Deke Houlgate Enterprises makes announcement.

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 1996--There is more than one sea change taking place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year.

Advent of the Indy Racing League is obviously a revolution in the making, but no less significant is the changing of the guard between Valvoline and Pennzoil as the official motor oil of the Indy 500 and the IRL.

Pennzoil, which came into Indy car racing in 1979 with a "one car, that's all" philosophy, is becoming a dominant character in the Indy 500 drama that has taken center stage this month at the two-and-a-half-mile oval.

Pennzoil decals, which once were restricted to the flanks of one team's cars, are popping up everywhere in the pits during practice for the Indianapolis 500 on May 28. So far, 19 of the 77 registered cars have contracted to use Pennzoil motor oil in the race, if they qualify, and Jim Reynolds, the speedway official who is overseeing the oil change, expects as many as 24 or 25 cars in the race to be lined up with the oil company associated with the color yellow in motor racing.

"Many of the teams here have come to Pennzoil saying, `We feel like you are supporting racing at the speedway, and we owe you our appreciation,'" Reynolds reported.

Some, like A.J. Foyt, who has four cars entered in the 500, remain loyal to Valvoline and still display its logo on the track, and two other oil companies have contracts with entered drivers--Mobil I and Quaker State.

The incentive to cross over to Pennzoil includes $13,000 in contingency prize money, with $10,000 going to the race winner, and free fuel service all month long. The fuel bill for one car can be $5,500 or more and an additional $1,600 for a backup car, just for this one race.

Overseeing the changeover is Jim Reynolds, newly appointed manager of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Racing Services, who celebrated his 25th anniversary as a Valvoline employee in March and left that company a month later to take his job here. He supervises a crew of six that includes Nelson Stewart, father of rookie star Tony Stewart of Indianapolis.

Heading the list of new Penzoil drivers are Roberto Guerrero of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., whose WavePhore-Pennzoil Reynard Ford is a race favorite, and Arie Luyendyk of Scottsdale, Ariz., whose Treadway Racing Reynard Ford also appears on the short list of race favorites.

Everything is happening so fast that Pennzoil racing manager Dale Rush is hard pressed to keep the newly aligned teams supplied with patches for their uniforms and decals for their cars. Each day starts suspensefully, with his staff tracking shipments of advertising symbols, logos and cases of product the aligned teams are clamoring for.

Reynolds, meanwhile, spends part of each day taking a gentle ribbing from his friends in racing who note that the color of his work shirt has changed from dark blue to yellow, identifying him with Pennzoil.

CONTACT: Deke Houlgate Enterprises, 310/540-5001

or

In Indianapolis, 317/237-0453