76 (gas station)

[citation needed] 76 gasoline stopped being marketed under the Propower name after the termination of the commercial relationship between NASCAR and 76 after the end of the 2003 season, when the firm discontinued all motorsport fuels.

The 76 ball is a popular logo in the "Cult Style" of European car tuning (especially on Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTIs, due to the debut year of 1976),[citation needed] and it is used on clothing items in Japan as of 2005.

[15] Dale Earnhardt Jr. acquired the 76 ball from North Wilkesboro Speedway and displays it with a vintage 76 gas station on his "Whiskey River" property.

Similar balls were near pit entrances at most NASCAR circuits until the sponsorship ended, but unlike spheres, they were flat on both sides and illuminated at night during races.

[citation needed] The 76 ball is also a landmark that sits atop Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the only gas station on the premises of a Major League ballpark is visible from the park beyond the outfield stands.

Union Oil was a longtime sponsor of the Dodgers baseball team, beginning with their relocation to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958.

[16] Beginning in 1967, Union 76 distributed tens of millions of small orange foam balls with the 76 logo, meant to be impaled on the radio antenna of a car.

[citation needed] In the winter of 1968, wind and snow created drifts in Spokane, Washington made it difficult to locate cars without whip antennas and the orange 76 ball on them.

[citation needed] In recent years, 76 has appeared in certain areas in the eastern United States, as part of a licensing deal with Motiva Enterprises.

76 station in Southern California, c. 1950s
Close image of the 76 ball
Union 76 Gas station at night