OCTOBER 7, 2006

Shell to up its profile in the United States

GM Goodwrench is believed to be cutting back on its NASCAR sponsorship of Richard Childress Racing at the end of the current season.

GM Goodwrench, Dale Earnhardt's primary sponsor between 1988 and his death in 2001, is believed to be cutting back on its sponsorship of Richard Childress Racing at the end of the current season, as the company looks more and more to controlling its spending in the face of serious economic problems. In recent years the car - driven by Kevin Harvick after Earnhardt's death - has been GM Goodwrench black at most races but switches to the gold of Reese's candy in a selection of others. The word now is that next year the cars will have new primary sponsorship from Shell Oil. The Anglo-Dutch company was heavily involved with Bobby Rahal in CART some years ago but has only had one notable deal in NASCAR in the modern era, a Busch Series deal with Tony Stewart in 1998.

Shell is heavily involved in golf with sponsorship for the Houston Open and is also involved with Ecomarathons, developing new fuel technologies for the future, but in racing it has long concentrated its efforts on Ferrari in Formula 1 and Ducati in motorcycle racing.