By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(June 3, 2011)
KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Last year’s change in ownership of STP was great news for Richard Petty and better news for NASCAR racing in general.
Freed from the limitations that constrained STP’s participation in the motorsports marketplace after the fuel additive was purchased by Clorox in 1998, STP is back with a vengeance—sponsoring races and adorning the No. 43 Ford of AJ Allmendinger for Sunday’s STP 400 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
STP sponsored the cars Petty drove and owned from 1972 through 2000. Though the primary sponsorship ceased under the Clorox ownership—save for two races in 2006—Petty has maintained an unbroken personal services agreement with the company.
“It’s interesting, because STP, for the better part of the last 11 years, was part of a big conglomerate,” said Jon Paluga, vice president of marketing for Armored AutoGroup, which acquired STP from Clorox last year. “That conglomerate was focused on everything from salad dressings to charcoal to cleaning toilets.
“But now, since last November, STP, along with Armor All, are owned by the Armored AutoGroup. So we’re under new ownership, and we’re entirely focused on car care. And one of the first things the new management said is, ‘Hey, we’ve got to restore STP’s rich racing heritage.’ ”
Allmendinger’s car sports the traditional red and blue paint scheme that characterized Petty’s car from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. Disagreement over the color of the car, however, almost killed the impending sponsorship when Petty and STP CEO Andy Granatelli were negotiating 39 years ago.
“We had a little trouble with the color of the car when we first got with Andy and STP,” Petty said. “He wanted it red, and I wanted it blue, and we were both stubborn, and we finally ended up doing a half-and half deal.”
Allmendinger considers it a privilege to drive the No. 43, the car number Petty drove to his seven Cup championships
“I wake up every day, and I feel very fortunate to be able to get in the 43 and to have such a huge fan base when it comes to the number and the history of NASCAR,” Allmendinger said. “I think it just comes full circle now, to be driving the iconic 43 and now to have the paint scheme that especially all the old-school fans looked at and loved as they grew up and watched the King.”
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