Suburban Propane fuels the NASCAR experience, on and off the track

Massive Bristol Motor Speedway is one large repository for the senses.

The stadium – ironically with one of the shortest tracks in NASCAR – seemingly extends miles into the Tennessee hills. Engines thunder from a track surrounded by seating that can hold upwards of 146,000 fans. The cars blazing around the all-concrete, high-banked half mile, at speeds sometimes exceeding 200 mph, splash a rainbow of colors and company logos in front of loyal fans across the United States.

“That white and red really pops,” says Alex Centeno, senior vice president of operations at Suburban Propane.

Centeno, among the company’s executive leaders and local employees at Bristol during this September weekend, is referring to the No. 16 Chevy driven by AJ Allmendinger in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, part of the NASCAR Cup Series.

“The car looks pretty awesome,” echoes Allmendinger during a press conference in which he describes the memorable experience of racing under the lights at Bristol.

Suburban Propane partnered with Kaulig Racing to become the primary sponsor of the No. 16 car on this special night. The propane company’s name and logo adorn every part of the car, a blue flame extending across much of the sides, a yellow “16” on top. The design leaves no doubt about the energy source on display.

“I’ve gotten to know some of the team owners, and one of them [Kaulig] gave us an opportunity to put our name on a car in one of the most iconic stadiums in the Cup Series, at Bristol Motor Speedway,” explains Michael Stivala, president and CEO of Suburban Propane, who visited with LP Gas at Bristol. “We have our customers and employees here to celebrate our opportunity to see our logo going around the track.”

But for all the excitement and pageantry surrounding the first NASCAR Cup Series car to sport the Suburban Propane colors and logo, and the fact that Suburban sponsored an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Bristol in April, the activities on and off the track signal a larger development – one that would seem to benefit the entire propane industry. Suburban Propane is setting the pace in the popular sport of auto racing.

▶ Propane partnership

Suburban Propane, the nation’s third-largest propane retailer that will celebrate its 100-year anniversary in 2028, has become a regular at NASCAR tracks across the country over the past couple of years. It became the “official propane” of NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports in January 2025. The momentum has only built from there as the parties have worked to solidify and expand their partnership.

“When NASCAR approached us, they were really just trying to solve a problem. They were trying to improve some of their sustainability initiatives by converting their kerosene [track] dryers to propane,” Stivala says. “We looked at them and said, ‘There’s so much more propane use at these tracks. We have to make this much bigger.’”

The partnership has allowed Suburban Propane to show NASCAR’s large audience just how it’s fueling the racing experience at 21 tracks on the circuit. An expansion early this year featured high-profile venues like the U.S. Naval Base Coronado event in the San Diego area and a return to Chicagoland Speedway in the Chicago area.

“We provide all the propane at each of the races throughout the Cup Series,” Stivala says.

For Suburban Propane, that entails providing the propane for campgrounds and concessions, speedway operations and even NASCAR’s track dryers, which are needed to keep races on schedule following inclement weather.

“We’re not only powering on track, but we’re also powering the race off the track by providing all the propane for the concession stands; we’re out there in the campgrounds with our bobtails and delivery drivers, making deliveries for the campers for their tanks,” Stivala says. “It’s a very versatile source.”

To keep race fans supplied with propane in the campground at the track, Suburban Propane built two portable dispensers, each with a 500-gallon tank, for NASCAR events. The dispenser is parked on-site where it’s easily accessible to those campers needing cylinder fills. A Suburban Propane bobtail is readily available to fill large recreational vehicles as well, and customers can schedule appointments for cylinder fills from the bobtail. The company is also testing a service in which it will pick up and fill cylinders for racing fans at the track.

“When you sit at the dispenser and talk to fans, this is their lifestyle. They [follow] this race circuit, and they come to expect to see us,” says Kevin Cobb, director of national account sales and new market business development for Suburban Propane. “There’s a lot of camaraderie in the campgrounds.”

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