Team Penske’s Absolute Domination
Team Penske achieved a spectacular sweep. Josef Newgarden took the victory in the IndyCar race, after David Malukas obtained the pole position. In NASCAR, Joey Logano got the pole, and Ryan Blaney took the victory in the main race. This victorious weekend could be the highlight of the organization’s 60th anniversary celebration.Blaney, who has won 17 of his 18 races with a Penske Ford and secured the 2023 championship for the team, shares the same motivation as all Team Penske drivers: to win for their boss. Individual success is gratifying, but contributing to Penske’s legacy is an unparalleled feeling. Logano acknowledges the difficulty of summarizing what it means to race for Penske, especially for the man who gave him a second chance in the Cup Series and made him a three-time champion. In 2012, Logano, then 22 years old, was in a difficult situation when Penske signed him. Since then, Logano has won 35 races for Penske, who has accumulated 157 victories in NASCAR Cup competition. Logano is second on the team’s win list, behind Rusty Wallace, who achieved 37.I was fortunate enough to be part of the 50th anniversary, and it’s incredible to see what he has achieved in motorsports over six decades. Not only in NASCAR, but also in IndyCar and motorsports. It’s exciting to add a little to his story. It’s fun to be a part of this.
Ryan Blaney
Penske’s victory in a shared IndyCar and NASCAR weekend is a testament to its trajectory. IndyCar, possibly its greatest achievement, was where its success story began. NASCAR came later.It’s exciting to see Penske still excited about winning. He’s been in motorsports for 60 years, it’s incredible. The number of championships and victories, you could eventually think ‘OK, great. We won another one’. But it’s not like that for Roger. He still gets very excited, like a kid in a candy store when you win.
Joey Logano
Penske’s history demonstrates its ability to hire the right personnel and place them in key positions for success. The stability in the team has been remarkable over the years. Currently, more than 40 members of Team Penske have been with the organization for more than 20 years. The base of operations has also grown and is fundamental to the team’s success. Penske acquired its current building in Mooresville, North Carolina, in 2004 and fully occupied it in 2005. The motorsports program moved there from Pennsylvania at the end of 2005, and the IndyCar Series operation moved at the end of 2006. All the intellectual capacity of Team Penske under one roof. This concentration of knowledge and talent has fueled a competitive nature, pushing each other.Being in the same category as Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports is something special. The real change in our program came in 2010 or 2011. We took one of our engineers, Travis Geisler, to be the liaison between engineering and manufacturing, and both sides knew what was being talked about. Of course, the race team had to execute the final product on weekends, but that change was very important.
Walt Czarnecki
Penske, affectionately known as “The Captain”, is a benchmark in American motorsports, whether in stock car racing, open-wheel racing, or motorsports.No, I don’t think it’s surprising, simply because that’s the type of person he is. He’s a very competitive person. He always talks about people; people do what you’re doing, and he’s always emphasized having the right people and making sure he appreciates all the people involved in everything. Not just his racing teams, but also his businesses.
Ryan Blaney
