The Penske PC-25 was an

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 ...

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 ...

racing car 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 ...

that competed in the

1996 IndyCar season The 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series season, the eighteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 3 and concluding in Monterey, California on September 8. Rookie of the Year was ...

with

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 ...

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 ...

and

Hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or sq ...

Penske Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organiza ...

. It was designed by

Nigel Bennett Nigel Bennett (born 19 November 1949) is a British-Canadian actor, director, and writer who has been based in Canada since 1986. He is best known for playing the vampire patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series ''Forever Knight'', for which h ...

Development

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 ...

made several changes for 1996, particularly after the Penske team failed to qualify for the

1995 Indianapolis 500 The 79th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 1995. Sanctioned by USAC, it was part of the 1995 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season. Jacques Villeneuve won in his second start. Af ...

. Some of the differences between the PC-25 and the 1995 car, the

Penske PC-24 The Penske PC-24 was an open-wheel CART racing car that competed in the 1995 IndyCar season with Marlboro Team Penske and Hogan Penske Racing. It was designed by Nigel Bennett. It scored a total of 5 wins that season; 4 wins for Al Unser Jr., and 1 ...

, were that it had better aerodynamics and was powered by the Mercedes-Benz IC 108C

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

V8 engine producing 900 brake horsepower. The biggest problem to sort out for 1996 was the drivers; American

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 ...

stayed with Penske but Canadian

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" ...

rejoined the team and the team gave a PC-25 to

Hogan Racing Hogan Racing was a racing team owned by Carl G. Hogan, owner of Hogan Trucking. Sports cars Hogan Racing began in the early 1970s racing in the Formula 5000 series out of a shop in Lime Rock, Connecticut across the street from Lime Rock Park. It m ...

for Brazilian

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 ...

to drive and that team was known as Hogan-Penske Racing.

Racing History

Marlboro Team Penske

The PC-25 made its debut at the first race of the 1996 season, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota saw Unser Jr finish eighth despite losing his front wing after hitting

Carlos Guerrero Carlos Guerrero (born November 20, 1957, Mexico City, Mexico) is a retired Mexican racing driver. He was a multiple-time Formula Three and Formula Two champion in his native Mexico. Guerrero later raced in the 1995 and 1996 CART seasons with 17 car ...

and Tracy jumped the start but retired with a broken transmission. At the IndyCar Rio 400 the American finished second and the Canadian retired when he crashed into

Marco Greco Marco Greco (Born December 1, 1963 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian people, Brazilian former Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing, road racer and auto racing driver who competed in the Indy Racing League from 1996 in IRL, ...

, The Bartercard Indycar Australia saw Unser Jr finish ninth and Tracy retired when he crashed. At the

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...

The American finish third and the Canadian finish fourth, The Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix saw Unser Jr finish fourth and Tracy finish fifth despite colliding with three Penske mechanics in one move after stopping his car in his pit area. The mechanics were not badly injured, but were taken to the hospital. Then Tracy received a black flag penalty because of the incident with his mechanics. At the

U.S. 500 The U.S. 500 was an automobile race sanctioned by CART, it was held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event was held from 1973 to 1986 and again in 1996 due to the event being known as the as an alternative to the 199 ...

The Canadian finished seventh and the American eighth, The

Miller Genuine Draft 200 The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers was an IndyCar Series race held at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. History Open wheel racing at the track dates back to 1937. AAA sa ...

saw Unser Jr second and Tracy third. Both Penske drivers had a collision at the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix, The American retired but the Canadian continued and then crashed very hard but continued the race and finished 17th. The Texaco/Havoline Presents Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 saw Unser Jr finish fourth and Tracy retired with broken suspension, At the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland the American finish fourth and the Canadian finished ninth. The

Molson Indy Toronto The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 t ...

saw Unser Jr 13th and Tracy fifth, The Canadian crashed and injured his back injury during practice for the Marlboro 500 and did not start the race and the American finished fourth. Tracy was replaced by Danishman

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 ...

for the Miller 200 and finished 14th and Unser Jr retired when he crashed with two laps to the finish, Tracy returned with a heeled back for the Texaco/Havoline 200 and the Canadian finish 12th and the American retired with engine failure on the final lap. The

Molson Indy Vancouver Molson Indy Vancouver was an annual Champ Car race held in a street circuit near BC Place and running past Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada held in July, August or September from 1990 to 2004. On September 2, 1990, the f ...

saw Unser Jr fifth and Tracy retired when he crashed. The final round of the 1996 season was the Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Bank of America 300 saw the American finish 16th and the Canadian retire when he crashed. After the season finished, Penske was in an unusual situation for 1996. Penske did not win a CART race, The combination of the PC-25 with the Mercedes-Benz IC 108C engine and the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

had nothing to challenge the

Reynard 96I The Reynard 96I is an open-wheel racing car designed and built by Reynard Racing Cars that competed in the 1996 and 1997 IndyCar seasons, notable for winning the first CART race it entered, and the constructors' and drivers' titles later that ...

with the Honda HRH engine and the

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...

. Penske boss

choose to continue with their own car in the

1997 CART season The 1997 CART PPG World Series season, the nineteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 17 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 2 and concluding in Fontana, California on September 28. The PPG CART World Serie ...

with the

Penske PC-26 The Penske PC-26 was designed by Nigel Bennett and manufactured by Penske Cars in Poole, Dorset, for the 1997 CART Championship. Whilst a development of the PC-25, the PC-26 was designed to address the twitchy nature of the previous year's car. Fi ...

Hogan Penske Racing

The PC-27 made its debut at the first race of the 1996 season, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota and Fittipaldi finished 13th. The Brazilian finished 11th at the IndyCar Rio 400. Fitipaldi retired from the next two races, Engine failure at the Bartercard Indycar Australia and hit some debris from a collision by Greg Moore and Emerson's nephew

Christian Fittipaldi Christian Fittipaldi (born 18 January 1971) is a Brazilian former racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car, and NASCAR. He was a highly rated young racing driver in the early 1990s, and parti ...

, It damaged the suspension and crashed at the

. The Brazilian finish fourth at the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix, Fittipaldi finish tenth at the

. The Brazilian finish fourth at the

. Fitipaldi retired from the next five races, Crashed at the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix, Broken transmission at the Texaco/Havoline Presents Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200, Engine failure at the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland, Crashed at the

and got injured in a crash at the Marlboro 500 ended his CART career. The team skipped the Miller 200 and then hired Danishman

for the remainder of the season but retired at the next two races, Crashed at the Texaco/Havoline 200 and the car caught on fire at

. The final round of the 1996 season was the Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Bank of America 300 and the Danishman finish eighth. At the end of the year Hogan Racing boss Carl Hogan choose to enter the

Reynard 97I Reynard Motorsport vehicles The Reynard 97I is an open-wheel racing car designed and built by Reynard Racing Cars that competed in the 1997 IndyCar season. It won the constructors' and drivers' titles later that year, being driven by Alex Zanar ...

for his team in 1997.

Complete Indy Car World 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 ...

) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{CART 1996