Texaco/Havoline Racing History
CART
 From banked super speedways to short ovals and from city streets to country roads, the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) FedEx Championship Series is the bellwether of high-speed auto racing. As a sponsor of the Newman/Haas Racing team since 1989, Texaco/Havoline Racing has consistently been linked with the pillars of the sport -- including world champions Mario Andretti, his son Michael, and Nigel Mansell.
Havoline’s support for the CART series is an outgrowth of its Indy Car sponsorships, which began in 1978 with Janet Guthrie, the first woman to qualify for, and finish the Indy 500, driving the “Texaco Star.”
Another dramatic “first” occurred in 1989, when Mario and Michael Andretti became the premiere father/son team to compete for one Champ Car team, as drivers for Newman/Haas Racing, with Texaco/Havoline joining Kmart as sponsors of the team. Two years later, Michael swept the PPG Cup title with an unprecedented eight wins and eight poles. Also during 1991, Mario’s son Jeff Andretti was added to Team Texaco and went on to earn Indy 500 and Champ Rookie of the Year honors.
When Michael Andretti left Newman/Haas Racing in 1993 to compete in Formula One, he was replaced by Nigel Mansell, who went on to win the CART championship that same year. After the 1994 season, when Mario Andretti retired from Champ Car competition, his son Michael returned to take his place.
Havoline currently sponsors Newman/Haas Racing’s Toyota Lola, driven by young star Cristiano da Matta, who recorded three victories in 2001, his first season with the team.
Newman/Haas Racing is distinctive not only for its record on the track but for its owners. A successful motorsport driver from 1953 through the early 1960s, Carl Haas has compiled an outstanding record as a team owner over the past four decades. In 1983, he joined forces with Paul Newman, the distinguished actor who began a second career -- auto racing -- in 1972. Newman’s enthusiasm for the sport grew out of a 1968 motion picture titled “Winning,” in which he played the role of an Indy Car driver. In real life, Newman recorded one of his most grueling and historic victories when he won the Rolex 24-Hours of Daytona in 1995 at the age of 70.
The team receives high kudos from Mario Andretti, who says: “The fact that I stayed with Newman/Haas Racing for 12 years speaks volumes...We were always on the leading edge of technology with our chassis (Lola) and engine (Chevrolet and, later, Ford) programs.”
Since the formation of the team in 1983, Newman/Haas Racing has recorded 61 overall wins and 63 poles. It is this winning tradition that has been a hallmark for Havoline’s racing sponsorship.
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