IndyCar: D-A Lubricant joins RLL sponsorship lineup

Graham Rahal’s No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda will feature support and signage from D-A Lubricant Co., a privately owned heavy duty, and industrial lubricant compounder/blender, throughout the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

D-A Lubricant will serve as primary sponsor for the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana on April 10-12, and has also joined RLL as a major associate sponsor in a multi-year agreement.

This partnership marks a return to Indy car racing for D-A Lubricant Co., based in Lebanon, Ind., who sponsored entries in the Indianapolis 500 from 1955 — 1958 with a highest finish of sixth in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 1956 with driver Bob Sweikert. D-A-sponsored cars also ran in the USAC Championship Car series during that time period, earning one win in 1957 and four wins in 1958.

In addition, the relationship provides a business-to-business opportunity with the LANCO Group of Companies, whose president is RLL co-owner Michael Lanigan. D-A Lubricant Co. will provide additional technical support to the team in ‘development’ of performance lubricants that will be used on the race car.

“I am happy to welcome D-A Lubricant Co. to the team,” Michael Lanigan, co-owner of RLL with 1986 Indy 500 winner and three-time Indy car champion Bobby Rahal and CBS Late Show host David Letterman, said in a release. “I also look forward to using their products in all of our heavy equipment and to promote their vast selection of oils, lubricants and other products in the industries the LANCO Group of Companies are involved in.”

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Michael Carter was selected as the winner of the 2018 Mazda Road to 24 Shootout.

Carter was one of four drivers who competed for the honor and a $100,000 scholarship that went along with it. Matthew Dirks, Hannah Grisham and Loni Unser also competed.

With the scholarship, Carter will compete in the 2019 Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup.

“What a journey this has been,” said Carter in a press release. “The reason I started racing a Mazda was because of the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout. It was our one single goal all along and to finally accomplish that is surreal. The process begins next week of getting ready for next season, for the series test at Barber, and to put together a good season in the Global MX-5 Cup.”

Carter was invited to the Shootout largely because of his 2018 performance in SCCA. He finished second in the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour Points Championship, won the Spec Miata Challenge and won in Spec Miata at the American Road Race of Champions.

The 18-year-old Carter had his eye on the Road to Mazda early.

“Each year, it is exciting to see the next batch of talent that is in the pipeline,” said John Doonan, Director, Mazda Motorsports. “I heard something from Michael and his father that really hit a chord with me which was that they built a Spec Miata with the sole purpose of going up the Mazda Road to 24 ladder.

That really speaks to the challenger spirit at Mazda, to why we have the Shootout, and to the family that we have at Mazda. Michael is the driver today who walks away with the scholarship, but we had four families come together here who have all gone racing together. For all of us at Mazda, it’s very rewarding to give these families a chance to go racing together. We look forward to watching Michael take the next step in his career in next season’s Global MX-5 Cup.”