XPEL Retains Penske’s IndyCars Penske Good Till The Inexperienced Flag Drops

In the event you’ve used social media in racing circles earlier than, there’s a very good likelihood you’ve heard the phrase “Penske Good.” Mainly, it refers back to the completely meticulous method Roger Penske manages his racing groups: every part from crews outfitted in pressed polos to the cleanliness of the golf carts utilized by the group to shuttle personnel round. However on the 2023 Hy-Vee IndyCar race weekend at Iowa Speedway, I discovered that the Penske Good extends even so far as its sponsors. On this case, that sponsor is XPEL.

Full Disclosure: XPEL hosted me on the Hy-Vee IndyCar weekend at Iowa, the place they put me up in a stunning lodge and let me unfastened to terrorize the race observe.

XPEL affords protecting movies and coatings for every part out of your automobiles to your own home’s home windows, and in the meanwhile, the corporate is the first sponsor of Group Penske No. 3 driver Scott McLaughlin for a handful of races. A part of that deal really contains using XPEL’s protecting movie on McLaughlin’s race automotive.

Racing is a sport the place the most minute margins are the distinction between success and failure— so it was a bit shocking for me to be taught {that a} group would willingly apply an extra layer of movie, realizing that the additional grams of weight it could add may very well be the distinction between a win and ending outdoors of the highest 5. In actual fact, I had a possibility to tour Dale Coyne Racing’s storage in the course of the Indy 500 weekend, the place I discovered that all of its automobiles is definitely hand painted, since a skinny coat of paint really weighs lower than a wrap. These are the type of margins we’re speaking about. A transparent protecting movie appears antithetical to all the Penske mission.

I ought to have identified higher. Over the weekend, I discovered that the protecting coating has a professional, well-considered function.

The protecting coating solely stays on McLaughlin’s automotive throughout observe periods; it’s eliminated instantly afterward for qualifying and the race. See, that unofficial “Penske Good” motto additionally pertains to the No. 3’s livery; by utilizing the protecting coating in observe, Penske can assure that the livery will likely be in pristine situation come an important elements of the weekend — the elements of the weekend the place marginal variations weight issues probably the most.

Throughout the Iowa weekend, drivers solely had one observe session — and sure, XPEL’s protecting movies have been in use throughout that single session. Even when it’s just for a second, presentation issues.