Roger Penske's contributions to be honored at NASCAR Hall of Fame
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CHARLOTTE--If it’s good to be king, then it’s even better to be The Captain.
And on Friday, The Captain of Motorsports—Roger Penske—will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
After another stellar season—his 52nd in racing, to be exact—Penske will be honored for his contributions to stock car racing on Friday night.
“It’s hard to find somebody who is more deserving to be in the Hall of Fame than Roger Penske,” said Brad Keselowski, who delivered the organization’s first Xfinity and Cup championships in 2010 and 2012, respectively. “He’s left an incredible legacy on the sport. He’s helped push it forward on the track and off the track, which is hard for anyone to claim. And I think the level of professionalism he brought to the sport is really unprecedented.
“He never stops learning. He’s always pushing. I’m happy for him. I’m honored I’ve had the privilege to drive for him, and I look forward to celebrating the night with him.”
Keselowski is just one of 20 NASCAR drivers to call Penske “Boss” over the last 35 years. The list includes champions—such as Keselowski, Bobby Allison and Rusty Wallace—and the most recent addition to that fraternity, Joey Logano.
Certainly, Penske’s accomplishments in IndyCar are second to none, but the Captain has collected the top prizes in stock cars as well. In 1,871 Cup starts, Team Penske drivers have amassed two championships, 111 wins, 121 poles, 498 top fives and 831 top 10s.
“Each year we set this bar a little bit higher, and I think that’s what makes us so good,” said Penske who will turn 82 this month. “Part of the success is what we call the human capital—it’s the people. We have to provide the driver with the best race car.
“And we’re a family. You think about the team and the people. They want to work here. And you look at the number of people in our organization—I think over 200 have been here more than 10 years. That’s the bedrock. That’s the championship capability that we have in our team. When we go Indianapolis each year, sometimes we have more than 600 years of experience in our pits. That’s continuity, and that makes a huge difference.”
In the past year alone, Logano won Penske’s second Cup title. Ryan Blaney became the eighth Cup driver to win under the Team Penske banner. And Keselowski earned the highly coveted Brickyard 400 trophy—to join the 17 Borg Warners on the IndyCar side—and the first Southern 500 victory for the company since Bobby Allison won the iconic race in 1975. His Las Vegas victory marked Penske’s 500th win among all series the Captain has competed in.
Penske’s trophy case also includes hardware from three Xfinity Series owners' championships plus two Harley J. Earl trophies for Daytona 500 victories from Ryan Newman in 2008 Daytona 500 win and Logano in 2015.
“Honestly, I thought he’d have been inducted into the Hall of Fame long before this,” Logano said. “After seeing what he has given to this sport and to our community, I think it’s one of the best kept secrets in our sports sometimes. You forget, when you watch these videos of all the race wins, you forget that he built a lot of these race tracks. You forget his whole business is built on racing.”
Penske’s love affair with racing started in 1951 when his father took him to the Indianapolis 500. A racer first, Penske won the Sports Illustrated SCCA Driver of the Year award in 1961 before turning his sights toward building the empire that would support his habit for the next half century.
In 1965, Penske purchased his first car dealership. The following year, Penske Racing debuted in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He purchased Michigan Speedway in 1972 and added Nazareth Speedway and North Carolina Speedway before building Auto Club Speedway in 1994. Penske's track arm—Penske Motorsports—merged with International Speedway Corp. in 1999.
But the business-to-business relationships between racing and automotive have enabled the Penske Corporation to expand to over 3,660 locations around the world and for Team Penske to win 34 championships across USAC, IndyCar, NASCAR, Sports Cars and V8 Supercars.
“What a great honor for him to be inducted into what is the greatest award you can get in our sport,” Logano added. “I’m so excited to be there and to watch it and to be a part of that—and it couldn’t come at a better time—after you win a championship—and then you cap it off with being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“It’s well deserved for a man who has such a big heart but also you won’t see any man work harder. He’s the hardest working man I’ve ever met. With all that combined, it’s a special day for all the employees at Penske, not just what you see in Mooresville (N.C.), but all the Penske employees across the world.”
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