Penske Racing Historical Overview

Roger Penske is not only the most recognizable name in American motorsports, but a man who commands respect in the international racing community as well.

The 'Captain' has been racing and winning in the United States since 1958 and has scored victories in every series where he has competed. With 21 national championships, including 12 in Indy car racing, Penske Racing has often been referred to as the 'New York Yankees of motorsports.'

Roger Penske was one of America's most successful young road racers before electing to retire from driving in 1965 to focus on his first business - a Philadelphia Chevrolet dealership. However, racing remained a key element in Penske's overall business plan. He fielded Corvettes in the 1966 endurance races at Daytona and Sebring prior to joining forces with driver Mark Donohue to campaign a Lola T70 in the USRRC and Can-Am sports car series. Penske

Racing quickly found success with Donohue, winning two consecutive USRRC championships and three SCCA Trans-Am titles.

After three years of campaigning sedans and sports cars, Penske Racing and Donohue made their debut in Indy car racing, running a pair of USAC-sanctioned road races in 1968. The following year, the team made its debut in the Indianapolis 500 and Donohue finished seventh, earning 'Rookie-of-the-Year' honors.

With Donohue, Penske Racing quickly made its mark in the USAC Championship Series utilizing high standards of car preparation, presentation and development. Donohue finished second at Indianapolis in 1970 and he recorded the team's first Championship Car victory in the Pocono 500 on July 3, 1971. Donohue earned Penske's first Indianapolis 500 triumph less than a year later with an average speed that would remain the race record for a dozen years. Since then, Penske Racing has become synonymous with Indy car racing, with 134 victories, 170 poles and 12 National Championships. Penske Racing, however, is probably best known for its 14 Indianapolis 500 victories, four with driver Rick Mears.

Even though Penske Racing is legendary in open-wheel racing, it hasn't confined its endeavors to that form of motorsports.

Penske made its NASCAR debut in 1972, the same season the team earned its first Indy 500 victory with Donohue at the wheel.

Continuing to compete in NASCAR, the Can-Am Series and in Indy cars, Penske Racing also debuted its Formula 1 car in 1970s.

With legendary racers Tom Sneva, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and Bobby Unser, Al Unser and Danny Sullivan competing for the team, Penske Racing established itself as an Indy car powerhouse throughout the 70s and 80s.

A Penske entry was fielded in NASCAR's premier series through 1977 with Donohue collecting one victory and Bobby Allison recording four wins. Penske reappeared in 1980 for a brief two-race stint with Missouri native Rusty Wallace, fielding a car for the young driver's NASCAR debut at Atlanta.

Following a 10-year hiatus from NASCAR competition, Penske Racing South was established in 1991 with Wallace and long-time Penske business associate Don Miller as the team's co-owners.

With the Indy car program continuing its remarkable production in the 90s with drivers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr. and Paul Tracy, the team's NASCAR squad also began to develop a winning formula.

For 16 straight years, Wallace won at least one NASCAR race each season, tying him for third on the all-time list for the most consecutive seasons with at least one victory. He also finished in the top 10 in the series standings in 12 of his 15 seasons driving for Penske Racing. By the end of the 2005 season, 37 of Wallace's 55 career victories had come under the Penske Racing banner.

Following a 10-year hiatus from NASCAR competition, Penske Racing South was established in 1991 with Wallace and long-time Penske business associate Don Miller as the team's co-owners.

A new generation of open-wheel stars ushered in a new decade for Team Penske as Gil de Ferran claimed back-to-back CART titles in 2000 and '01 and Helio Castroneves scored consecutive Indy 500 victories in '01 and '02.

By 2001, Penske Racing flourished as a multi-car NASCAR operation with Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman leading the way on the track.

Team Penske first competed in the Indy Racing League in 2001 and it joined the series full time the following season.

Sam Hornish Jr. came aboard in 2004 and he led the Penske squad to its first IndyCar Series title in 2006.

Wallace retired from Cup competition after the 2005 season, closing the door on one of the most storied careers in racing. Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup titleholder, joined Penske Racing in 2006 as Wallace transitioned to the broadcast booth.

More than 30 years after winning at the highest levels of sports car racing, Penske returned to its roots late in the 2005 season, announcing an LMP2-class effort with Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. The squad had a remarkable homecoming, capturing the class championship with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr in '06 before once again earning the title in '07 with teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas.

Proven winners Busch and Newman lead the charge for the Penske Racing NASCAR program in 2008 with Hornish Jr. joining the mix as a promising rookie. The Team Penske IndyCar Series lineup looks as strong as ever with Castroneves ready to compete for the series crown and skilled racer Ryan Briscoe on board for his first season with the team.

With defending champs Bernhard and Dumas back for more and Maassen now paired with American road racing standout Patrick Long, ‘08 could also could prove to be a record-breaking year for the Penske Racing American Le Mans Series team.

History has taught us through the years that winning is a tradition carried on throughout all levels of Penske Racing and the 2008 season promises to add another exciting chapter to the chronicles of this storied organization.

by Team Penske

by Dallara

Briscoe Leads Team Penske One-Two Sweep at Mid Ohio

Ryan Briscoe, driver of the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, made a remarkable comeback Sunday, recovering from an early deficit to win the Honda Indy 200 and complete a one-two sweep by Team Penske at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

This victory was Briscoe's second win in his IndyCar Series career, Team Penske's seventh win at the legendary 13-turn Ohio road course and the 35th one-two finish in Penske's storied open-wheel history.

Briscoe, who started second next to teammate and pole-sitter Helio Castroneves, fell behind early as drivers struggled with rain tires on a rapidly drying track. Roger Penske, strategist on the No. 6 car, started the race on rain tires -- as did the rest of the field-- but Penske brought the car into the pits after a majority of the field to change to slick tires after Briscoe slipped from second to fourth place, then quickly had Briscoe come back in, out of sequence, as soon as the fuel window opened. This pit strategy propelled Briscoe into the lead, which he did not relinquish in the final 25 laps of the 85-lap event.

'The Team Penske car was awesome,' said Briscoe. 'We ran into a little trouble early on, but we came back. That was all Roger. That was his strategy.'

'It was the only chance we had,' said Penske. 'The strategy worked out. What a great drive for Briscoe. I think he's validated himself as one of the top drivers in the Indy Racing League. To finish one-two is just unbelievable.'

Briscoe also advanced in the championship standings, moving up three spots from eighth to fifth place. It was also his second victory of the season - in June, Briscoe recorded Penske Racing's 300th win with a victory at The Milwaukee Mile. Since then, he's struggled with bad luck, suffering on-track incidents in the last two races as a result of others‘ mistakes.

'Finally, something went our way,' said Briscoe. 'This is very sweet. What a weekend for Team Penske. It just feels so good to get this win. It's been a rough couple of weeks in the lead-up to here, and this one's sweet for sure.'

As Briscoe was winning, Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, was securing second place ahead of 2008 IndyCar Series driver points leader Scott Dixon. That shaved another five points off Dixon's lead, bringing Castroneves to within 58 points with five championship points races remaining in the 2008 season.

'Ryan drove a heck of a race,' said Castroneves, who chalked up his 27th IndyCar Series pole position on Saturday. 'I was just trying to do everything I could, but unfortunately I got held up in traffic. We just didn't have enough, so it's a shame. But second is good.'

The IndyCar Series season continues on Saturday, July 26 with the Rexall Edmonton Indy at City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which airs live on the ESPN television network at 5 p.m. EDT.

by Team Penske

by Dallara

Castroneves Third in Rain-Shortened Nashville Race

Team Penske's Helio Castroneves came within a few laps of victory Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, but the weather had other plans. Castroneves, who started from the pole position, finished third when rain forced an early end to the Firestone Indy 200, but, had the race gone a few laps longer, he likely would have won.

Instead, Scott Dixon capitalized on a mistake that kept him out on the 1.33-mile concrete oval and in the lead when the rest of the leaders pitted on the 148th lap, relegating Castroneves to a solid -- if somewhat disappointing -- podium finish when rain ended the scheduled 200 lap race after 171 laps.

'It's not the race we wanted to have, especially the way it finished,' said Castroneves. 'I was told that the Ganassi guys had four laps of fuel left. That's two minutes. If the rain had come two minutes later, we would have won the race. But sometimes you have to be more lucky than good.'

Castroneves continues to pursue Dixon for the IndyCar Series championship and is now 63 points behind the leader after 11 races in the 2008 season. He remains optimistic about his chances after Nashville. 'Third may not have been what we wanted tonight, but it's good enough to keep us in the championship fight,' he said.

Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe didn't fare as well, being forced out of the race on the third lap when Marco Andretti lost control and put Briscoe's No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara into the wall. The damage done from the incident caused the retirement of the car, and Briscoe was scored in the 23rd position.

'We just can't get a break,' said Briscoe. 'We've had a big string of bad luck the last couple of races. I was trying to settle into the race and was running outside the No. 26 car, and he lost it and collected me. It's really unfortunate because we thought we learned a few things from Helio's setup that we hoped would help us, too, but we didn't have a chance to see. Hopefully we'll be able to put this all behind us moving forward and turn in a good result at Mid-Ohio.'

The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues on Sunday, July 20, with the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be telecast live at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) by ABC, with radio broadcast via the IMS Radio Network.

by Team Penske

by Dallara

Challenging Day For Team Penske at The Glen

Sunday's Camping World Indy Grand Prix at the Glen was a challenge for Team Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves, but both remain firmly in the top-10 in 2008 IndyCar Series drivers point standings. Briscoe, in his No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, started from the pole position and led a race-high 37 of the 60 total event laps, but suffered an under-caution on-track incident which relegated him to 12th place. Castroneves, who 'book ended' the field and started in 26th position, encountered mechanical problems and finished in 16th place.

Castroneves remains second the points standings, 48 points behind leader Scott Dixon, and Briscoe is in eighth position, a mere 10 points behind the fifth spot.

Ryan Briscoe was searching for his second win of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and was on his way to achieving that goal when, under caution in third place at lap 49, second place driver Scott Dixon spun unexpectedly in front of him, giving the No. 6 driver nowhere to go. Briscoe collided with Dixon and the No. 6 car was forced to the pits for repairs. Due to the length of the 11-turn 3.37-mile course at Watkins Glen International, the Team Penske crew were able to complete repairs without losing a lap and Briscoe finished in 12th place.

'It's unfortunate what happened out there today,' said Briscoe. 'I know how Scott (Dixon) feels; there's nothing you can do in that situation - I just wish I didn't get caught up in it. It really is too bad because that took out two of the strongest cars in the race at that point. The Team Penske car was solid all weekend and we should definitely be sitting better in the point standings. But that's life and things like that happen sometimes.'

Castroneves, who had posted some of the fastest times in Sunday morning's warm-up session, easily worked his way up through the field as soon as the green flag dropped Sunday afternoon, but a shifting malfunction that caused the car to go into neutral instead of second gear caused the engine to shut down while on track. After a tow into the pit area for repairs, the Team Penske crew was able to get the engine re-fired and Castroneves rejoined the race two laps down. Thanks to pit strategy as called by Tim Cindric, No. 3 team strategist, Castroneves was able to regain one of those laps and ended up 16th.

'Sometimes it's just not your day,' said Castroneves. 'I was really confident in our ability to move through the field. But on lap five, we had a gear problem and had to stop on the track. I'm not quite sure what happened, but when we got back into the pits, we were able to get the car re-fired.

'The Team Penske guys worked hard with their strategy to get me one lap back, but making up that much ground at a place like this is virtually impossible. 16th is obviously not the finish we were looking for, but thankfully we didn't loose too many points in the Championship standings. All we can do is forget about this one and turn our attention to Nashville.'

The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the Firestone Indy 200 July 12 at Nashville Superspeedway. The race will be telecast live on ESPN at 8 p.m. (EDT) and will be broadcast live on the IMS Radio Network.

by Team Penske

by Dallara