NASCAR: Joey Logano avoids key Kyle Busch problem

Shell-Pennzoil signed a multi-year contract extension with Team Penske on Thursday, a deal that has both NASCAR and IndyCar implications.

Longtime partner Shell-Pennzoil signed a multi-year contract extension with Team Penske, the team announced Thursday. This new deal includes aspects pertaining to the organization’s NASCAR and IndyCar teams.

On the NASCAR side, Shell-Pennzoil is set to continue to serve as the primary sponsor of Joey Logano’s #22 Ford for the overwhelming majority of each Cup Series season. The brand has been the primary sponsor of the #22 car going back to 2011. Logano joined the team in 2013.

This deal did not include official confirmation of an extension for Logano, who has been signed through the 2023 season since the start of the 2017 season.

However, a contract extension for the 32-year-old Middletown, Connecticut native is effectively seen as a formality with primary sponsorship now secured on a multi-year deal for at least 30 races per season.

There is no reason for the team not to bring back the 2018 series champion, whose 11-year winning streak is tied for the second longest active streak.

As we have all seen many times in the past, most recently with the uncertainty surrounding Kyle Busch’s future, sponsorship is arguably the most important aspect of the sport.

That’s why this new deal with Shell-Pennzoil, as opposed to a Logano extension, was considered the priority by both team owner Roger Penske and even Logano, a 28-time winner at the Cup level, himself.

Busch’s longtime primary sponsor, M&M’s, announced before the 2022 season began that it would be their final season in the Cup Series, leaving the #18 Toyota without a primary sponsor for 2023.

Despite the fact that Busch, who has won at least one race in a record-tying 18 straight seasons, is a two-time Cup Series champion with 60 wins, ninth most all-time and tops among active drivers, he admitted that it could very well be “goodbye” from Joe Gibbs Racing, perhaps even the Cup Series as a whole, without significant sponsorship money to fill the void left by M&M’s.

As for the IndyCar side of this deal, Shell is set to continue sponsoring the #2 Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden and Pennzoil is set to continue sponsoring the #3 Chevrolet of Scott McLaughlin. In addition to the team, Penske also owns both the NTT IndyCar Series itself as well as Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and beginning in 2023, Shell is set to replace Speedway as the official fuel of IndyCar.