IZOD's and AAA's commitments, it is not yet clear whether all of the races in the '11 IndyCar Series season are covered at this point.

All of the above mentioned companies will be associate sponsors on all three Team Penske cars throughout the season.

As per last year, the #12 car, driven by '10 championship runner-up Will Power, will have full-season sponsorship from telecommunications giant Verizon.