Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
organization, competing in the
NTT IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
,
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
, and the
FIA World Endurance Championship
The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...
. Debuting at the
1966 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...
, the organization has also competed in various other types of professional racing such as
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
,
Can-Am
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
,
Trans Am
Trans Am may refer to:
* Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, an automobile model
* Trans Am (band), an American post-rock band
** ''Trans Am'' (album), their 1996 debut album
*** ''Trans Am'' (1996 song), their eponymous song from the eponymous album, see ...
,
IMSA
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...
and
Australian Supercars. Altogether, Team Penske has earned over 500 victories and over 40 championships in all of auto racing. Team Penske is a division of
Penske Corporation
Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president.
Holding ...
, and is owned and chaired by
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
. The team president is
Tim Cindric
Tim Cindric (born 1968) is the President of Team Penske. A native of Indianapolis, he is an alumnus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he was a four-year basketball Letterman (sports), letterman in 1990. Cindric served as the Team Manag ...
.
IndyCar Series
Team Penske currently fields three cars: the No. 2
Hitachi
() is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
/
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
for
Josef Newgarden
Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 Indy Lights champion.
Career
Karting
Newga ...
, the No. 3
DEX Imaging
DEX Imaging is a document imaging dealer based in Tampa, Florida. It operates in printers, copiers, and scanners, as well as document software.
Growth
DEX was founded in 2002, with CEO Dan Doyle Jr. and his father. In 2013, DEX acquired U.S. I ...
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
/
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
driven by
Scott McLaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
, and the No. 12
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
/
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
driven by
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
. Notable past drivers include 4-time
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
winners
Al Unser
Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Rick ...
,
Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
, and
Helio Castroneves
Helio may refer to:
* Helio AU-24 Stallion
* Helio (wireless carrier), a defunct American wireless communications provider (2005–2010); originally a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, purchased by Virgin Mobile USA in 2008
* He ...
. Prior to the 2022 race, Team Penske has won the Indy 500 a record 18 times. The team has won the series championship 16 times.
The open-wheel racing portion of Penske Racing had been based in
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...
since 1973 with the cars, during the Formula One and CART era, being constructed in
Poole
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which was also the base for the F1 team. On October 31, 2005, Penske Racing announced after the
2006 IRL season, they would consolidate IRL and NASCAR operations at the team's
Mooresville North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
facility; with the flooding in Pennsylvania in 2006, the team's operations were moved to Mooresville earlier than expected.
IndyCar history
Early days
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
has been involved with IndyCar racing since 1968, when his team first fielded a
stock
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
block
Block or blocked may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting
* W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...
-powered
Eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
with
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
. The organization first competed at
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
in 1969, and within three years had become the team to beat, winning the race with Donohue in 1972. In 1978, Penske along with
Pat Patrick,
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
, and several other team owners who had been participating in USAC events involving cars known as Champ Cars and IndyCars formed Championship Auto Racing Teams (
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
). As of June 27, 2018, Penske Racing has
won the Indianapolis 500 17 times,
won the Indianapolis 500 pole position 17 times, as well as 200
open wheel
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...
IndyCar wins in USAC, CART and IRL (as of May 19, 2018), 29 of which are in 500-Mile Races and 13 open-wheel championships. Penske Racing has 1,463 starts in IndyCar races, 231 pole positions, 71 wins from pole, 47 double wins of which 8 are 1–2–3 finishes from the
Pocono race on June 26, 1977, to January 1, 2015.
Oldsmobile and Chevrolet engines era
In 2001, Team Penske marked its return to the Indy 500 after a five-year absence due to the
open wheel split, after the 1995 PPG IndyCar World Series season with an
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
engines. Later, in 2001 Roger Penske announced he would leave CART for the 2002
IRL
IRL may refer to:
Places
* Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code)
* Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England
Organizations
* International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league
* I ...
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
season with
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
engines.
Toyota works engines (2003–2005)
As
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
confirmed defection from
CART Champ Car to
IRL
IRL may refer to:
Places
* Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code)
* Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England
Organizations
* International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league
* I ...
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
, the team switched to full-works Toyota engines from 2003 season onwards as it was announced on April 2, 2002. The team's partnership with Toyota engines started well in 2003 including winning the
2003 Indianapolis 500
The 87th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 25, 2003. Two-time defending champion Hélio Castroneves won the pole position and was trying to become the first driver in Indy history to ...
in the hands of
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
. However, Team Penske's Toyota partnership started to decline in 2004 by scoring only two wins, five pole positions, and three fastest laps compared to 2003 due to driver errors and also incidents. The team also resurged slightly in 2005 with just only three wins and two pole positions.
Honda works engines (2006–2011)
On October 31, 2005, it was announced that Team Penske ended their engine deal with
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
which included Toyota's exit from
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
and reforged their historical full-works partnership with
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
with an initial five-year deal as Honda increased its
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
partnership role to exclusive global engine partner. Penske had collaborated with Honda engines in the 2000–2001 CART Champ Car season. After a prolonged period, the team announced
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
and
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
as their official race drivers. Despite the Honda partnership, Penske had a ''de facto'' direct Honda factory support, with engines coming straight from the Japanese company's racing division in Japan and the United States including tune-up support from
Ilmor Engineering
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
in Plymouth, Michigan. The partnership started well in 2006, winning the
2006 Indianapolis 500
The 90th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 28, 2006. Sam Hornish Jr. won from the pole position. It was Hornish's first and only win at Indianapolis, and the record fourteenth Indy vict ...
and
2006 IndyCar Series
The 2006 IRL IndyCar Series began on March 26 and concluded on September 10. Sam Hornish Jr. won his third IndyCar Series championship. Hornish also won the 2006 Indianapolis 500, 90th Indianapolis 500, passing rookie Marco Andretti on the final ...
titles at the hands of
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
.
Penske retained their Castroneves - Hornish Jr. pair for the
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
season. The second year of the renewed Honda partnership was much more promising than the first with the team coming close to defending their
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
victory, as well as their
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
driver and team titles. However, the team slumped, scoring only two victories due to driver errors and incidents. The team failed to win major IndyCar silverware for the first time since the 2005 season. On November 9, 2007,
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
announced he would depart from
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
to the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
, driving full-time for the 2008 season with Team Penske
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
confirming Porsche LMP2 driver
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
as Castroneves's new teammate for 2008 on November 13, 2007.
Team Penske started the 2008 season poorly but
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
posted five top-four finishes (including two 2nd-place finishes) to start the year. Meanwhile,
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
was forced to adapt the Penske IndyCar car, as Briscoe was entering his first season with Team Penske after spending two years as an IndyCar part-timer whilst he raced in the
Champ Car World Series
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
in 2006 and later the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
in 2007.
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
finally scored his first win at the Milwaukee Mile while Castroneves claimed his first 2008 win in
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern S ...
. Castroneves nearly won the championship at Chicagoland Speedway, but Scott Dixon finished in 2nd place to ensure his 2008
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
driver's title.
For 2009,
Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
, joined ExxonMobil (
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
's then fuel and lubricant partner) as associate sponsors, and the team was billed as Verizon Championship Racing. The third car was driven by Will Power (originally a substitute for Castroneves) and carried the No. 12 and featured primary sponsorship of both the Verizon Wireless brand and Roger Penske's truck rental business.
For the 2010 season, the team entered their fifth year of its Penske-Honda partnership with
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
promoted to a full-time Penske seat alongside Castroneves and Briscoe. Team Penske became a three-car team for the first time since 1994, with the addition of a full-time team for Power. Team Penske started the 2010 season in style by winning the first three races of the season. Will Power challenged for the driver's title until suspension failure in the season finale at
Homestead-Miami Speedway robbed him of a shot at the championship. Penske ended up finishing the 2010 season with nine wins, thirteen pole positions, and six fastest laps (mostly by
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
).
On 12 November 2010, Penske confirmed that they would end their partnership with Honda at the end of the
2011 season and use engines supplied by
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
for the 2012 season. For the 2011 season, the team entered their sixth and final year of its Penske-Honda partnership. Penske's trio of Castroneves-Briscoe-Power remained for the second consecutive year while the team lost the
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
sponsorship to
Stewart-Haas Racing
Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champio ...
's NASCAR team in favor of
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard ou ...
and
Pennzoil
Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...
as their official motor oil partner. The team started well with two victories from
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
in the first five races. Power captured his first oval win at Texas Motor Speedway and came into the season finale at Las Vegas 18 points behind leader Dario Franchitti. However, on lap 11 of the race, Power was collected in a fiery 15-car crash that killed defending Indianapolis 500 winner
Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series season, 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indiana ...
. The race was cut short in Wheldon's honor and the championship points stood as they had to enter Las Vegas, giving Franchitti his third consecutive driver's title (and fourth overall). Penske finished the 2011 season with six victories, all from
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
, while Castroneves and Briscoe went winless.
Return to Chevrolet works engines (2012–present)
Roger Penske announced a switch to full-works
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
-owned
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
engines for the
2012 IndyCar Series season
The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 17th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event was the 96th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 27. The series was sanctioned by IndyCar, and took p ...
onwards and thus Team Penske earned a full-factory support from
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
and
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
and also Team Penske received free engines formally from
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
and
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
as
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
has a shares at
Ilmor Engineering Ltd.. Once again, Penske would dominate the early portion of the season, winning 4 consecutive races, with Castroneves taking the season opener at St. Petersburg, and Power capturing wins at Barber, Long Beach, and São Paulo. Briscoe would have struggles throughout the season but managed to find victory lane at Sonoma. However, Power would come up short in the championship after a crash at the season finale. Briscoe left the team after 2012 for other opportunities.
In 2014, Will Power took the IndyCar Championship for Team Penske after 3 concurrent runner up finishes in 2010–2012.
The 2015 season started well for Team Penske, Juan Pablo Montoya won the first race of the season, his second win for Penske since he arrived from NASCAR in 2014, with teammates Will Power, Helio Castroneves, and Simon Pagenaud (first season with the team) finishing 2nd, 4th, and 5th. Power got a win at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in the 5th race of the season and just 2 weeks later, the Colombian Montoya won the Indy 500 leading again teammate Will Power. Juan Pablo Montoya would lose the championship in the final race on a tie-breaker to
Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...
.
Team Penske would go on to dominate 2016, filling the top 3 positions in the final standings. Capping the season with a dominating race victory,
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud (born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He is contracted to drive the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class ...
won his first IndyCar championship, becoming the ninth Penske driver to be crowned champion. Roger Penske's organization claimed its 14th such title and its second in three years (Power won in '14).
In 2017 Team Penske signed Josef Newgarden from Ed Carpenter Racing and would secure back-to-back IndyCar championships with Newgarden winning his first in 2017. Newgarden won a second championship for the team in 2019 while Will Power and Simon Pagenaud respectively won back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 the team would win the most races of any team in the IndyCar series but did not win the Indianapolis 500 or secure the IndyCar championship, with Newgarden being unable to defend his title against Scott Dixon.
In 2021 Team Penske expanded again to four-time cars. The year also marked the arrival of three-time
Supercars
A supercar – also called exotic car – is a loosely defined description of street-legal, high-performance sports cars. Since the 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars. Supercars commonly serve as t ...
champion and former
DJR Team Penske
Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respectivel ...
driver
Scott McLaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
to the team, marking the first time Team Penske had signed a driver without any open-wheel experience to compete in their open-wheel racing program since Rick Mears signed to compete with the team in 1978. 2021 would be a difficult season for Team Penske. While McLaughlin was given time to adapt to IndyCar racing all three of the team's former champions would see their worst years with Team Penske. Both Will Power and Josef Newgarden recorded the lowest win totals of their Team Penske tenures in 2021 and had easy victories at Detroit and Road America taken away from them in the closing laps due to mechanical failures, while Simon Pagenaud was only able to record two third-place finishes as his best result of the year. The team also recorded their worst Indianapolis 500 a performance in a nearly twenty years; none of Team Penske's drivers qualified inside the top fifteen, Will Power was almost bumped from the starting lineup, and their best result was a third-place via a late charge by Simon Pagenaud. A bright spot for the team was their partnership with all-female operated
Paretta Autosport
Paretta Autosport is an automotive racing organization owned by Beth Paretta, the former director of Street & Racing Technology, SRT Motorsports. Paretta Autosport is scheduled to compete in the 2021 Indianapolis 500 IndyCar Series, IndyCar race ...
team for the
2021 Indianapolis 500
The 2021 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) race in the 2021 IndyCar Series, held on May 30, 2021, at the Indianapolis ...
; Team Penske prepped a chassis leased from
Juncos Racing
Juncos Hollinger Racing, formerly Juncos Racing, is an Argentine-American racing team competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and Indy Pro 2000 Championship series in the Road to Indy ladder for IndyCar. Owned by Ricardo Juncos, who form ...
and helped the team qualify
Simona De Silvestro
Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) is a Swiss-Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 season of the FIA Formula E Championship as well ...
at the last spot on the starting lineup, though De Silvestro and the Penske prepped car would fail to finish the race. Scott McLaughlin would be named both IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 Rookie Of The Year while Josef Newgarden was able to finish in second place in the championship for a second consecutive season.
For 2022 Simon Pagenaud departed the team for
Meyer Shank Racing
Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
History Atlantic Championship
Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, he ...
, bringing Team Penske back down to three full-time IndyCar entries. The team would forge a technical alliance with the newly rebranded Juncos Hollinger Racing, who would be competing in IndyCar for their first full-time season. The partnership with Juncos would be similar to the alliance between
Andretti Autosport
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...
and the aforementioned Meyer Shank Racing, where Penske would provide parts and certain setup data to Juncos and potentially lease one of their chassis to Juncos on a part-time basis. The team would struggle again at the Indianapolis 500 but their overall form would be greatly improved, with the team winning four of the first seven races of the season and nine races overall in the season. Scott McLaughlin would take his first IndyCar win at the season opener in St. Petersburg while Will Power and Josef Newgarden would hold the championship points lead at different points in the season. Will Power would ultimately clinch his second IndyCar championship at the season finale.
1994 PPG IndyCar World Series
![PenskePC23](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/PenskePC23.jpg)
Penske's 1994 IndyCar World Series Championship was one of, if not the most dominating performance from a race team in the history of American open-wheel racing. Roger Penske had found the key to win but also found a way to run from the competition. The new Penske PC-23 chassis with the
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
- Indy V8 engine would power the Penske drivers of
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
,
Paul Tracy
Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill" ...
, and
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
. The team racked up 12 wins out of 16 races, collecting 10 poles and 28 podium finishes on their way to the championship. The team also dominated a controversial May at Indianapolis. Penske debuted a radical new Mercedes-Benz engine at Indy, the 500I. This engine used a provision in the rules intended for stock block
pushrod
A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...
engines such as the
V-6 Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
engines that allowed an extra 650 cm³ and 10
inches
Measuring tape with inches
The inch (symbol: in or ″) is a unit of length in the British imperial and the United States customary systems of measurement. It is equal to yard or of a foot. Derived from the Roman uncia ("twelfth"), ...
(4.9
psi
Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to:
Alphabetic letters
* Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet
* Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek
Arts and entertainment
* "Psi" as an abbreviation ...
/33.8
kPa
KPA may refer to:
* Keele Postgraduate Association, Keele University, UK, formerly Keele Research Association (KRA)
* Kensington (Olympia) station, London, England, National Rail station code
* Kenya Ports Authority
* ''Kiln phosphoric acid'', a d ...
) of boost. This extra power (at least 900
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
, and rumored to be over 1000) allowed the Penskes to run significantly faster, giving them the pole and outside front row on the grid for the
78th Indianapolis 500.
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
and
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
dominated the race, eventually lapping the field with 16 laps to go in the 200 lap race when Fittipaldi made contact with the wall coming out of Turn 4, giving
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
the lead and win. The only driver who finished on the lead lap was rookie
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...
. This one season gave Penske the Driver's Championship with
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
, Constructor's Cup with the Penske PC-23, and Manufacturer's Cup with the Ilmor-Indy V8 engine. (In the
1995 Indy 500 Penske failed to qualify any cars for the race)
Drivers
![Penske Racing 2009 Indy 500 Carb Day](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Penske_Racing_2009_Indy_500_Carb_Day.JPG)
*
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
(1968–1975)
*
David Hobbs (1971)
*
Gary Bettenhausen
Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in Mi ...
(1972–1974)
*
Gordon Johncock
Gordon Johncock (born August 5, 1936) is an American former racing driver. He won the Indianapolis 500 twice, and was the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion.
Early career
Johncock began racing at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. J ...
(1972)
*
Mike Hiss
Mike Hiss (7 July 1941 – 19 December 2018) was an American driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1972–1976 seasons, with 28 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as th ...
(1972, 1974)
*
Bobby Allison
Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...
(1973, 1975)
*
Tom Sneva
Thomas E. Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.
A former math teacher from Spokane ...
(1975–1978)
*
Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
(1976–1980)
*
Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
(1978–1992)
*
Bobby Unser
Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. Fo ...
(1979–1981)
*
Bill Alsup
Bill Alsup (July 15, 1938 in Honolulu – August 9, 2016) was an American race car driver. He was the first Championship Auto Racing Teams ( CART) Rookie of the Year in 1979 and competed in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, finishing 11th. He made 57 CA ...
(1981)
*
Kevin Cogan
John Kevin Cogan (born in Culver City, California on March 31, 1956) is a former race car driver who drove in Formula One from to . Driving a RAM Williams in the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix, he failed to qualify, suffering the same result driving ...
(1982)
*
Al Unser
Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Rick ...
(1983–1989)
*
Johnny Rutherford
John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 3 ...
(1984) (injury replacement)
*
Mike Thackwell
Michael Thackwell (born 30 March 1961) is a former racing driver from New Zealand, who participated in a number of prominent racing categories, including Formula 1. The fifth youngest driver ever to qualify for a Grand Prix, he participated in f ...
(1984) (injury replacement)
*
Danny Sullivan
Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Champions ...
(1985–1990)
*
Geoff Brabham
__NOTOC__
Geoff Brabham (born 20 March 1952) is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States.
Racing career
CART
He raced successfully in CART early in his career, finishing 8th in 1982, 1 ...
(1989) (injury replacement)
*
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
(1990–1996)
*
Paul Tracy
Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill" ...
(1991–1994, 1996–1997)
*
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
(1994–1999)
*
Jan Magnussen
Jan Ellegaard Magnussen (born 4 July 1973) is a Danish professional racing driver and was a factory driver for General Motors until the end of the 2020 season. He has competed in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), NASCAR, the FIA Formula ...
(1996) (injury replacement)
*
André Ribeiro (1998)
*
Alex Barron (1999, 2003; 2003 as injury replacement)
*
Gonzalo Rodriguez (1999) (killed at Laguna Seca Raceway)
*
Tarso Marques
Tarso Anibal Santanna Marques (born 19 January 1976) is a Brazilian racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 79 Ford Mustang for Team Stange Racing in both series. He previously p ...
(1999) (injury replacement)
*
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
(2000–2003)
*
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
(2000–2020)
*
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born 3 October 1969) is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the ...
(2002) (injury replacement)
*
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
(2004–2007)
*
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
(2008–2012)
*
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
(2009–present) (legal replacement, 1 race; two other races in No. 12 in 2009, full-time in 2010 beyond)
*
A. J. Allmendinger
Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger's professi ...
(2013)
*
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...
(2014–2017)
*
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud (born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He is contracted to drive the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class ...
(2015–2021)
*
Oriol Servia
Oriol () is a Catalan name, which can be found as a given name or a surname. It derives from the Latin word ''aureus'' (golden). It was originally just a surname, but started to be used as a given name in honour of Saint Joseph Oriol. It may refe ...
(2016) (injury replacement)
*
Josef Newgarden
Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 Indy Lights champion.
Career
Karting
Newga ...
(2017–present)
*
Scott McLaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
(2017-present)
*Note: This does not include
Greg Moore, who in mid-1999 signed a contract with Penske Racing to join the team for the 2000 season. Moore was killed in a crash on Lap 10 of the
Marlboro 500 at the
Auto Club Speedway
Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previ ...
in the last race of the 1999 season while in his last race for
Forsythe Championship Racing
Forsythe/Pettit Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing.
Histor ...
. Castroneves, who had been driving for Hogan Racing, which shut down after the 1999 season, was tapped to fill that seat.
Sponsorship
Cigarette brand
Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...
had been a sponsor with Team Penske since the
1989 Indianapolis 500
The 73rd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1989. Two-time World Drivers' Champion Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil became the first foreign-born winner of the race since 1969, and fir ...
, and primary sponsor of all Team Penske IndyCars since 1991. Late in 2005, Team Penske announced that Marlboro would not appear on the cars any longer following the instruction of
Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was entered on November 23, 1998, originally between the four largest United States Tobacco industry, tobacco companies (Altria, Philip Morris Inc., R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, R. J. Reynolds, Brown ...
restricting cigarette advertising by name. In 2007, the IndyCar Series cars began to carry Team Penske insignia by removing Marlboro branding and sponsorship from
Mobil 1
Mobil 1 is a brand of synthetic motor oil and other automotive lubrication products. Originally developed by the Mobil oil company, it is now globally marketed and sold by ExxonMobil.
Mobil 1 engine oil was introduced in 1974. The brand range no ...
(although the cars remained painted in the Marlboro color scheme—in Formula 1 the
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Scuderia Ferrari S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in reference to their logo. ...
and
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
has a similar set up due to Marlboro partnership).
In 2010,
Phillip Morris USA
Philip Morris USA is the American tobacco division of the American tobacco corporation Altria Group.
History Creation
The company's namesake Philip Morris was born in Whitechapel, United Kingdom in 1835, the son of a recent immigrant from ...
discontinued their relationship with Team Penske, ending a 19-year partnership. The team subsequently changed their livery to black and white with red trim, reflecting Verizon sponsorship (similar to
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
Formula One team when they had a black-silver livery from 1997 to 2005 reflecting
Mercedes-Benz engines
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
and
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
sponsorship).
NASCAR
Sports car racing
Trans-Am Series
Penske first fielded a blue
Sunoco
Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...
1967 Chevrolet Camaro driven by
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
in this series designed for
Pony car
Pony car is an American car classification for affordable, compact, highly styled coupés or convertibles with a "sporty" or performance-oriented image. Common characteristics include rear-wheel drive, a long hood, a short decklid, a wide range ...
s like the
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...
. Penske-entered Camaros won the series championship in 1968 and 1969. Later they switched to a red/white/blue
American Motors
American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...
backed 1970
AMC Javelin
The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968 through 1970 and 1971 through 1974 model years. The car was positioned an ...
, and later the restyled 1971
AMC Javelin AMX which had an aerodynamic tail
spoiler
Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. Ac ...
and other features suggested by Donohue. American Motors won the Over 2.5-liter title in 1971, after which Penske withdrew from the championship. Penske Racing also had an alliance with the pioneer Trans-Am team,
Jocko's Racing which won the
1976 Trans-Am Series championship in a Penske-leased car.
Can-Am Series
Penske Racing entered a
Lola T70
The Lola T70 is a sports prototype developed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in 1965. Lola built the aluminium monocoque chassis, which were typically powered by large American V8s.
The T70 was quite popular in the mid to late 1960s, with m ...
in the 1966
Can-Am
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an Sports Car Club of America, SCCA/Canadian Auto Sport Clubs, CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two r ...
Series for
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
, resulting in one win at
Mosport
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a adva ...
. In 1967, Penske Racing entered two Lolas, one for Mark Donohue and one for
George Follmer
George Follmer (born January 27, 1934) is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Career
Follmer ...
. 1968 saw Penske switch to a McLaren M6, which had won the series in 1967. Donohue won one race that year in Can-Am at
Bridgehampton
Bridgehampton is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the South Fork, Suffolk County, New York, South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,7 ...
. With the McLaren domination of the Can-Am, Penske switched back to Lola Cars for his 1969 Can-Am efforts, but only entered the car in one race at
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...
.
From 1972 to 1974, Penske was Porsche's official partner in the
CanAm Series. In late 1971, Penske and
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
helped to develop the turbocharged version of the
Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
.
George Follmer
George Follmer (born January 27, 1934) is an American former auto racing driver, and one of the most successful road racers of the 1970s. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His family moved to California when he was just an infant.
Career
Follmer ...
won the series in 1972, and Donohue dominated CanAm in 1973 with the ultimate evolution of the 917, the 917/30. The rules were changed for 1974, and Penske raced only once this year.
Endurance racing
A
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola (fo ...
T70 Mk IIIb entered by Penske was the surprise winner of the 1969
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
.
During the 1970 season, the competition between the 5-liter sportscars of Porsche and Ferrari turned to the advantage of the
Porsche 917
The Porsche 917 is a sports prototype race car developed by German manufacturer Porsche to exploit the regulations regarding the construction of 5-litre sports cars. Powered by a Type 912 flat-12 engine which was progressively enlarged from ...
. In 1971, Ferrari decided to give up any official effort with the 5-liter
Ferrari 512
Ferrari 512 S is the designation for 25 sports cars built in 1969–70, with five-litre 12-cylinder ("512") engines, related to the Ferrari P sports prototypes. The V12-powered cars were entered in the 1970 International Championship for Makes ...
. To prepare for the 1972 season, the new works prototype
Ferrari 312PB
The Ferrari 312 PB was a Group 6 Prototype-Sports Car introduced in 1971 by Italian carmaker Ferrari. It was officially designated the 312 P, but often known as the 312 PB to avoid confusion with a previous car of the same name. It was ...
was presented and engaged by the factory in several races.
Roger Penske bought a used 512 M chassis that was dismantled and rebuilt. The car was specially tuned for long races receiving many unique features, among them were a large rear wing and aviation-inspired quick refueling system. The engine was tuned by
CanAm V8 specialist Traco, and was probably able to deliver more than 600 hp (450 kW). As of today, it is unknown to what extent Penske's initiative was backed by Ferrari works. This 512M was painted in a blue and yellow livery and was sponsored by
Sunoco
Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...
and the Californian Ferrari dealer Kirk F. White. The car made the pole position for the 1971
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
and finished second despite an accident. For the
12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...
the "Sunoco" made the pole again 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 917K short 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 a test-bed for future CanAm 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 the result of an aerodynamic configuration that favored downforce over drag, which helped in the twistier sections. The car did not have much luck in the race though.
American Le Mans Series
![Pair of RS Spyders](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Pair_of_RS_Spyders.jpg)
In April 2005, it was announced that
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
would build an
Automobile Club de l'Ouest
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organ ...
(ACO) sanctioned LMP2 Class Prototype that would be entered by Penske Racing in the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
and thus formally competed as DHL Porsche Penske Racing in a reference of Porsche Motorsport works team. The
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
made its successful debut at the ALMS season final race at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...
. The "
Porsche Junioren
The Porsche Junioren (german: Porsche Junioren) are a team of young racing drivers, employed by Porsche and driving for various private teams, as Porsche officially retired from factory racing after winning the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans overall wit ...
" factory drivers
Sascha Maassen
Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in Aachen, Germany) is a veteran sports car driver.
Early career
Maassen began his career in karts, and moved to cars in 1989, in Formula Ford 1600. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German Formula 3 s ...
and
Lucas Luhr
Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Early career
Born in Mülheim-Kärlich, Luhr ...
finished 1st in LMP2 Class and 5th Overall in the 4–Hour Endurance Race. The livery of the Penske Racing American Le Mans Series team was inspired by
Jordan EJ12
The Jordan EJ12 was the car with which the Jordan team competed in the Formula One season. The car was driven by Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato.
The EJ12 incorporates heavy design revisions to the front of the chassis, therefore requiring ...
's
DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
livery driven by
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico, Giano or Fisi, is an Italian professional racing driver, also captain of the official ''Nazionale Piloti'' association football team (composed of the racing drivers). He has d ...
and
Takuma Sato
, nicknamed "Taku", is a Japanese professional racing driver. Sato is a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the event in 2017 and 2020. He was the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the twentieth driver to win th ...
.
In 2006, Penske Motorsports fielded two LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder in the American Le Mans Series, but did not run the
2006 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 74th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place over 17–18 June 2006. The winners of the race were Frank Biela, Marco Werner, and Emanuele Pirro, driving the Audi R10 TDI. For the first time in the history of th ...
in June. The Penske cars combined to win seven class victories and the overall win at
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...
. Penske Racing won the LMP2 team championship. Drivers Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr tied for first place in the driver's championship, while Timo Bernhard finished fifth, Romain Dumas finished sixth, and Emmanuel Collard finished tenth.
2006 team lineup:
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 6:
Sascha Maassen
Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in Aachen, Germany) is a veteran sports car driver.
Early career
Maassen began his career in karts, and moved to cars in 1989, in Formula Ford 1600. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German Formula 3 s ...
,
Lucas Luhr
Lucas Luhr (born 22 July 1979) is a German BMW factory racing driver, currently competing for BMW and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the GTLM category of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship.
Early career
Born in Mülheim-Kärlich, Luhr ...
(with
Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques.
Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
for endurance events)
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 7:
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
,
Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
(with
Patrick Long
__NOTOC__
Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction.
Racing career Sports car racing
Following a successful career in karts and th ...
for endurance events)
In 2007, Penske Motorsports fielded two LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder Evo in the American Le Mans Series. Penske Motorsports for the 2nd year in a row did not compete in
2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 75th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''75e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars, which took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, from 16 to 17 June 200 ...
in June. Penske's two cars combined for eleven class victories and eight overall victories during the twelve race season. Penske won the LMP2 team championship, and team drivers Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard finished tied for first in the LMP2 driver's championship, while Sascha Maassen and
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
tied for third place.
2007 team lineup:
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 6:
Sascha Maassen
Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in Aachen, Germany) is a veteran sports car driver.
Early career
Maassen began his career in karts, and moved to cars in 1989, in Formula Ford 1600. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German Formula 3 s ...
,
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
(with
Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques.
Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
for endurance events)
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 7:
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
,
Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
(with
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
(Sebring only) and
Patrick Long
__NOTOC__
Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction.
Racing career Sports car racing
Following a successful career in karts and th ...
(Road Atlanta only) for endurance events)
Penske started their 2008 season with an overall win in the
12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...
. This was
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
's first overall win in the race since 1988 in a
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Europ ...
.
2008 team lineup:
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 5:
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
,
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
(Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca only)
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 6:
Sascha Maassen
Sascha Maassen (born 28 September 1969 in Aachen, Germany) is a veteran sports car driver.
Early career
Maassen began his career in karts, and moved to cars in 1989, in Formula Ford 1600. During the early 1990s, he raced in the German Formula 3 s ...
,
Patrick Long
__NOTOC__
Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction.
Racing career Sports car racing
Following a successful career in karts and th ...
* LMP2
Porsche RS Spyder
The RS Spyder (Type 9R6) is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s (combined with Porsche's co ...
No. 7:
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
,
Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
(with
Emmanuel Collard
Emmanuel Collard (born 3 April 1971) is a French professional racing driver. He is a former member of the Porsche Junioren factory team, but also drives for other marques.
Born in Arpajon, Essonne, Collard is the winner of the Le Mans Series f ...
for endurance events)
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
On December 4, 2008, Roger Penske announced that the Team Penske officially shut down its participation in the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
and thus defected to ALMS's rival Grand-Am
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
for the full 2009 season. The team utilized a Porsche-powered Riley with
Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
and
Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
as their official drivers. However, in late 2009, Roger Penske announced that the team would shut down its Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series operations and be turned into the new No. 12
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
sponsored IndyCar for Will Power to run full-time in 2010.
IMSA
![Acura ARX-05 n°6 - 2018 12 Hours of Sebring](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Acura_ARX-05_n%C2%B06_-_2018_12_Hours_of_Sebring.jpg)
In 2017, it was announced that Penske Racing would make a comeback to sportscar racing in IMSA's
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
for the 2018 season. They will run 2
Acura ARX-05
The Acura ARX-05 is a sports prototype racing car built to Daytona Prototype International regulations. It was developed in partnership by Honda Performance Development and Oreca, and is based on the Oreca 07 chassis and powered by the Acura AR35 ...
DPi
A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replacemen ...
s in the prototype (P) class. They ran the last race of 2017, the
Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans ( French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which a ...
using the
Oreca 07
The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...
LMP2 that the Acura DPi is based on, placing third.
2018 line-up:
*No. 6 Acura ARX-05:
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...
,
Dane Cameron
Dane Cameron (born October 18, 1988) is an American racing driver from Glen Ellen, California. He won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall in 2016 and 2019, and also in the GTD class in 2014.
Racing career
After karting, Cameron b ...
(full season),
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud (born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He is contracted to drive the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class ...
(endurance)
*No. 7 Acura ARX-05:
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
,
Ricky Taylor
Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...
(full season),
Graham Rahal
Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winner ...
(endurance)
2019-2020 line-up:
*No. 6 Acura ARX-05:
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech S ...
,
Dane Cameron
Dane Cameron (born October 18, 1988) is an American racing driver from Glen Ellen, California. He won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall in 2016 and 2019, and also in the GTD class in 2014.
Racing career
After karting, Cameron b ...
,
Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud (born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He is contracted to drive the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class ...
*No. 7 Acura ARX-05:
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
,
Ricky Taylor
Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...
,
Alexander Rossi
Alexander Michael Rossi (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional racing driver and podcast host. He currently competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP. Rossi is best known for winning ...
Formula One
![Penske PC3 2009 Lime Rock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Penske_PC3_2009_Lime_Rock.jpg)
Penske entered the
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
World Championship from
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
to
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. Although the cars were built at the British base in
Poole
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...
, the team held an
American licence. In 1971, Penske had sponsored the second McLaren entry in the 1971 Canadian and US GP, entering
Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
, who took the car to a podium finish. The team returned three years later, in the 1974 Canadian GP, with their chassis, the PC1, a standard tub built around a
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
DFV engine and a
Hewland
Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...
gearbox. Donohue 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 crashed the car in the final practice session of the
1975 Austrian Grand Prix
The 1975 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on 17 August 1975. It was race 12 of 14 in both the 1975 World Championship of Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. It was the eig ...
at
Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
and later died from his injuries. Penske missed the Italian race, returning only for the US GP, abandoning the March 751 in favor of the PC1 with Northern Irish driver
John Watson.
For
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, Penske signed a sponsorship deal with
Citibank
Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...
and entered a brand new PC3 for Watson. Despite a fifth-place score at the
South African Grand Prix
The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...
at
Kyalami
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...
, 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 Grand Prix
The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in .
History
The A ...
, the team scored their only F1 win. So far this has been the last time an American constructor won an F1 race. Still, at the end of the year, Penske decided to withdraw from the sport to concentrate solely on Indycar racing, selling the remains of his European operations to
Günter Schmid of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
For
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
, the car was entered by Schmidt's
ATS Wheels
ATS (''Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör'') is a German company that manufactures alloy wheels for road and racing cars. It is based in Bad Dürkheim near the Hockenheimring race circuit. ATS had a Formula One racing team that was active from 1 ...
business and run under the name of ATS Racing Team. The ATS-Penske PC4, now painted yellow, debuted in the
1977 United States Grand Prix West
The 1977 United States Grand Prix West (officially the Long Beach Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on April 3, 1977 in Long Beach, California. It was the fourth race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 Internati ...
with
Jean-Pierre Jarier
Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (born 10 July 1946) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for Formula One teams including Shadow, Team Lotus, Ligier, Osella and Tyrrell Racing. His best finish was third (three times) and he also too ...
at the wheel, where the Frenchman scored the team's single point of the season. A second PC4 was eventually entered for
Hans Heyer
Hans Heyer (born 16 March 1943) is a German racing driver who mainly raced touring cars, being popular with the fans for his rather funny style. He is better known for actions and antics during his only start in Formula One at the 1977 German Gr ...
(who started the
1977 German Grand Prix
The 1977 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on 31 July 1977. It was the eleventh race of the 1977 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1977 International Cup for F1 Constructors.
The German Grand Prix was ...
despite failing to qualify) and
Hans Binder
Hans Binder (born 12 June 1948 in Zell am Ziller, Tyrol) is an Austrian former Formula One driver who raced for the Ensign, Wolf, Surtees and ATS teams.
He won the European Formula Ford Championship in 1972 and moved into Formula 2 in 1976. Du ...
(3 races) but the team's fortunes sank and Schmidt quit after the Italian GP, before returning in 1978 with his chassis. A third PC4 was built by Penske for
Interscope
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...
Racing, who entered the car in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Grands Prix, driven by American
Danny Ongais
Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 – February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver.
Ongais was the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, CART, IndyCar, Formula One, and drag r ...
with no results.
In
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
Penske designed and built the HR100 for wealthy Mexican 'gentleman driver'
Héctor Rebaque
Héctor Alonso Rebaque (born 5 February 1956) is a Mexican former racing driver who raced in Formula One and CART IndyCar in the 1970s and 1980s. He also ran for his own Formula One team called Rebaque in 1978 and 1979.
Racing career
Rebaque par ...
. The car was entered for the final three races of the season, but either failed to qualify or to finish in each case.
Supercars Championship
In
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
, Team Penske entered the Australian
V8 Supercars Championship
The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport.
Supercars events take place in all Australian ...
, having purchased a 51% stake in Dick Johnson Racing in September 2014. The team was known as DJR Team Penske. The team raced a single
Ford Falcon FG X
The Ford Falcon (FG X) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia. Introduced in 2014, it is a restyled second and final iteration of the seventh generation Falcon FG. While external and drive train changes were significant, the inte ...
in 2015, initially with
Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 and 2004.
In 2006, Ambrose relocated to the Un ...
driving car No. 17 and
Scott Pye
Scott Robert Pye (born 8 January 1990) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Repco Supercars Championship, and drives the No. 20 Holden ZB Commodore for Team 18.
Racing career Early days
Pye started out in ...
as a co-driver in the Endurance Cup. Following the Australian Grand Prix support race, Ambrose requested to step aside from driving to let Scott Pye become the main driver from Round 2 at
Symmons Plains
Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of th ...
onwards. Ambrose then became the endurance co-driver in the Endurance Cup.
In October 2015, DJR Team Penske announced a return to a two-car team in 2016 with
Fabian Coulthard
Fabian "Fabs" Coulthard (born 28 July 1982) is a British-born New Zealand professional race car driver, currently competing in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving as an endurance co-driver for Chaz Mostert with Walkinshaw Andretti United ...
to drive car No. 12 and Scott Pye in car No. 17. Roger Penske later confirmed that Ambrose elected not to continue as a co-driver in 2016.
For the
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
season,
Scott McLaughlin
Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He previously raced in the Supercars Championship, in which he won ...
joined the team and became the new driver for the No. 17
Ford Falcon FG X
The Ford Falcon (FG X) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia. Introduced in 2014, it is a restyled second and final iteration of the seventh generation Falcon FG. While external and drive train changes were significant, the inte ...
Supercar.
DJR Team Penske took out the 2017 Teams Championship, and in the following year Scott McLaughlin took out the
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Drivers Championship in the Australia Supercars Championship.
In 2019 he took out his second Drivers Championship winning an Australian Touring Cars/Supercars record of 18 races and with co-driver Alex Premat, Scott McLaughlin won his first Bathurst 1000. In October 2020, Penske sold its shareholding in DJR Team Penske.
Penske finalises exit from Supercars, DJR reborn
''Auto Action
''Auto Action'' is an Australian motorsport magazine. The first edition was published on 24 February 1971. It became part of Australian Consolidated Press and was included in its 2012 sale to Bauer Media Group. After unsuccessfully trying to sell ...
'' October 24, 2020
Indianapolis 500 statistics
Penske Racing has the most Indianapolis 500 victories of any team in auto-racing history with 18 victories. In 1972, Penske driver Gary Bettenhausen
Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in Mi ...
led the most laps but lost an engine with 24 laps to go. His teammate Mark Donohue
Mark Neary Donohue Jr. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975), nicknamed "Captain Nice," and later "Dark Monohue," was an American race car driver and engineer known for his ability to set up his own race car as well as driving it to victories.
D ...
led the waning laps en route to Penske's first Indianapolis 500 victory. In 1979, Penske driver Bobby Unser
Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. Fo ...
led the most laps of the Indianapolis 500 while teammate Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
won the race, from the pole.
Penske's next ''500'' victory was one of the most controversial finishes in IndyCar history. Penske driver Unser won the pole position and led most of the final 100 laps. On lap 140, Bobby Unser and former Penske driver Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
came out of the pits. Unser passed 11 cars under a yellow flag while Andretti passed 2 cars. Unser won the race but was stripped of the victory the next morning in favor of Andretti. After a lengthy appeal, Unser was reinstated the victory and was instead fined $40,000 ($104,000 in today's money). Unser retired from racing after the season was over in the fall-out of the controversy.
Penske's next Indy 500 win was with Rick Mears in 1984. Mears and former Penske driver Tom Sneva
Thomas E. Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.
A former math teacher from Spokane ...
battled for the lead in the final 100 laps but after Sneva dropped out with a broken CV joint, Mears led the final 40 laps unchallenged to win by 2-laps ahead of the field. The next year, first-year Penske driver Danny Sullivan
Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Champions ...
led the final 61 laps en route to his first Indianapolis 500 victory after winning a 4-lap shootout with Mario Andretti
Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...
. In 1987, Penske driver Danny Ongais
Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 – February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver.
Ongais was the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, CART, IndyCar, Formula One, and drag r ...
got taken out of the race due to injuries and former Penske driver Al Unser
Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Rick ...
was tabbed as a temporary replacement. Unser won the race.
1988 was one of the most dominating performances by Penske Racing in the history of the Indianapolis 500. Penske's team members, Sullivan, Unser, and Mears qualified in the front row and proceeded to lead 192 of the race's 200 laps, 91 by Sullivan, 89 by Mears, and 12 by Unser. Mears won the race. In 1991, Mears won an 18-lap duel with Michael Andretti
Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART P ...
to win his 4th Indianapolis 500. Emerson Fittipaldi won the 500 in 1993 but angered American fans by drinking orange juice
Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...
instead of the traditional milk.
In 1994, the Penske team, consisting of Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
, Paul Tracy
Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill" ...
and Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
led 193 of the race's 200 laps, thanks to a new engine invented by Penske that went up to 1000 horsepower. The engine was later banned, which resulted in Penske Racing not qualifying a single car in the 1995 Indianapolis 500.
Due to the open-wheel split, Penske did not field a car at the Indianapolis 500 from 1996 to 2000. In 2001, Penske Racing crossed a picket-line by fielding the team in the 500, consisting of rookie Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...
and Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
. The duo proceeded to lead the most laps, en route to the victory, giving Penske Racing a 1-2 finish, the first time in the team's history. In a post-race interview, Roger Penske said that after the heartbreak in 1995, the win was the biggest of all his Indy 500 wins.
In 2002, Castroneves barely beat Paul Tracy
Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill" ...
to win his second consecutive Indy 500. Controversy overshadowed the race when videotapes appeared to have shown that Tracy was ahead of Castroneves at the moment of a final-lap caution. After a lengthy appeal, Castroneves' win was upheld on July 2. In 2003, Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
won his first 500 and then retired when the season was over. Penske Racing has since proceeded to win the 500 in 2006, 2009, 2015, 2018, and 2019.
Penske Racing Museum
Opened in 2002, the Penske Racing Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona, is located within a complex of Penske Automotive Group
Penske Automotive Group, Inc., headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is an international transportation services company that operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships principally in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe ...
car dealerships at the Scottsdale 101 Auto Collection. The two-story, museum houses approximately 20 historically significant Penske Racing cars, along with trophies, artwork, engines, and other memorabilia dating from Penske Racing's earliest origins up to the present day. Displays are rotated regularly, but the museum focuses primarily on the team's successes in the Indy 500 and NASCAR, with lesser emphasis on F1 and sports car racing.
Racing results
USAC Championship Car results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
*1 ''Mike Hiss
Mike Hiss (7 July 1941 – 19 December 2018) was an American driver in the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1972–1976 seasons, with 28 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as th ...
was hired by Penske to qualify Mario Andretti's #7 car for the 1978 Indianapolis 500
The 62nd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1978. Danny Ongais dominated the early stages of the race but eventually dropped out with a blown engine. Al Unser Sr. ...
while Andretti was racing in Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
; Andretti would then drive the car on race-day.''
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
*† ''Gonzalo Rodríguez was killed during qualifying for the Laguna Seca race.''
*1 ''The Firestone Firehawk 600
The Firestone Firehawk 600 was a CART series auto race scheduled for April 29, 2001 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was scheduled for 248 laps around the oval at TMS. However, it was postponed and ultimately ca ...
was canceled after qualifying due to excessive g-force
The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...
s on the drivers.''
IndyCar Series results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
* Season still in progress
# Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
# The final race at Las Vegas was abandoned after 12 laps due to Dan Wheldon's death.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(''italics'' indicates non-works entries; bold indicates championships won)
IMSA SportsCar Championship results
Championships and major wins
IndyCar champions
Indianapolis 500 victories
IndyCar wins
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins
NASCAR Cup Series champions
NASCAR Xfinity Series champion
Daytona 500 victories
Supercars champion
Notes
External links
*
IndyCar Team Page
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American Motors
American auto racing teams
American racecar constructors
Companies based in North Carolina
Penske
Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president.
Holding ...
Penske
Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president.
Holding ...
IndyCar Series teams
NASCAR teams
American Le Mans Series teams
Champ Car teams
Can-Am entrants
Racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams
FIA World Endurance Championship teams
Porsche in motorsport
Supercars Championship teams
24 Hours of Le Mans teams