RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 25, 2026--
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP), a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America that serves both professional installers and do-it-yourself customers, today announced that Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford Mustang piloted by Ryan Blaney will feature the full Advance paint scheme at four NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
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Advance branding will be on full display both on the No. 12 car and Team Penske’s crew fire suits at The Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway March 29, The Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway May 31, The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway Aug. 29, and The Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Oct. 25. Blaney also will make multiple appearances and sign autographs at local Advance stores as part of race week activities.
“The Advance Auto Parts-Team Penske relationship, now in its seventh year, is an important part of Advance’s marketing and sponsorship strategy,” said Bruce Starnes, executive vice president and chief merchant at Advance Auto Parts. “Advance is in the midst of a comeback and it’s inspiring for our team members, partners and customers to see a champion like Ryan pilot the Advance No. 12 car.”
"It's hard to believe Advance and Team Penske are already in our seventh season together on the No. 12 Team Penske Ford," Blaney said. “Advance has such an incredible culture around racing and auto parts and truly values its customers just like we value our fans. I’m fortunate to be a part of it and looking forward to another year partnering.”
The last time Blaney drove the Advance No. 12 car he won the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in August 2025, in an epic sprint from 13th place in the final two laps. Advance’s four races with Blaney come as Team Penske is celebrating its 60 th anniversary season this year.
About Advance Auto Parts:
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. is a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider that serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers. As of January 3, 2026, Advance operated 4,305 stores primarily within the United States, with additional locations in Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Company also served 809 independently owned Carquest branded stores across these locations in addition to Mexico and various Caribbean islands. Additional information about Advance, including employment opportunities, customer services, and online shopping for parts, accessories and other offerings can be found at www.AdvanceAutoParts.com.
About Team Penske
Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 650 major race wins, over 700 pole positions and 48 championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Over the course of its 60-year history, the team has also earned 20 Indianapolis 500 victories, three Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win, victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, along with a win in Australia's legendary Bathurst 1000 race. In 2025, Team Penske competed in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the NASCAR Cup Series. Through a Team Penske global partnership, Porsche Penske Motorsport also raced in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the World Endurance Championship.
Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP), today announced that Team Penske’s No. 12 Ford Mustang piloted by Ryan Blaney will feature the full Advance paint scheme at four NASCAR Cup Series races this season.
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group called on the government on Tuesday to withdraw from direct talks with Israel this week in Washington, calling them a concession and instead urged for indirect negotiations.
Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold two days of talks in Washington, starting Thursday, in an attempt to end the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict that broke out two months ago, following the Iran war, and discuss the future of relations between the two countries, which have officially been at war since Israel was created in 1948.
Naim Kassem said in a letter directed to the group’s officials that direct negotiations benefit Israel and that they are “concessions by Lebanese authorities.” He said Lebanon’s government should instead resort to indirect negotiations, as it has done in the past, such as when a ceasefire was reached in November 2024.
Indirect talks are usually done through a third party.
Kassem also said the dispute over Hezbollah’s weapons was an internal affair and should not be part of the talks with Israel. The Lebanese government has sought the disarmament of the militant group after the latest round of fighting broke out in early March, calling all military activities by the group illegal.
Lebanese authorities have also demanded the cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, deployment of Lebanese troops south of the Litani River, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel and the return of displaced people to their homes.
Kassem said Hezbollah is ready to cooperate to help achieve the five points demanded by the Lebanese government.
Despite the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which went into effect on April 17, Israel and Hezbollah have continued carrying out daily attacks. The latest war started on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah fired several drones at northern Israel, according to Israel's military. The military said it intercepted several drones before they crossed the border, but some explosive ones detonated in Israel, near the border, though no injuries were reported.
Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told reporters that since the ceasefire went into effect, 380 people have been killed and 1,122 have been wounded. That brings the toll since the war began to 2,882 killed and 8,786 wounded.
From the early hours of Tuesday, Israel’s air force carried out strikes in different parts of southern Lebanon, as well as the village of Sohmor in the eastern Bekaa Valley, state-run National News Agency reported. The agency said airstrikes on the village of Jibchit killed three people and wounded four.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation warning to the residents of Sohmor and four villages in southern Lebanon.
The National News Agency said Israeli forces entered parts of the southern village of Deir Mimas on the Litani River and blew up a water pumping station that uses solar energy and supplies the village with fresh water. The agency said that the pre-dawn blast at the station caused widespread damage.
The Israeli military posted photos of troops along the Litani River, without providing exact location details.
Hezbollah issued a statement, saying its fighters struck Israeli troops on Tuesday morning near the river in the village of Deir Seryan with rockets. It gave no further details.
Also Tuesday, Hezbollah confirmed that one of its military commanders was killed in an airstrike near Beirut last week. The group released a photo of Ahmed Ghaleb Balout, describing him as a commander who spent much of his life on the battlefield.
Balout was killed May 6 in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut, the first aistrike near the Lebanese capital since the ceasefire went into effect.
The Israeli military said Thursday it had killed Balout, identifying him as a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, along with two other militants.
Women grieve as they carry the body of 6-month-old Mariam Fahos during a funeral procession for people killed a day earlier in an Israeli airstrike in the village of Saksakieh, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, May 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
