April 26th, 2010 
Journo (Do you like the consonance?) From auto dealerships to Super Bowl XL, Roger Penske finds success in just about everything he does.
His Penske Automotive Group, with 253 dealerships, is the second largest auto dealer group in the world.
His Penske Truck Leasing manages more than 200,000 trucks around the world.
And Penske is a self-made billionaire. Forbes ranks him as the 773rd richest man in the world and 296th richest man in America.
In open wheel racing Penske’s teams have won 13 championships and gone to victory lane a total of 141 times, including 15 Indianapolis 500 wins. He is one of the most prolific owners in open wheel racing.
Despite his success in business and on that side of racing, in 27 years of fielding a car in NASCAR Penske hasn’t been able to push his teams across the threshold and become a championship winning owner (though he came very close in 1993 and has 62 race wins). That may soon change.
It was only a matter of time before the man affectionately known as ‘The Captain’ once again positioned his NASCAR team to be as consistently competitive as any other organization in the sport.
With the announcement last week that Shell/Pennzoil would join the team in 2011, Penske (the organization) showed their strength not just as a racing organization, but as a business entity. The team and the larger Penske Corporation is able to provide sponsors with so much more than just an on-track presence. With big sponsors in short supply, this type of thing is vital.
On track, the team has Kurt Busch (a championship winning veteran), Brad Keselowski (an eager rookie), Sam Hornish (a developing, championship winning race car driver), and strong prospects in Justin Allgaier, Parker Kilgerman and Dakoda Armstrong.
Armstrong, running full time in the ARCA Series, won his first race this past weekend. And Allgaier scored his first win at Bristol earlier this season and has shown marked improvement. To his credit, Parker Kilgerman was running well this past weekend before getting caught up in a wreck.
While there is still work to be done at Penske, they are well positioned for the future. They have veteran talent, great sponsors and the willingness to nurture the Penske stars of tomorrow. Those are all factors that could one day soon combine to give Roger Penske that elusive NASCAR championship.
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Nice alliteration, Journo! The Captain has indeed assembled a team of talented drivers
I’d love to get the backroom story on why Shell/Pennzoil left RCR to go to Penske, it isn’t as if RCR is a second rate operation, and especially since RCR cars are running so much better this year. Were they concerned about Harvick possibly leaving RCR and didn’t want to have to either follow him or place their bets with one of the remaining RCR drivers? (and if so, why wouldn’t they have gone to RCR and Harvick and demanded that they re-sign or risk losing a sponsor? Would Harvick have continued to make noise about leaving RCR if he knew that he wasn’t going to keep his primary sponsor and would be just one more unsponsored driver looking for a ride?) Was Shell/Pennzoil that much more enamored with Kirt Bush than they were with Harvick (or potentially Burton or Bowyer? I like Busch more than Harvick, but does Busch have that much larger of a following?)
Or did Penske offer them a better financial deal, in effect subsidizing Shell’s involvement in NASCAR by using his billions, figuring that if he was going to lose ATT’s millions the smart move was to lock up something from a major sponsor even if it wasn’t for as much money as he was getting from ATT?
thoughts?
(Do you like the consonance?)
Ha Journo! I saw this headline on facebook & the first thing that popped into my mind was that’s some sweet alliteration!
Steve – My take was that Shell / Pennzoil left Harvick & the 29 for Penske & the 22 because they (Shell / Pennzoil) would then become the official gas / motor oil of Penske. Including his Nascar Cup and Nationwide teams, his Indy Car teams, whatever other racing endeavors he might have, and oh yeah, those 253 car dealerships where they will get great publicity as the official fluids of Penske.
Steve: Michael is correct. By moving to Penske, Shell/Pennzoil still gets a top name driver who will run well, plus they get all the added benefits the Penske Corporation has to offer. Sponsors are looking to get as much value from their dollars as possible, and these wide ranging deals are very attractive.
thanks, definitely makes sense
Journo-nice piece on Roger. IMHO the key element in the success of not only Penske, but Ganassi, Petty, Hendrick, Childress (and I know I’m leaving many others out….ok, ok even Waltrip) is that racing is instilled in them all and is the underlying reason for being involved in the sport. Not so much for the Bobby Ginn(like) circles. Aside from Petty, this group had somewhat marginal success in the seat, but had the brains to focus their passion in the ownership role.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the mega-teams and I fully realize that some are not so keen on giving Hendrick props stemming from past legal issues or feeling that Petty’s RPM stagnated, sold out and remains only a figurehead. But one thing no one can deny is that these guys are in racing because they love racing.
To me, the intriguing aspect of Penske is that aside from all of the Forbes list data, on any given weekend he is usually atop a NASCAR or IRL war wagon and not in a boardroom. There is time for that stuff during the week.
My only hope is that there is still room for today’s eager and “not so deep pockets” racer/future owner to remain a force and grow.
Does anyone know the reason for the number change to 22? I can not find that anywhere my not just flip the 2 and the 12?
AJ,
Thinking that Miller Brewing wanted to stay with the #2. Shell wanted a proven veteran & Penske convinced all parties that Busch was the driver. And that Brad K. was the up-and-comer to drive for Miller. So Brad has to take the #2, but Kurt doesn’t want Brad’s number. So he does what Dale Jr. does and goes from #2 to #22. – RAEckart -
I’m thinking that Penske wanted to leave to 12 open for moving Algaier up to the cup level