MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Pennzoil Products will end a six-season primary sponsorship agreement with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and the No. 1 Chevrolet team at the end of the 2003 season.

Pennzoil, a Houston, Texas-based petroleum products corporation, became Dale Earnhardt, Inc.’s first full-time NASCAR Winston Cup sponsor in 1998, backing driver Steve Park in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Pennzoil, a Winston Cup primary since 1991, claimed its only victories in NASCAR’s elite division with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., winning at Watkins Glen International in 2000 and Rockingham, N.C. in 2001.

Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the company founded by the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, is optimistic that it can produce more victories for Pennzoil and attract a primary replacement before the end of the 2003 season.

“Like Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Pennzoil has been through a lot of changes since we first signed our agreement in the fall of 1997,” said Ty Norris, Dale Earnhardt, Inc.’s executive vice president of motorsports. “We promised to win races for Pennzoil; and we did. They promised to support Dale Earnhardt, Inc. through the growing pains of a new operation; and they did. Pennzoil will always have a place in the history of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

“We want to win before the end of the year and finish our great relationship on a high note.” For further information contact: Steve Crisp (704) 662-8011 scrisp@DEI-zone.com