Waterbourne Paint Makes NASCAR Debut

The #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, driven by Kurt Busch in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, was recently painted with the Envirobase High Performance waterborne basecoat system from PPG.
The Penske organization has utilized PPG coatings systems for their truck lease and racing vehicles for over 28 years, and all of the Penske Racing vehicles wear PPG coatings
systems.
The #2 car, with its new waterborne finish, competed Sunday, September 2 at the California
Speedway in Fontana, in the Sharp AQUOS 500.
Waterborne specialists at PPG headquarters in Strongsville, Ohio formulated Penskes signature Miller Lite blue for the project.
Then PPG Technical Support Specialist Jim Skal traveled to the Penske Racing facility
in Mooresville, North Carolina, where he worked with Cesar Bustos, head painter for the Penske Racing Miller Lite vehicles.
Skal showed Bustos the basics of working with waterborne.
I was amazed at how easy it was to spray waterborne paint, said Bustos.
It took me a few minutes to adjust to the fact that this was water based, but I was very impressed with how it sprayed and how it looked, he said.
Pittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass.
The company employs more than 34,000 people and has 125 manufacturing facilities and equity affiliates in more than 25 countries. Sales in 2006 were $11 billion.