MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Roger Penske has a favorite phrase when it comes to success in auto racing.
He likes to say, “Putting numbers on the board.”
Here are the numbers Team Penske has put on the board since it began as Penske Racing in Newtown Square, Pa., in 1966.
Penske has the record for most Indianapolis 500 victories as a team owner with 18, most IndyCar championships with 17 and now owns three NASCAR Cup Series titles. Team Penske has 611 race victories and 674 poles.
Joey Logano’s 2022 NASCAR Cup Series title gives Penske 43 championships since the team began in that modest, three-bay garage in Newtown Square. Logano also gave Penske a first, and that’s hard to do considering the level of success the 85-year-old has achieved in business and auto racing.
Logano’s second NASCAR Cup Series title combined with Will Power’s second NTT IndyCar Series crown earlier this year gave Penske both major championships in the same season. That has never happened in the history of Team Penske, which began in 1966 and added a NASCAR team to the operation in 1991.
In fact, no team owner in auto racing history has won the NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar titles in the same season prior to Penske in 2022.
“I think we’ve tried it for 31 years, so it’s about time,” Penske said, referring to the years he has been a NASCAR team owner. “What a special weekend for us. Joey did a great job. You’ve seen what he’s been able to do as he’s come on the team, and for us to have two championships in the same year, that’s what we’re here for. That’s the goal we have every year.
“I think we’ve been close, but we got it this year.”
Despite his NASCAR Hall of Fame record, Rusty Wallace never won a NASCAR Cup Series title driving for Team Penske. Wallace’s only NASCAR Cup Series championship came in 1989 when he drove for drag racer Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max Racing.
Penske’s first NASCAR Cup Series championship came in 2012 with Brad Keselowski. That season, Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series championship for Andretti Autosport. Logano delivered Penske’s second NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2018. Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing won the fifth of his six NTT IndyCar Series championships that season.
Since 1967, Team Penske has been multiple champions in seven seasons and in three of those years, the team won three championships. But those titles were either a combination of IndyCar championship, NASCAR Xfinity owners’ championship, Australian Supercars Championship or NASCAR Cup Series title.
But never, IndyCar and the Cup Series in the same season until this year.
“It’s a great team effort for everybody here today at Phoenix to end up in the winner’s circle and also winning the championship is special,” Penske said after Logano secured the Cup Series title at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6. “What a day for Ford. What a day for Pennzoil and what a day for our team. It’s just tremendous.
“It took 31 years to do this. It shows you I’m getting pretty old. Can you believe it? I can’t.
“It was a full team effort and I’m so thrilled to be here.”
It’s been quite a special year for Penske. One of his three NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Austin Cindric, won the Daytona 500 on Penske’s birthday to open the racing year. At Phoenix, Logano closed the year by delivering the Cup Series championship to Penske.
“Well, I hate to say one is better than the other, but I’d have to say — put them all together, they’re all first place as far as I’m concerned,” Penske said. “What it does as a team, the momentum it gives not only the race team but the 70,000 people that are in our company because they’re all watching.
“We don’t win every day, do we? But it teaches us how to win and how to stay in the game and I think that’s what it’s done. Really three super days, super accomplishments for the team. I can’t say one is better than the other. I’m just glad to be here.”
Team Penske continues to put “numbers on the board” and the Penske Corp. continues to give positive returns on its earnings sheet. But there remains one more racing challenge for Penske, and he hopes to achieve that next season.
It’s the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
He is preparing for that challenge with a team currently being developed at Porsche Penske Motorsport.
“I would say that’s the mountain we’re going to try to climb in a year, to go to Le Mans, and win for sure,” Penske said.
If history is any indication, expect him to put that “number on the board” along with his other racing accomplishments.
This story appeared in the Dec. 28 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
