Team Penske and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced a multi-year extension of their partnership today that will see HPE’s involvement with the team and IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud increase, beginning with the 2016 season. HPE will serve as the primary sponsor for Pagenaud and the No. 22 Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in at least five events in 2016. The company will also continue to be an associate sponsor of Team Penske’s No. 2 and No. 22 Ford Fusions driven by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, respectively, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Pagenaud, who joined Team Penske before the 2015 season, will race the No. 22 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevy in the Verizon IndyCar Series events at St. Petersburg, Detroit, Texas, Boston and Sonoma in 2016. The company will also continue to be an associate sponsor for Pagenaud and the No. 22 Team Penske car for the remainder of the season schedule.

TONY STEWART, Co-Owner, Stewart-Haas Racing – CAN YOU EXPAND ON THE DECISION TO SWITCH TO FORD IN 2017?  “First and foremost, I want to recognize our relationship and successes with Chevrolet.  They’ve been an awesome partner and we’ve done a lot of special things together, including two championships and a ton of races.  We hope to do that again this year.  As far as moving forward, this is a constantly evolving sport.  From our side with the ownership and senior management we try to make decisions that best position us for the future, so we consider our partners, our drivers, and our employees when we think of these strategies.  We feel this future relationship with Ford provides us with a bright future, great stability for SHR, and an opportunity to compete at a very top level in the sport.  We’re obviously very excited about it.

For the fourth consecutive year, a Chevrolet SS will lead the field to the green flag for the season-opening Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. This year, Rookie of the Year contender, Chase Elliott, put the Bowtie Brand in the top spot for the Great American Race with a lap of 45.845 seconds/ 196.314 mph in his No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet SS.

“This is a very, very cool day,” said Elliott.  “I don’t know that this opportunity has sunk in yet, much less sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500. So this is very cool. I think the big thing is just the team and the Daytona 500 qualifying is about the team guys and the effort they put into these cars and it’s nothing special I did, it’s really what kind of work they did this off-season to make it happen.  Jeff (Gordon) knows all about that and I just wanted to give a big thanks to NAPA Auto Parts and all of our partners at HMS on this No. 24 Chevrolet. This is very special and a great way to start the season.”

Elliott becomes the sixth rookie to win the pole for the Daytona 500 and the youngest at 20 years, two months and 20 days of age.  This is the third time in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history that the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet SS will start from the first starting position for the Daytona 500.

One lucky winner will drive away with a 2017 Ford Mustang GT plus $5,000 in Ford Performance Parts in the eighth-annual Mustang 5.0 Fever Sweepstakes Presented by Motorcraft.

Contestants 18 years or older can enter online for a chance to win at www.Mustang50Fever.com now through noon ET on Dec. 1, 2016, or at Motorcraft/Quick Lane Racing’s midway display at select NASCAR Sprint Cup races and automotive and Ford enthusiast events. Entries are limited to one per person.