XPEL Partners With Team Penske To Protect IndyCars And Drivers

Paint Protection Film (PPF) is revolutionizing the automotive industry. In simple terms, PPF is a thin transparent film adhered to a vehicle’s painted body panels to protect the paint from physical damage by acting as a sacrificial layer—it takes the abuse, leaving the surface beneath the film untouched. PPF film, about as thick as a standard sheet of paper, is a must-have for car, SUV, truck, and RV owners who want to protect their finish from damaging debris, bug residue, tree sap, and more.

XPEL, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of PPF. In 2022, the company teamed up with Team Penske (one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports) to be its official protective film provider. The partnership provided XPEL with a unique opportunity as it could advance its R&D program through innovative ways to protect Penske’s IndyCars. While passenger cars rarely exceed 70 mph for sustained periods, carbon-fiber open-wheel IndyCars boast twin-turbocharged V6 engines with upwards of 750 horsepower and top speeds exceeding 240 mph—it’s an extreme use-case.

To learn more about how XPEL’s PPF protects Team Penske’s IndyCars, I spoke with Michael Mayall, XPEL’s VP of Corporate Development. As it turns out, the racing team is not just using protective film on Team Penske’s racecars. Penske’s garages and rigs use durable PPF to protect equipment, and XPEL thermal windshield film is used on the cockpit to protect drivers from heat and glare from the sun.

Mayall described how today’s IndyCars use advanced carbon fiber monocoque composite structures (IndyCar calls them ‘the safety cells’). While carbon fiber is robust and lightweight, it is easily damaged by impact—road circuit racing subjects the material to scrapes with the track (bottoming out) and a constant peppering from flying debris (rocks and pebbles thrown up from competition sticky tires).

“Our film is used on the vehicle’s undercarriage, which is all carbon fiber. The PPF protects the underbellies from getting nicked and scraped,” he explained. When asked if Penske is offered a unique formula or special film, he pointed out that their product was no different than the retail product applied to passenger vehicles. “They are using our consumer-grade film.” XPEL PPF is also used on the leading edges of the aerodynamic appendages, such as the front splitter and wing, said Mayall. “The main purpose is to keep it looking nice and clean, but also to reduce undesirable aerodynamics that may result if the front wing or splitter gets chipped.”

XPEL PPF is also used in Team Penske’s garage and shops, where the transparent film is applied to the lightweight carbon fiber jacks, ramps, and stands to prevent damage from nicks and scrapes—the film is easily replaced, keeping the team’s shop and equipment in pristine condition. Mayall also said the engineers and mechanics have covered stainless steel tables and tool chests with PPF, allowing the polished surface beneath the transparent film to remain unblemished, even with the team’s use and abuse.

In 2020, IndyCar debuted the aeroscreen—a ballistic windscreen with a titanium framework engineered to protect the driver (aeroscreen 2.0, an updated version debuted earlier this year). While the windshield improved safety, an unexpected outcome was the loss of cooling airflow to the driver, especially while sitting on the grid or at lower speeds (under a yellow flag) or stopped (red flag). While at a race, Mayall recognized that the windscreen caused a fishbowl effect that amplified the heat intensity from the sun. “I went down to the grid, and I’m watching these guys. You can just see how hot it is. I thought for sure… one of the drivers is going to pass out.”

“I got to chatting with the team,” Mayall recalls. “I’m always trying to look for certain ways where we can bring more value as a partner to Team Penske. So, we got talking about a couple of different options. I mentioned that some of our windshield films look virtually clear, but they cut out the heat from the sun.” The teams discussed options, and XPEL sent a handful of UV-blocking windshield products for Penske to try. It worked, and it wasn’t long before the drivers—and IndyCar—approved using film to reduce heat and glare in the cockpit. “It’s in the rules that XPEL XR PLUS 80% is approved for application on the windscreens now.”

XPEL’s relationship with Team Penske is symbiotic. XPEL gains a racing laboratory to engineer and test its product, while team owner Roger Penske—a retired professional auto racer and businessman long known for requiring things to be in immaculate condition (reference “If a Penske Car Squeaks, That’s Only Because It’s So Clean,” The New York Times, May 19, 1986) is comfortable knowing his cars and equipment are protected from damage by PPF. Both companies win.