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May 26-28, 2023 | Indianapolis, IN | 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500

Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet team won the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500! The massive win capped off a month full of activity, all centered around the Powering Progress campaign featuring sustainability and the use of 100% renewable race fuel.

We activated several events, including an intimate media day on May 19th where Shell and Pennzoil engineers received the Louis Schwitzer Award for fuel innovation, extensive downtown branding, attending the 2023 IMS Hall of Fame induction ceremony, involvement in the famous Indy 500 parade, a customer panel, VIP experiences at the race, and of course - the win celebrations!

Guests received the ultimate weekend and witnessed Roger Penske’s impressive 19th Indy 500 win. A few hundred miles away, Pennzoil completed the weekend sweep with Ryan Blaney’s win at NASCAR’s longest race - the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, NC. That makes for 1,100 miles won and powered by Pennzoil.

• “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” delivered 13 Share Percentage of homes watching live, Best in 15 Years, and Most-Watched Sunday Afternoon Telecast on NBC Since June 2022.

• The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge was the second most attended race day in more than two decades, with more than 330,000 fans on site. 

• Strongest performing Indy 500 in INDYCAR social media history.

• The margin of victory was .0974 of a second, the fourth-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.

• 14 different drivers led at least one lap, tying with 2013 for the second-highest total in “500” history. The record is 15 drivers in 2017 and 2018.

Media Engagement on May 19th

BorgWarner presented its annual award for innovation at the Indianapolis 500 to the three engineers from Shell-Pennzoil who developed the new 100% renewable fuel that has powered the entire NTT IndyCar Series field since the onset of 2023.

The Louis Schwitzer Award was given to Selda Gunsel, Ph.D., Bassem Kheireddin, Ph.D. and Jung Fang, Ph.D., with Kheireddin receiving the award on behalf of his colleagues and company.

Shell and Pennzoil Engineers Receive the Louis Schwitzer Award for Fuel Innovation

Earned by developing the 100% renewable race fuel for the INDYCAR series.

Powering Progress Paint Scheme

Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Powering Progress Chevrolet was featured all May at IMS, but looked particularly special in victory lane. The custom paint scheme matched the national TV commercial and the city-wide branding found throughout downtown Indianapolis.

National TV Commercial featuring the Powering Progress Campaign

At Shell, we’re finding ways to bring energy to more people in more ways every day, so that all of us can be a part of the changing energy system. Because Powering Progress means providing more and cleaner energy across the country. To meet the needs of today and tomorrow,  we’re moving forward with everybody - from INDYCAR, to the Houston Dash, to small business owners and beyond.

We’re excited to tell some of these stories, including the story of our 100% Renewable Race Fuel that’s powering all NTT IndyCar series races in the 2023 US brand campaign. We were happy to partner with Team Penske and the No. 2 Chevrolet Powering Progress Shell car driven by Josef Newgarden in the first of our 2023 television commercials.

We also surrounded the 107th running of the Indy 500 with Out of Home signage in downtown Indianapolis. It was an incredible moment to launch the campaign and we invite you to see the links to the TVC, OOH signage, website, and deeper dive into “what is Renewable Race Fuel” which can be found below…”

Downtown Indianapolis Branding featuring the Powering Progress Campaign

We guided an innovative approach to out-of-home advertising during the month of May in downtown Indianapolis leveraging massive building wraps and integrated branding where the most engaged audience is based. This favored traditional out-of-home billboards located further away, which would not have had the same impact. The branding featured the Indy 500-winning paint scheme, which also featured on the national TV commercial that underscored the fully integrated campaign.

We showcased the locations to guests on the way to the parade and Saturday dinner. Printouts (shown below) were included in the guest room drops and at the customer panel that mapped everything out.

Josef Newgarden Wins the 2023 Indy 500!

WITH THE SHELL POWERING PROGRESS CHEVROLET

The success on track resulted in wide-reaching mainstream media coverage around the world, with additional commercial spots produced by Shell.

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Featuring Tim Cindric from Team Penske

Our first meetup of race weekend was at a private reception ahead of IMS’s Hall of Induction ceremony, where guests got to see Team Penske’s very own Tim Cindric become inducted into the Hall of Fame along with the former owner of IMS, Tony George. The night put Shell and Team Penske’s extensive heritage into context for what ultimately became an unforgettable weekend.

Guests included Shell, Penske Corporation and Team Penske leadership in addition to hosted customers and wholesalers.

Powering Progress Customer Panel with Leadership and Team Penske

Saturday afternoon allowed for a deeper look into the different activities integrated with the Powering Progress campaign. The panel began with a Q&A session with the three Team Penske drivers, facilitated by Machteld De Haan. Guests had a chance to chat with the drivers, take photos, and get a few things signed - just 48 hours later it would be signed by the 2023 Indy 500 champion in Josef Newgarden.

The panel continued with a discussion around the 100% renewable fuel itself that featured insights from Richardo Mussa of Raizen and Selda Gunsel of Shell - leads on the fuel’s scientific development. This panel also continued to look forward with members of the Brazilian Pato a Jato Eco-marathon team that competed at Shell Eco-marathon America's at IMS in April 2023.

Guests also got a sneak peak at Shell’s national TV commercial featuring INDYCAR, Josef and the Powering Progress Chevrolet. The :30 second spot was played nine times during the Indy 500 broadcast and will continue throughout 2023.

Private Dinner at St. Elmo’s Steakhouse

St. Elmo’s Steakhouse is a legendary Indianapolis institution as full of history as the Speedway itself. We hosted guests at a private dining experience Saturday evening.

Brad Paisley Concert

For some fun outside of racing, we treated guests to tickets to the Brad Paisley concert on Saturday night.

Grid Access at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing

Our group got to access all the best and most exclusive experiences the Indy 500 had to offer. We facilitated safe and controlled visits to the pit lane and grid and had unique access to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway thanks to the ever-expanding business relationship with Penske Corporation.

VIP Pace Car Ride for Pablo Di Si, CEO of Volkswagon Americas

One of our very special guests got treated to a very special experience minutes before the start of the Indy 500. He got a hot lap in the official pace car of the event - driven by the one and only Doug Boles, President of IMS.

Powering Progress Paint Scheme

Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Powering Progress Chevrolet was featured all May at IMS, but looked particularly special in victory lane. The custom paint scheme matched the national TV commercial and the city-wide branding found throughout downtown Indianapolis.

Victory Lane with Josef Newgarden

Our group got to celebrate right alongside the team in one of the most famous victory lanes in the world. Right after watching Josef cross the bricks, we went right over to be with the team and take photos together.

Post-Race Victory Toast at the Hotel

After a full day at the race track and celebrating with the champ in victory lane, we continued the celebration with a themed party room and champagne toast upon returning to the hotel. The toast was anchored by Shell Energy leader, Glenn Wright. The original plan was to watch NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 but with that event being rained out, we enjoyed an encore presentation of the Indy 500.

Josef Newgarden Wins the 2023 Indy 500!

With the shell Powering progress Chevrolet

The 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 ended in a final lap pass for the win that propelled Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet team to the Winner’s Circle to celebrate Newgarden’s first Indy 500 win and Team Penske’s record-extending 19th triumph.  When the No. 2 crossed the yard of bricks, it resulted in a win for Newgarden and Team Penske, and unlocked key milestones for Team Penske partners and crew members.

Team Penske and team owner Roger Penske became the first team to win the Indianapolis 500 INDYCAR race and Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race on the same weekend.

The success on track resulted in wide-reaching mainstream media coverage around the world, with additional commercial spots produced by Shell.

Visiting the Nasdaq

Josef Newgarden and three representatives from Shell visited the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square to ring the opening. Also celebrating the occasion was an Indy 500 themed showcar in Times Square for photos and fan engagement.

100 Wins Between Shell and Team Penske

Since 1983, Shell-Pennzoil and Team Penske have collected 100 wins across points-paying races in NASCAR, INDYCAR, SuperCars, CART IndyCar and USAC. Eight different Team Penske drivers have contributed to the overall success by securing victories at 38 tracks across the globe.

It was fitting for the partnership to earn its 100th win as the primary sponsor in the Indianapolis 500, which also marks Roger Penske’s 19th Indy 500 victory.

Leveraged TVC on Live National Broadcast During Indy 500

Activated Across High-Impact Units for the 2 Weeks Leading Up to the Race

Search Ads and Tailored Keywords Continued Momentum

Renewable Race Fuel Messaging Drove the Most Traffic Since Launch