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Valvoline, Don Schumacher Racing extend marketing partnership in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
BROWNSBURG, Ind. (March 9, 2012) - Valvoline and Don Schumacher Racing today announced they have extended their marketing partnership in NHRA drag racing with a multiyear agreement.
The iconic oil brand has been affiliated with the biggest team in professional drag racing since 2006, and Valvoline has a racing heritage that draws on over 100 years of on-track success.
DSR has won 94 National Hot Rod Association national event titles and five NHRA series championships since beginning its major partnership with Valvoline.
"We've enjoyed winning both on and off the track with DSR. Now that the team is actually racing and winning with our new NextGen™ recycled oil technology, they have become a powerful proof point for consumers who are considering NextGen," said Rob Clendening, Valvoline brand manager.
"The team spent the first half of 2011 validating NextGen technology for use in those 8,000 horsepower monsters, and then DSR made the choice to switch from their regular Valvoline formula."
Valvoline, a brand of Ashland Inc., is featuring its NextGen oil brand as the primary sponsor of the DSR Funny Car driven by Jack Beckman, who along with veteran crew chief Rahn Tobler, placed second in last year's NHRA Funny Car standings in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Valvoline also is an associate sponsor on the other six teams at DSR including seven-time NHRA world champion Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown and Spencer Massey in Top Fuel, and reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan, Ron Capps and Johnny Gray in Funny Car. In addition to branding, Valvoline will continue to supply NextGen for use in all DSR race cars.
Valvoline's NextGen is the first premium recycled motor oil, with 50% recycled base oil and 100% of normal Valvoline protection. NextGen starts from a place better than crude oil because used oil has less contaminants and more oil molecules than crude oil used in making new oil. Using the same refining processes as crude, Valvoline adds its proven additive package to create a formula that exceeds industry specifications and delivers the same Valvoline protection.
And the technology isso good a legendary drag racing crew chief like Tobler used a blend of NextGen to help Beckman win three NHRA titles last year with their 8,000-horsepower Valvoline NextGen Funny Car.
The team set an NHRA national speed record last year with a top speed of 318.99 mph and two races later posted the team's quickest time ever at 4.039 seconds.
"We started using Valvoline NextGen toward the beginning of last year and it's worked great," Tobler says. "Our parts look good after runs. The results have been real good."
"The NHRA is more than just a 300 mph lab for NextGen," adds Clendening, "it continues to be a sport that fits our brand and core consumers extremely well."
"My relationship with Valvoline goes back to the mid-1990s with my Sportsman drag car when I would go to the store and buy my own oil," said Beckman, who uses Valvoline NextGen in his truck that has 250,000 miles and PT Cruiser that has 140,000.
"That I get to represent Valvoline - whose products I believe in - has been amazing, and that they are satisfied with how DSR performs and represents Valvoline is unbelievably gratifying.
"Knowing there is a company that I've believed in for so long and that they also believe in us makes it a perfect relationship."
Valvoline's legacy with team owner Don Schumacher goes back more than four decades to when Schumacher was a pioneer owner and driver in Funny Cars.
"I used Valvoline in my personal race cars back in the 1960s," Schumacher says.
"Valvoline worked flawlessly then and it does now. And with today's advanced technology, Valvoline has provided us with products that continue to help our teams perform at the highest level.
"Valvoline technology helps to give our race cars additional horsepower and extends the life of our parts. In my personal vehicles, the added performance is the same."
About Valvoline
Valvoline, a brand of Ashland Inc., has been serving American motorists longer than any other motor oil. The Valvoline family of products includes Eagle One™ appearance products, Car Brite™ car restoration products, Zerex™ antifreeze, SynPower™ performance products, MaxLife™ products created for higher-mileage engines and NextGen™ motor oil, created with 50 percent recycled oil. With more than 820 locations throughout the United States, Valvoline Instant Oil Change™ is a leader in serving the quick lube market.
About Don Schumacher Racing
Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered in Brownsburg, Ind., consists of seven professional NHRA teams: in Top Fuel, the U.S. Army dragster driven by seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, the FRAM/Prestone dragster of Spencer Massey and the Matco Tools dragster of Antron Brown; and in Funny Car, 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the Aaron's Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T, Valvoline NextGen Dodge piloted by Jack Beckman, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge of Ron Capps and the Service Central Dodge of Johnny Gray. DSR has won 176 NHRA national event titles and nine world championships.
