1978 Penske PC6

Roger Penske was a successful sportscar driver from the late 1950s through 1964, turning his attention toward his car dealership business. As his network of dealerships flourished, he established Penske Racing in 1966 with Mark Donohue serving as his primary driver and engineer. The team competed in the CanAm and TransAm series, before venturing into other venues including Indianapolis, Formula 5000, NASCAR, Formula 1, and USAC. They won the Daytona 24 Hours in 1969, and Donohue was awarded the Rookie of the Year title at Indianapolis on the team's inaugural outing at the 500. Donohue won the Indy 500 in 1972 and George Follmer won the CanAm title for the team with a Porsche 917 that same year.

Team Penske's first year of racing in Formula 1 was in 1974 with sponsorship by First National City. Their first F1 car was the Penske PC1 which first appeared in 1974 at the Canadian Grand Prix where Mark Donohue placed 12th overall. The team failed to score any points during the 1974 World Championship season and mid-way through the 1975 season, the team switched to the March 751. Sadly, just three races later, Donohue was killed after a practice accident at the Osterreichring.

The Penske PC1 was designed by Geoff Ferris and used an aluminum monocoque chassis built around a Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0-liter V8 engine backed by a Hewland FG 400 gearbox. It rode on Goodyear tires, used Sunoco fuel, and weighed approximately 582 kg.

For the 1976 season, Penske's sponsorship was courtesy of Citibank and the team's driver was Northern Irish driver John Watson. Johan Gerard 'Boy' Hayje from the Netherlands drove the second PC3 car for F&S Properties at the Dutch Grand Prix but retired early due to a broken half-shaft.

The Penske PC3 was designed by Ferris and a total of two examples were built. It used an aluminum monocoque chassis with a Ford Cosworth DFV 2,993cc V8 engine with a Hewland FG 400 5-speed gearbox. During the 1976 season, the team scored 20 World Championship points, two with the PC3 and 18 with the PC4. The team finished the 1976 F1 season in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship.

A total of three examples Penske PC4 were built by Team Penske during 1976. Following a poor debut in Sweden, Ferris revised its aerodynamics and extended the wheelbase. John Watson had qualified the PC4 in the 17th position on the grid at the Swedish Grand Prix but crashed on the first lap due to the throttle being stuck. The car's next race, following the revisions, resulted in a third-place finish by Watson after having started in eighth place. Another third-place finish followed at Britain before earning the team their first victory in Austria after qualifying second. At the United States Grand Prix, Watson finished sixth. Team Penske finished the 1976 season fifth in the Constructor's Championship after earning 18 points with the PC4 and two with the PC3. Watson finished 7th in the Driver's Championship.

At the end of the 1976 season, the Penske team withdrew from Formula One competition to focus their time and attention on the Indycar racing program. The team's F1 cars were sold to Gunther Schmid's ATS team and the Penske factory in Poole began producing Indycar chassis.

The Penske PC5 was the team's first Penske-built Indycar. It was identical to the McLaren M24 and made its racing debut for the 1977 season. Tom Sneva drove a McLaren to victory at Texas and Pocono and then the PC5 for the remainder of the season, winning the USAC title in 1977 and again in 1978 (in the PC6). Rick Mears won the USAC title for the team in 1979.

The Penske PC6 was powered by a Turbocharged Cosworth DFX engine with a 3.376-inch bore and a 2.248-inch stroke. It had four cylinders, a 160.983 cubic-inch displacement, and was backed by a four-speed Hewland gearbox. It weighed approximately 1,603 pounds and had a qualification speed (average) of 202.156 mph.

Tom Sneva won the National Championship in the Penske PC6 for the 1978 season without ever winning a single race. His consistency throughout the season, with six 2nd place finishes and 12 top-five finishes helped him become the second driver to win the USAC championship without winning a race during the entire season. Sneva and the PC6 became the first to have a four-lap average qualifying run at speeds in excess of 200 mph. His first qualifying lap was at 203.620 mph, and although his next three laps were slower, the four-lap average was just 202.156 mph.

At the 1978 Indianapolis 500, Sneva was gaining on Al Unser who had entered the pits for his final stop on lap 180. Unser overshot his pit and hit a tire, resulting in a bent front wing. Unser had a 30-second lead over Sneva, but the damaged wing caused him to slow. By the time the checkered flag had dropped, Sneva was within 8 seconds of the leap. With his second-place finish, Sneva was awarded $112,703 and the points lead with 1,725 points.

Norton was a primary sponsor of Penske Racing from 1978 to 1982.

The Penske PC7 that followed was an evolution of the PC6 with several noticeable modifications including the addition of side pods. Four chassis were built for the Team to contest the 1979 season, followed by seven or eight more PC7s in the following 1980 and 1981 seasons.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2022