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Revision as of 19:00, 29 November 2005

Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is headed by Roger Penske.

Indy Racing League/Indy Car

Penske has been involved with Indy Car racing since the early 1970s, when they fielded a team with Mark Donohue. As of 2003, Penske Racing has won the Indianapolis 500 13 times as will as numerous other victories and series championships. After the CART/IRL split, they raced in the CART series until 2002, when the team switched to the IRL.

As of 2005, Team Penske fields two cars, driven by Hélio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr.. Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 twice (2001 & 2002), as well as other CART and IRL races.

The open-wheel racing portion of Penske Racing had been based in Reading, Pennsylvania since 1973. On October 31, 2005, Penske Racing announced that after the 2006 IRL season, they will consolidate the IRL and NASCAR operations at the team's Mooresville, North Carolina facility .

NASCAR

With his long history in Indy Cars and owning a transportation service, it is no surprise that Roger Penske should have success in NASCAR. His Penske Racing team fields Dodges for Kurt Busch(#2 Miller Lite), Ryan Newman(#12 Alltel/Mobil Oil), and Travis Kvapil(#77 Kodak). Penske Racing debuted in 1972 at Riverside International Raceway with Mark Donohue driving. The car finished 39th after rear end problems. The team ran part-time for a few years, fielding cars for several drivers including Donohue, Dave Marcis, Donnie Allison, and Bobby Allison. The team went full time with Bobby Allison in 1976, finishing 4th in the points. In 1980, the team fielded two races for Rusty Wallace, finishing 2nd in his first race. The team didn't run for eleven years, returning in 1991 with Wallace at the wheel again.

Car #2 History

The #2 team hasn't seen many changes since its debut in the 1991 Daytona 500, where it finished 27th after a crash late in the race. 1989 Winston Cup Champion Rusty Wallace has always been the driver, and some form of Miller Beer has been the sponsor. Wallace took over the car in 1991 when his Blue Max Racing team suspended operations. The team performed impressively in its first go, winning twice and finishing 10th in points. 1992 was just a decent year for Wallace , winning once and finishing 13th in points. That's when things turned around for the Wallace and Penske, winning 25 races over the next 4 years, despite never winning the championship. 1997, saw a small change for the team, as the long-time Miller Genuine Draft paint scheme departed and Miller Lite came on as the new car. Since then, some of Wallace's dominance has faded, but he's proven he can still win. After winning one race a piece over the next 3 years, Wallace put together 4 wins in 2000, and won 9 Bud Pole Awards, the highest total of his career. 2002 was a disapointment however, as he failed to win a race, marking the first year since 1985 that he did not visit Victory Lane. After that year, the team switched to from Ford to the Dodge manufacturer. In 2004, Wallace announced the 2005 season would be his last in NASCAR Nextel Cup, siting his son's racing career and wanting to concentrate on his Busch Series team as reason for his departure. Racing under the "Last Call" banner for his final season, Wallace currently is 8th point in points (as of Phoenix), after suffering several wrecks and no Top Tens in the last five races. In 2005 it was announced that 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch would drive the car in 2006 after a long dispute after Busch tried to buy out his contract from Roush Racing.

Car #12 History (PART A)

The first #12 team for Penske was not always owned by the team. Originally the car was owned by German businessman Michael Kranefuss. The team debuted in 1994 at Michigan as the #07 Ford driven by Robby Gordon. The car started and finished 38th after an Gordon crashed on lap 70. After another start with Geoff Brabham at the Brickyard 400, the team went full time in 1995 with John Andretti, a second-year driver struggling to find a steady ride in Winston Cup. The car became #37 and was sponsored by Kmart and Little Caesars. For a team in its first full year, the car ran impressively, winning the pole at the Southern 500 and finishing a solid 18th in the points. The team struggled in 1996, however, and towards the end of the year, Kranefuss decided change was needed, and replaced Andretti with the relatively unknown Jeremy Mayfield before the season was over.(Ironically Andretti took over Mayfield's old job at Cale Yarborough's team.) The team improved to the 13th in the points in 1997, but it was obvious the team wouldn't succeed if it only field one team. In 1998, Kranefuss announced his team would merge with Penske Racing, and would also change to the #12 with Mobil Oil sponsoring the car. The move turned out to be a success, as Mayfield became the next big star. He won the pole at Texas, and at one point in the season, found himself in the points lead. And at the Pocono 500 in June, he won his first Winston Cup series race. Mayfield's breakout year in Winston Cup ended with a 7th place finish in the points. Mayfield struggled in 1999, however, as he did not win and dropped 4 spots in the points. It looked like Mayfield's luck would turn around in 2000, but his team was caught cheating by using illegal parts several times, and was docked several points after his win at Fontana. He was able to pick up another win another race at the Pocono 500 however. Midway through the season, Kranefuss sold his share of the team to Penske, and soon started up an ill-fated cup team with Shawna Robinson driving. Unfortunately, more bad luck struck the team when Mayfield suffered a concussion while practicing for the Brickyard 400. He missed two races recooperating from his injury and finished 24th in points. In 2001, Mayfield posted seven top-10 finishes, but was fired following the race at Kansas. Rusty Wallace's little brother Mike took over for the team, and came close to winning at Phoenix before settling for second place. Surprisingly, Penske announced the #12 team would close after the season, and the owner's point would be transferred to his new team, a move that would later prove to be unnecessary.

Car #12 History (PART B)

The #12 team originally began running in the ARCA Re/Max Series in 2000 as the #02 Ford sponsored by Alltel. Later in the year, the team made its Winston Cup debut at Phoenix, finishing 41st with engine failure. In 2001, Newman split time between ARCA, the NASCAR Busch Series, and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He drove in 15 Busch races and won at Michigan. In the Cup Series, he participated in 7 seven events, and almost won the Winston before his engine expired in the closing laps. He put together two top-five finished and a pole in his abbreviated schedule. Newman made the jump to Cup full time in 2002 as the #12 Alltel Ford, competing in a strong battle against Jimmie Johnson for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. Newman won The Winston, and the fall event at New Hampshire, as well as six poles. Although he didn't win as many races as Johnson and finished behind him in the points, he was still able to win Rookie of the Year. 2003 proved to be an even stronger year for Newman. In addition to switching to Dodge, he won 8 races, 11 poles, and wound up 6th in points. This caused some people ask for a rule change in the points standings, as Newman was far more dominant than champion Matt Kenseth, who had won only once that year. This caused NASCAR to change its format to a Chase for the Cup format, where after 3/4 of the way through the year, the top ten drivers and anyone else who was within 400 points of the leader battled it out for the championship. 2004 was another strong year for Newman the #12 team, winning twice, getting 5 pole positions and finishing seventh in points. Newman proved to be just as consistent in 2005 finishing with 8 pole positions, but with only one win. He qualified for the Chase for the Cup for a second year in a row, but is currently sixth in points (as of Phoenix).

Car #77 History

Despite, being the newest part of the Penske Racing stable, the 77 car has been in racing longer than the other two cars combined! It started in 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mountain Raceway as the #41 Ford owned and driven by D.K. Ulrich, who finished 29th out of 30 cars for heating problems on the 4th lap. During his days an owner, Ulrich never had much in the way of money, so as a result many of the big-name drivers weren't very intrested in his ride.(Although Richard Petty once drove Ulrich's car at the 1986 Coca-Cola 600 when his regular wasn't ready. He finished 38th after experiencing engine problems.) Ulrich ran full-time for a couple of years, but normally he stepped aside and let other drivers race for him. During his tenure as an owner, he earned a reputation of being good at developing younger drivers. Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, Morgan Shepherd, and Mark Martin all went on to successful careers after piloting Ulrich's car. In 1987, Ulrich noticed a young short track driver from California named Ernie Irvan. Irvan qualified 20th in a Dale Earnhardt-sponsored car for a race that Ulrich didn't make. Seriously pondering hanging up his helmet for good, Ulrich put the aggressive young Irvan in his car for three races that year, with Irvan's partner Marc Reno as crew chief. When Ulrich was able to get Kroger as a full-time sponsor for the team, he fielded the car full-time in 1988 with Irvan competing for NASCAR Rookie of the Year in the #2 Chevrolet/Pontiac. Irvan had problems finishing races that year, and finished 59 points behind Ken Bouchard for Rookie of the Year. 1989, proved to be a much better year for the team, posting 4-top ten finishes and ending the season 22nd in points, three better than the previous year. Unfortunately, Kroger decided not to renew its contract, and Irvan had no choice but to leave the team. Ulrich was able to get several different sponsorships together for 1990, and the team ran most of the races. The car returned full-time for 1991 as the #55 Pontiac piloted by rookie driver Ted Musgrave. The team disappeared for a couple of years before returning in 1994 as #77 USAir Ford with veteran journeyman Greg Sacks handling the driving chores. During this time, Doug Bawel, an executive from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, became a business partner with Ulrich, and co-sponsored the team for the 1995 season, with the car originally piloted by rookie Davy Jones and later Bobby Hillin Jr.. After the season, Bawel bought the entire team from Ulrich and started a partnership with Jasper salesmen Mark Wallace and Mark Harrah, with team changing its name to Jasper Motorsports. Hillin continued to drive the car for 1996, and the first part of 1997, before being replaced by Robert Pressley and Morgan Shepherd. Pressley won the job to drive the car for 1998, during which he had a then-career-best finish of 3rd at Texas. 1999 proved to be a tumultulous year for the team, struggling with qualifying and finishing 39th in points. For the 2000 season, Ryan Pemberton came aboard as crew chief and made a huge difference as Pressley finished 25th in points the next two years, finished 2nd at the 2001 Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland, and the team hasn't missed a race since. Pressley and Jasper parted ways after the season, and former sprint car champion Dave Blaney was tabbed to replace him. But Blaney, while competitive in some races, was average at best, and was gone at the end of 2003. Mark Wallace sold his share of the team, and Roger Penske took his place. As a result, the team switched to Dodge. The team also got a new sponsor in Kodak, as well as a new driver in rookie Brendan Gaughan. Despite grabbing 4 top finishes, Gaughan was replaced to the shock of fans by another rookie, Travis Kvapil. In his first year in the Cup circuit, he finished 32nd in points with two top-10 finishes.

• Some of the info from this article came from Racing Reference, others from Ernie Irvan's autobiography No Fear.

Canam Racing

In 1973 Penske was Porsche official partner racing the ultimate evolution of the 917, the 917/30 in the Canam challenge.

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Endurance Racing

A Lola T70 Mk IIIb entered by Penske was the surprise winner of the 1969 24 hours of Daytona.

During the 1970 season the compettion between the 5-liter Sport of Porsche and Ferrari turned to the advantage of the Porsche 917. In 1971 Ferrari decided to give up any official effort with the 5-liter Ferrari 512. In order to prepare the 1972 season a new works prototype, the 312 PB was presented and engaged by the factory in several races.

Roger Penske bought a used 512 M chassis that was totally dismantled and rebuilt. The car was specially tuned for long races receiving many unique features, among them were a large rear wing and an aviation inspired quick refueling system. The engine was tuned by Can-Am V8 specialist Traco, this engine was probably able to deliver more than 600 hp (450 kW). As of today it's impossible to know to what extend Penske's initiative was backed by Ferrari works. This 512 M, painted in a blue and yellow livery, was sponsored by Sunoco and the Californian Ferrari dealer Kirk F. White. This car made the pole position for the 24 hours of Daytona and finished second despite an accident. For the 12 hours of Sebring the "Sunoco" made the pole but finished the race at the sixth position after making contact with Pedro Rodrigez's 917. Despite this misfortune the car had proved to be a serious opponent for the 917. Not only this car was the fastest on track in Daytona and Sebring but it was also the car that had the shortest refueling time.

The presence of the 512 M "Sunoco" forced Porsche to pursue his effort of research and development on the 917: The 917 K tail was modified, and the 917 LH aerodynamics received further improvements. New Magnesium chassis were developed. An entirely new car, the 917/20 was built as test-bed for future Can-Am parts and aerodynamic "low-drag" concepts.

In Le Mans the "Sunoco" Ferrari was unable to break the 200 mph (320 km/h) barrier on the straight while the Porsche 917 LH were lightning quick at speeds of over 240 mph (380 km/h). Mark Donohue qualified fourth anyway, which was obviously the result of an aerodynamic configuration that favored downforce over drag, which helped in the twistier sections.

Formula One

Penske entered the Formula One World Championship from 1974 to 1976. Penske first sponsored the second McLaren entry in the 1971 Canadian and US GP, entering Mark Donohue, who took the car to a third place. The team returned three years later, in the 1975 Canadian GP, with their own chassis, the PC1 (a standard tub built around a Cosworth DFV engine and a Hewland gearbox) driven by Donohue, who took the car to 12th place on its debut. In 1975, Roger Penske mounted a full season attack with the PC1, Donohue managing to score a fifth place in the Swedish GP. However, the car was retired after the French GP and Penske entered a March 751 for the next three races, scoring another fifth in the British GP. However, Donohue fatally crashed the car in the Austrian GP at Zeltweg and Penske missed the Italian race, returning only for the US GP, this time back with the PC1 and British driver John Watson as a driver.

For 1976, Penske signed a sponsorship deal with Citibank and entered a brand new PC3 for Watson. In spite of a fifth place scored at the South African GP at Kyalami, the PC3 was evolved into the PC4, which was much more competitive, allowing Watson to score two podiums in France and Britain. Then, in the Austrian GP, the team scored their only F1 win, "forcing" John Watson to shave his trademark beard. Still, Roger Penske was tired of Europe and at the end of the year decided to concentrate solely on Indycar racing, selling the remains of his European operations to Gunther Schmid. For 1977, the car was painted in yellow and entered by Auto Technisches Zubehor, Schmid's ATS Wheels business. The ATS-Penske PC4 debuted in the 1977 US West GP with Jean-Pierre Jarier at the wheel, where the Frenchman scored the team's single point of the season. A second PC4 was eventually entered for Hans Heyer and Hans Binder but the team's fortunes sunk and Schmid quit after the Italian GP, before returning in 1978 with his own chassis. The PC4 ended up in the hands of Interscope Racing, who entered the car for US East and Canada, driven by American Danny Ongais, with no results, and Penske cars were not seen in F1 after the end of 1977 season.

External links

Official Site

• Formula One constructors
• NASCAR teams
• Companies based in North Carolina
• Charlotte, North Carolina