Chip Ganassi Racing Teams and Kennametal Renew Partnership with New Multi-Year Contract


(LATROBE, PA) - Kennametal Inc. is proud to announce a multi-year renewal of its machining technology partnership with Chip Ganassi Teams (CGRT). Kennametal began its relationship with CGRT in 1993. This renewed relationship occurs in the wake of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon's dramatic first and second-place finish at the 2012 Indianapolis 500.

With cars competing in multiple series -the IZOD Indy Car Series, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the Rolex GRAND-AM Series - Chip Ganassi Racing holds a record of 15 championships and more than 140 victories, including four Indianapolis 500 wins. This year marks Franchitti's third win, (one of only 10 drivers in the history of the race to do so), a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, and four Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. RACER Magazine named them its 2010 "Team of the Year."

Kennametal has expanded the 19-year metalcutting partnership by providing Ganassi's Indy machine shop with proprietary Precision Surface Management Technology by Kennametal Extrude Hone. Kennametal's advanced surface finishing solutions deliver uniform, repeatable, predictable results by removing the rough cast surfaces that restrict the efficiency of critical engine components and performance competence.

"As this year's Indianapolis 500 showed, winning consistently isn't just about the fastest car. It's about precision team performance at top speeds," says Kennametal Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer John Jacko. "We're proud Kennametal technology will continue to be part of CGRT's winning combination."

"We have been in business for 23 years and for 19 of those, Kennametal has been a partner," said Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. "Their logo is on every one of our cars across all our teams and series. But what really makes the partnership even more important to the race team is how their expertise even helps us on race day. They come to us with many solutions for different mechanical challenges we face. It is great when you have a partner that can do that."

Kennametal tooling and services deliver high performance throughout the automotive industry, machining such critical components as engine blocks, cylinder heads, pistons, crankshafts, gear boxes, suspension parts, exhaust systems, brake parts, and wheels. The company's advanced tooling systems are used in turning, milling and holemaking operations to machine cast irons, steels, stainless steels and aluminum, as well as more exotic metals and alloys, including titanium, magnesium and Inconel.

Kennametal Inc.

Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers seeking peak performance in demanding environments by providing innovative custom and standard wear-resistant solutions. This proven productivity is enabled through our advanced materials sciences and application knowledge. Our commitment to a sustainable environment provides additional value to our customers. Companies operating in everything from airframes to coal mining, from engines to oil wells and from turbochargers to construction recognize Kennametal for extraordinary contributions to their value chains. In fiscal year 2011, customers bought approximately $2.4 billion of Kennametal products and services - delivered by approximately 12,000 talented employees doing business in more than 60 countries - with more than 50 percent of these revenues coming from outside North America. Visit us at www.kennametal.com.

For more information, contact: Lynn Gorman

Lynn Gorman Communications LLC

lynn@gorcomm.com

860-483-0444

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