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
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona ...
,
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 respectiv ...
, the
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 ...
, the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
IndyCar, and other automotive-related businesses.
''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' named him
Sports Car Club of America Driver of the Year in 1961. After retiring from driving a few years later, he created one of the most successful teams in
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 o ...
and
NASCAR racing. He is the most successful owner in the Indianapolis 500 with 18 victories. He is known by his nickname of "The Captain".
In addition, Penske also served as a race strategist for his IndyCar team, most recently for driver
Will Power.
In 2019, Penske purchased the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and
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 o ...
from
Hulman & Company
Hulman & Company is an American private, family-owned, company founded in 1850 by Francis T. Hulman as a wholesale foods supplier of groceries, tobacco, and liquor, headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana. Throughout the early half of the 20th cent ...
for an undisclosed sum.
Penske is a corporate director at
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
and was chairman of
Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...
in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
. He was previously on the board of
The Home Depot and
Delphi Automotive
Aptiv PLC is an Irish-American automotive technology supplier with headquarters in Dublin. Aptiv grew out of the now-defunct American company, Delphi Automotive Systems, which itself was formerly a component of General Motors.
History
The com ...
before resigning to chair the Detroit Super Bowl Committee. He has an estimated net worth of $1.83 billion as of 2018.
Penske was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019 by
President Donald Trump.
Early life and education
Penske was born in
Shaker Heights, Ohio
Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city population was 29,439. Shaker Heights is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland, abutting the eastern edge of the city's limits. In July 1911, a ...
in 1937. His father, Jay, was a successful corporate executive for a metal fabrication company and encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur. As a teenager he bought older cars, repaired them and sold them at a profit from his family's home in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Shaker Heights High in 1955, and is a 1959 graduate of
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...
, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta.
Racing career
Penske's first racing venture was in hillclimbing, but then ran road course racing in
Porsches.
Penske made his first professional racing start at the now-abandoned
Marlboro Motor Raceway
Marlboro Motor Raceway (MMR) is a now-defunct motorsports park located in Prince George's County, just outside Upper Marlboro, Maryland. MMR closed after the 1969 season and local Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racing moved to the more advanced ...
in
Upper Marlboro,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
By 1960, he was a well-known race car driver (''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
'' SCCA Driver of the Year). He competed in two Formula One Grands Prix, and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963. He never ran the Indianapolis 500: he was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis with the Dean Van Lines team, but turned it down for business reasons. Rookie
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 ...
stepped in for Penske to take that test.
Penske continued racing until 1965, when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Racing teams
Penske Racing debuted in 1966 at the
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 layo ...
, after Penske had retired from race driving. His team first competed in the
Indianapolis 500 in 1969, winning that event in 1972 with driver
Mark Donohue, and their first
NASCAR win was in 1973. His teams have won many races in the subsequent years. He closed his
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an-based
Formula One business in 1977.
Penske Racing now operates an
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 o ...
team composed of
Josef Newgarden,
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
Will Power, and a
NASCAR team with drivers
Austin Cindric,
Joey Logano, and
Ryan Blaney. Previously, Penske Racing ran cars in the
CART series that included some of the best drivers of the time, including
Gary Bettenhausen,
Tom Sneva,
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 ...
,
Bobby Unser,
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 ...
,
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 Mexico. ...
,
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 ...
,
Rick Mears,
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 ...
,
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". ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
. After many years of trying, his team won the
Daytona 500 in 2008 with
Ryan Newman driving. Penske, would later win another Daytona 500 in 2015 with Logano behind the wheel.
In 2005, Porsche set the stage to make a comeback in sports car racing in the United States and chose Penske Racing to run in the LMP2 class of the
American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The Penske Porsches took center stage in 2006, winning immediately, including victories at Mid-Ohio finishing 1-2 ahead of Audi (competing in a higher classification) and the annual
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 10-hour showcase event held at
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
. His team scored an overall victory in the
12 Hours of Sebring in 2008.
Penske also ran a
Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype
A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specificall ...
in the
2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona, with
Kurt Busch,
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 ...
, and
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 with Wa ...
driving. The car was run in conjunction with
Wayne Taylor
Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTr ...
's
SunTrust Racing
Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque an ...
. They finished third overall.
In 2009, Penske suspended his participation in the ALMS, switching to ALMS's rival
Grand-Am
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...
Rolex Sports Car Series for the full season. They used a
Porsche-powered Riley with
Timo Bernhard and
Romain Dumas driving.
Penske purchased the old Matsushita air conditioning plant in Mooresville, NC and reconditioned it to consolidate his racing business. All of Penske's racing operations are under one roof, with his
IndyCar,
NASCAR, and
American Le Mans Series (through 2009) teams sharing over of space encompassing .
Penske won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with driver
Brad Keselowski
Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...
on November 18, 2012.
In late 2014, it was announced Penske would take a 51% stake in Australian
V8 Supercars
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 ...
team
Dick Johnson Racing, forming DJR Team Penske. The team entered one car in 2015, initially for
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 ...
before he stepped aside to make way for
Scott Pye. The team expanded to a second car for New Zealander
Fabian Coulthard in 2016, before Pye was replaced with another Kiwi in
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 ...
in 2017. Coulthard won the combined team's first championship race at the
2017 Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint. In 2019 the team won the biggest race of the year, the Bathurst 1000.
On September 16, 2018, driver Brad Keselowski won the South Point 400 at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...
, giving Roger Penske his 500th race victory as an owner across all racing series. Later the same season,
Joey Logano would clinch the championship at
Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning Penske his 2nd Championship in the Cup series.
Personal life
Penske has five children, two with first wife Lissa and three with second wife Kathy: Roger Jr,
Gregory, Blair, Mark, and
Jay Penske
Jay Penske is an American media and publishing entrepreneur and auto racing team owner. He is the Chairman and CEO of Penske Media Corporation, a digital media and publishing company he founded in 2004.
Early life and education
Born in New York ...
.
An avid car collector, he owns many rare American and European automobiles, including a
Ferrari FXX
The Ferrari FXX is a high-performance track-only developmental prototype built by Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari. The FXX is based on the street-legal flagship Enzo Ferrari. Production of the FXX began in 2005.
Overview
The FXX uses ...
, of which only 30 were made.
Political activities
Penske Racing donated $500,000 to
Restore Our Future
Restore Our Future is a political action committee (PAC) created to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. A so-called Super PAC, Restore Our Future is permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, union, and ...
,
Mitt Romney's
Super PAC.
He was discussed as a potential candidate for
Mayor of Detroit
This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city.
The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014.
History ...
, but he declined to run.
Penske endorsed
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in the
2020 United States presidential election.
Penske Corporation
Penske is chairman 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 ...
, based in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...
. Some of the company's holdings include
Penske Automotive Group, an international company that operates automobile dealerships in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe;
Penske Truck Leasing, a truck sales, leasing, and fleet maintenance company;
Penske Motor Group which has dealerships in California and Texas. On November 4, 2019 Penske purchased the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile course in
Speedway, Indiana
Speedway is a town in Wayne Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. The population was 11,812 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Speedway, which is an enclave of Indianapolis, is the home of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
History
Speedway was ...
, the
Indianapolis 500-mile race
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 India ...
and
IndyCar from the Hulman Family for an undisclosed amount.
Awards and honors
Auto racing
*Six-time
NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion as owner (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021)
*Five-time
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 o ...
Champion as owner (2006, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019)
*Three-time
NASCAR Cup Series Champion as owner (2012, 2018, 2022)
*18-time
Indianapolis 500 winner as owner (1972, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2018, 2019)
*Three-time
Daytona 500 winner as owner (2008, 2015, 2022)
*1990 Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
*2018
Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award recipient
Halls of Fame
*1995
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee
[Roger Penske]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
*1998
International Motorsports Hall of Fame
The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, east central Alabama. It enshrines those who have co ...
inductee
[Roger Penske Drive](_blank)
/ref>
*2002 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is an automotive museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, which houses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. It is intrinsically linked to the Indi ...
inductee
*2015 Automotive Hall of Fame
The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...
inductee at a Renaissance Center gala in the City of Detroit, Michigan.
*2016 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Hall of Fame Inductee
*2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...
inductee
National
*2019 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Local
*Street renamed Roger Penske Drive in Santa Ana, California
Motorsports career results
SCCA National Championship Runoffs
Complete Formula One World Championship results
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Bibliography
Roger Penske - Sports Car Club of America
References
External links
Penske Corporation
Penske Racing
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penske, Roger
Living people
1937 births
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
People from Shaker Heights, Ohio
Racing drivers from Ohio
American automobile salespeople
American billionaires
American Formula One drivers
Auto racing crew chiefs
Culver Academies alumni
Formula One team owners
IndyCar Series team owners
NASCAR team owners
Lehigh University alumni
General Electric people
Michigan Republicans
Ohio Republicans
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Sportspeople from Cuyahoga County, Ohio
SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
American Magic
NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees
Team Penske