Long-time NASCAR sponsor Castrol has made a decision on its commitments in the sport after a huge sale being confirmed.
BP sold off 65% of their share in the iconic brand for a massive $10.01 billion to a New York-based investment firm, in an effort to take a bite out of its debt.
Castrol has been an iconic sponsor for some time now, being particularly heavily involved with RFK Racing – but the team don't need to scramble too much, with the Sports Business Journal's Adam Stern confirming that the sponsorship deal for 2026 will remain in place.
The sale is part of BP's goal of reducing their $25bn+ net debt to a more manageable figure by the end of 2027, having set a goal to be down at between $14 and $18bn at that time.
BP sell majority stake in Castrol
BP's interim CEO Carol Howle said as part of the announcement of the sale (which will take some time to finalize): “Today’s announcement is a very good outcome for all stakeholders. We concluded a thorough strategic review of Castrol, that generated extensive interest and resulted in the sale of a majority interest to Stonepeak.
“And with this, we have now completed or announced over half of our targeted $20bn divestment programme, with proceeds to significantly strengthen bp’s balance sheet.
“The sale marks an important milestone in the ongoing delivery of our reset strategy. We are reducing complexity, focusing the downstream on our leading integrated businesses, and accelerating delivery of our plan. And we are doing so with increasing intensity – with a continued focus on growing cash flow and returns, and delivering value for our shareholders.”
RFK will have to hope that Stonepeak, the investment firm which now owns a majority stake in Castrol, also see the value in funnelling money into a NASCAR team.
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