roger penske biography

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• Business Biographies
• Roger S. Penske 1937— Biography

Roger S. Penske 1937–

Chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Penske Corporation and its subsidiary, United Auto Group

Nationality: American.

Born: February 20, 1937, in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Education: Lehigh University, BA, 1959.

Family: Son of Jay (vice president of metal fabrication company) and Martha (housewife and community volunteer); married Kathryn; children: five.

Career: Alcoa Aluminum, 1959–1963, sales engineer; George McKean Chevrolet, 1963–1965, general manager and, later, owner; 1965–1969, owner of several automobile dealerships, a truck-leasing operation, and two racing-tire distributors; Penske Corporation, 1969–, president and CEO; United Auto Group, 1999–, chairman and CEO.

Awards: Named SCCA Driver of the Year, Sports Illustrated , 1961; named Driver of the Year, New York Times , 1962.

Address: Penske Corporation, 8801 North Haggarty Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48107; United Auto Group, 2555 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48302-0954; http://www.penske.com; http://www.unitedauto.com.

■ In 2004 the transportation executive and auto-racing legend Roger S. Penske was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO) of Penske Corporation, which he founded in 1969. Penske discovered his niche in life early, when, as a teenager, he began refurbishing and racing cars and selling them for profit. Basing his achievement on his stringent guidelines for setting goals, Penske made race-car driving an obsession that eventually earned him a driving record held by only a few talented drivers. After retiring from driving, Penske became one of the most successful and best-known car and track owners in the history of motor sports.

A KNACK WITH CARS

Even from an early age, Penske had a knack for fixing auto mobiles. As a teenager in the 1950s, he would buy "junker" cars, make repairs on them, and sell them at a profit from his parents' home in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Over the next 10 years, Penske raced and sold 32 cars, among them a Chevrolet, Corvette, Jaguar Cooper, Maserati, MG TD, MG TC, Olds mobile, Porsche, and the Zerex Special. The experiences learned from these early ventures became the hallmark for Penske's later successes in the automobile world, both as a race-car driver and as a transportation businessman. Finding early in life what he liked to do, Penske was able to seize on opportunities that led him to legendary status as a race-car driver and, later, helped him accumulate a transportation empire, record setting racing teams, and a successful truck-leasing company.

RACE-CAR LEGEND

Almost from the start, racing cars was an obsession for Penske, who first drove at the Akron (Ohio) Speedway. In 1958 he entered his first official race in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) National at Marlboro Motor Raceway in Maryland. After consistently running behind the leader, his car eventually overheated, and Penske had to withdraw from the race. His first win came in 1959 when, driving an F-Modified Porsche RS, he beat the competition at the SCCA Regional at Lime Rock, Connecticut. Unwilling to stay with a proven but older car, Penske bought an RSK and used it later for an SCCA class title.

In the same year as his first racing win, Penske also graduated from Lehigh University with a business degree (industrial management) and went to work as a sales engineer for Alcoa Aluminum. Continuing his racing career, Penske won the F Modified in 1960. In 1961 he bought a Cooper and a Maserati, rebuilt a Cooper-Climax with an aluminum body, persuaded Zerex to sponsor him, and started to race professionally. Penske's first professional win was at Vineland, New Jersey, in a Maserati nicknamed the "Telar Special." He also set a race speed record with his win at Road America. Penske then won three nationals in a row in 1961, the year he became the SCCA National D Modified champion and was named Sports Illustrated 's SCCA Driver of the Year.

In 1962 Penske was named the New York Times Driver of the Year when he became the United States Auto Club champion, driving in Monaco with the Cooper-Climax and in Sebring, Florida, with a Cunningham. In 1963 Penske won the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) Grand National Series race. In 1964 he won five races; two of them were the Nassau Tourist Trophy, when he drove a Chaparral Corvette Grand Sport, and the Nassau Trophy, when he beat Bruce McLaren, A. J. Foyt, and Dan Gurney. The race that established Penske as one of the world's best was the 1964 Governor's Trophy race in the Bahamas, where he confronted Foyt and Wait Hansgen, beating Foyt on the last lap.

FROM DRIVER TO OWNER

Much to the surprise of the racing community, Penske announced in 1965 his retirement as a driver in order to devote all his time to the business component of racing. Penske purchased a Chevrolet dealership in Pennsylvania, where he had been general manager since 1963. As his first dealership grew, Penske branched into other automobile dealerships. In 1969 Penske bought a small truck leasing operation along with two racing-tire distributors. The dealerships, truck leasing operation, and racing-tire distributors formed the foundation for his future business empire. For example, the truck leasing operation Penske bought in the late 1960s was converted to Penske Truck Leasing Company. In 1970 Penske moved to the Detroit area after buying a Chevrolet dealership in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.

During this time, he teamed up with the engineer and driver Mark Donohue, and the pair launched Penske Racing, with Team Penske as their new racing team. Within two years Team Penske won the United States Road Racing Championship with Mark Donohue driving a Lola T70 MKIII chassis with Chevrolet power. In 1972 Penske's team appeared in its first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race, and one year later, it won the first Winston Cup race of their second season.

In 1975 Mark Donohue was killed while practicing for the Austrian Grand Prix Formula One race. Nonetheless, Penske continued to enter cars during the next two years, with the drivers John Watch in 1976 and Tom Sneva in 1977. From 1978 to 1991 Team Penske continued to win races with such drivers as Rick Mears, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, and Danny Sullivan. In fact, between 1977 and 1983 Team Penske won the national points championship in six of the seven seasons. In 1991 Penske teamed up with his driver from 1980, Rusty Wallace. Driving for Penske, Wallace won 37 times, with over half of those wins occurring between 1993 and 1994.

Penske directed one of the best-known and successful organizations in the sports world while breaking most racing records. Penske Racing, which as of the early 2000s held 225 major race titles, maintained records for most race poles (135), wins (110), 500-mile wins (22), Indy Car National Championships (11), Indianapolis 500 poles (11), and Indianapolis 500 wins (11). Penske Racing also has more than 30 victories in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. By this time Penske owned the California Speedway, Michigan Speedway, Nazareth (Pennsylvania) Speedway, and North Carolina Motor Speedway.

PENSKE CORPORATION AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES

As a businessman, Penske owned the private company Penske Corporation, which was the parent of four business groups: Penske Performance, Penske Automotive, Penske Capital Partners, and Penske Transportation Services. As a group, the Penske Corporation was a closely held diversified transportation-services company that directed, through its subsidiaries, a number of businesses, including Penske Truck Leasing, Penske Automotive Group, United Auto Group, Penske Logistics, Penske Capital Partners, Truck-Lite, Davco, Penske Performance, FER, and Penske Racing. Penske actively supervised the Penske Corporation and its subsidiaries, which managed and operated businesses with annual revenues of more than $11 billion and employed 35,000 people at over three thousand worldwide locations.

Penske took on the chairmanship of the board of Penske Truck Leasing in 1982. He developed the global transportation-services provider, which specialized in commercial truckrental operations, so that as of 2004 it had more than 206,000 vehicles serving customers at about one thousand locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe. The company, with annual revenues of about $3.4 billion, provided product lines in such areas as full-service leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer rental, integrated logistics services, and supply-chain management.

Penske also directed Penske Automotive, which grew into a company that in the early 2000s operated several car dealerships in Southern California and sold over 44,000 cars, among them, the brand names Toyota, Lexus, Honda, MercedesBenz, Jaguar, and Aston Martin. His Longo Toyota dealership in El Monte, California, became the top-selling Toyota dealership in the United States. He also became the chairman of the board and CEO of the United Auto Group Inc. (UAG) in 1999 and turned the company into the second-largest publicly traded automobile retailer (auto dealer) in the United States (as measured by total revenues). As a member of the Fortune 500, the UAG, under Penske's direction, owned and operated, according to its website, 134 franchises in the United States and 83 franchises internationally, primarily in the United Kingdom but also in Puerto Rico and Brazil. UAG dealerships sold new and used vehicles, operated service and parts departments and collision-repair centers, and sold various aftermarket products and services, including extended service, finance, warranty, and other insurance contracts.

Penske made Penske Logistics into the company that provided logistics and custom-designed supply-chain solutions in order to cut costs, reduce cycle time, improve service, and help integrate technology into the operations of Penske's customers. In addition, Penske Capital Partners was a partnership venture organized by Penske, along with J. P. Morgan Partners, GE Capital, and Aon Corporation, to focus on making strategic acquisitions in the transportation industry.

Truck-Lite, of which Penske was a majority owner, manufactured lighting products, harness systems, and accessories for transportation industry such as safety lights for boats, buses, cars, commercial trucks, construction equipment, and recreational vehicles. Moreover, Penske operated several automotive-related racing businesses through Penske Performance. Its teams held numerous all-time racing records, and Penske Performance, as a company, was the second-largest share holder of International Speedway Corporation, the leading U.S. motor-sports company. Within Penske Performance was Penske Racing, as of the early 2000s the most successful Indy car-racing team in history. Penske was a founder of Penske Racing Inc., along with Penske Racing South Inc.

SUPER BOWL XL IN 2006

Penske faced one of his biggest challenges with a timecritical repair job to the city of Detroit, Michigan, in preparation for its hosting of Super Bowl XL at Ford Field on February 5, 2006. Detroit had a deteriorated downtown area with abandoned buildings and was subject to poor building-code enforcement and ineffectual municipal bureaucracy. Bill Ford Jr., chairman and CEO of Ford Motor Company, handpicked Penske to coordinate the massive facelift.

As chairman of the Detroit Super Bowl XL host committee, Penske, who personally pledged to raise $12 million for the event, was coordinating efforts to prepare Detroit for the worldwide event that as of the early 2000s consistently drew 100,000 fans, thousands of sports journalists, 800 million television viewers, and millions of dollars in advertising. With his usual well-organized style, Penske assembled a 41-member committee, identifying downtown problem areas, raising donations, meeting with National Football League officials, and working to gather local support for the event. The Detroit News quoted Bill Ford Jr. as saying of his new chairman, "Penske is the most impressive businessman in the city. Everything he touches works because of his personal drive and because his attention to detail is so exquisite. I just love being around that guy."

A hands-on administrator, Penske recommended a long list of improvements, totaling $100 million, to Kate Beebe, president of the Greater Downtown Partnership. Requiring that only concrete renovations be made to the city in order to initiate long-lasting progress, Penske gathered momentum for the project. The planned upgrade to the city included an offer of loans or matching grants to property owners to renovate their buildings, major replacement of three main roads, installation of new sidewalks, and addition of plush landscaping.

As an example of a renovation already credited to Penske's work, the $146.8 million renovation of the Book-Cadillac Hotel helped put Detroit back in the game in time for the Super Bowl in 2006. The Detroit News quoted Penske's wife, Kathryn, as saying, "Roger and I didn't grow up here, but this is our home now, and we both want to help Detroit succeed. I can tell you he doesn't like to lose, so he's looking to win people over during the Super Bowl and show them Detroit is a great city." With friends and business associates describing him as tenacious, a workaholic, a perfectionist, seemingly tireless, and focused on detail, Penske was not the type of leader simply to lend his name to the event; he actively worked to make Detroit's Super Bowl a success for the state and the city.

See also entry on Penske Corporation in International Directory of Company Histories .

sources for further information

King, R. J., "Racing Legend Roger Penske Steers Super Bowl Drive," Detroit News , October 19, 2003.

—William Arthur Atkins

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The unrivalled Roger Penske

Gordon kirby.

Roger Penske defies all superlatives. His race team celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and has long been considered America’s definitive and most successful team. With a record of more than 400 wins and 450 poles across many categories, Penske Racing has 16 victories at the Indy 500 and a dozen IndyCar championships.

But there’s much more to the man than that. Without doubt ‘The Captain’ is the most highly motivated individual I’ve met in more than 40 years of covering motor racing. He’s one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs building a business empire which employs more than 50,000 people and generates $20 billion in annual revenues.

Among other things, Penske Corporation leases almost 500,000 trucks and sells more than 400,000 cars each year. “It’s a worldwide business,” Penske remarks. “We’re in Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and of course, the United States. These businesses are all related to transportation and to partnerships we’ve built in many cases through our racing relationships.”

Penske runs his business empire and race teams with the help of a fleet of seven corporate jets. He uses two of the planes on a regular basis. “I have one smaller plane that I use in the United States and then we have a Gulfstream 550 that we use for the overseas and international businesses. I do somewhere between 900 and 1,000 hours in the air each year.

“It’s a great place when you’re in the plane because you’ve got access to the internet. We’ve got Wi-Fi and the phone connection is like you’re sitting at your desk. You’ve got Bloomberg and other business news on the TV and internet. It also gives you some quiet time where you get a chance to think about a lot of things that you’re working on and try to develop some strategic thinking about where you’re going to go.”

Penske started his business career in 1965, buying McKeen Chevrolet in Philadelphia where he had worked as a salesman, then a partner. That was the beginning of what would develop into a worldwide chain of more than 400 automobile dealerships. Through the early years Penske’s Competition Tire division, run by Norman Ahn, sold and serviced racing tyres, initially for Firestone, then for Goodyear.

He quickly expanded his business interests beyond racing. Roger bought and rebranded Hertz’s failing truck leasing company as Penske Truck Leasing and rebuilt it into one of the world’s largest. He also bought the Detroit Diesel engine company from General Motors and successfully expanded its operations around the world.

Nor should we forget that he won 51 of the 130 races he started as a driver from 1957-1964. His first victories were in a ’57 Corvette and he later raced a series of Porsche RSs, a Birdcage Maserati, a Ferrari 250GTO, a Cooper Monaco, his famous Zerex Special, and a Chaparral in 1964, his last year as a driver. In 1965, Penske worked as the manager of Jim Hall’s Chaparral team, which dominated that year’s USRRC, winning nine of 10 races with Hall and Hap Sharp driving.

Penske Racing came to life 50 years ago in the spring of 1966 in a tiny, one-car garage in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. The only employees were Mark Donohue , who was the driver, team manager and engineer, and Karl Kainhofer, the chief mechanic. They were assisted on a part-time basis by Bill Scott, a master fabricator who worked for Sunoco, and a teenaged Al Holbert who occupied his summer vacation from college by working as Kainhofer’s gofer at the races.

From the website: “Spotlight on Dan Gurney and Mark Donohue” by Gordon Kirby (March 2016)

Donohue won the team’s third race, a United States Road Racing Championship race at Seattle in July, 1966, and Penske Racing went on to accumulate two USRRC and three Trans-Am championships with him. There were also the 1972 and ‘73 Can-Am championships with George Follmer, Donohue and the amazing Porsche 917/10 and 917/30s.

Donohue scored Penske’s first Indy 500 win in 1972 followed by Rick Mears in 1979, ’84, ’88 and ’91, Bobby Unser in 1981, Danny Sullivan in 1985, Al Unser in 1987, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1993, Al Unser Jr. in 1994, Helio Castroneves in 2001, ’02 and ’09, Gil de Ferran in 2003, Sam Hornish in ’06, and Juan Pablo Montoya last year.

Today, Team Penske occupies 300 acres in Mooresville, North Carolina. More than 400 people work at the giant facility which fields four cars in the IndyCar series for Juan-Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves, two NASCAR Sprint Cup cars for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, and a pair of NASCAR Xfinity series entries.

Keselowski won NASCAR’s championship in 2012 and he and Logano have been serious contenders in most races so far this year. Keselowski scored his first win of the year at Las Vegas a few weeks ago, and of course, Montoya won last year’s Indy 500 and also won IndyCar’s season-opener at St. Petersburg a few weeks ago where Penske’s cars swept the top four places in qualifying and finished one-two-four.

“I’ve been with some of the top teams in motor racing, but this is the only team I’ve been with where you actually help each other,” Montoya remarks. “You always help each other developing the car and making the car better, and you help each other in each corner with how and where you turn the car or use the brakes.

“If any of the drivers has a question, he can ask and we will answer it. It all comes from Roger and goes all the way through the team. We’re all team players. I love what I do and I love being with Team Penske. It’s a tremendous team and Roger is ‘The Man’, isn’t he? I’m just lucky to be part of this organisation.”

Roger Penske celebrated his 79th birthday last month and he remains as active as ever. He attends all the IndyCar races, calling the pit strategy for Castoneves , and he also makes most NASCAR races where he watches from the spotters’ stand high atop the grandstands. Few people in the history of motor racing, or the wider world, can equal his tremendous drive, energy and range of accomplishments.

The Hall of Fame voting is now closed, and the finalists will be announced soon.

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On 50th anniversary of first indycar win, roger penske reflects on success at the track and in business.

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Roger Penske has become all things IndyCar and the Indy 500. On the 50th anniversary of his first ... [+] IndyCar win, he reflects on how the success of the racing series created his business success, and how he brought his brand of work ethic to the sports. (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Few people have embodied both racing and business more than Roger Penske. Nicknamed “The Captain”, he has come to define what IndyCar has become and IndyCar’s success has helped to elevate him among Forbes’ list of the top billionaires in the world with a net worth of $2.3 billion. His Penske Corporation is a diversified portfolio ranging from Penske Transportation Solutions that include Penske Truck Leasing to Penske Automotive Group, Inc., a global services company that operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships. Equally a businessman, he is all things racing and racing as a business. He fields teams in IndyCar, NASCAR’s Cup, and Xfinity Series. Along the way, Team Penske has racked up a staggering 591 major race wins, 653 pole positions, and 40 championships, along with 18 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win, overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as winning one Bathurst 1000 race in Australia.

As those closest to him will say, racing is a common thread that runs through all of Penske’s business interests.

Given that Penske has been so deeply involved in motorsports as a racer and then team owner, it seemed the perfect fit when Penske Entertainment, Inc. purchased the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2019. In doing so, Roger Penske became all things IndyCar.

It seems fitting that Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of Team Penske’s first IndyCar win when Mark Donohue won the Pocono 500 on July 3, 1971. On the anniversary, I was granted an exclusive interview with Penske for Forbes, and other key figures that have worked with him, about how his success has fueled IndyCar, and how the accession of IndyCar’s popularity has fueled Penske.

Beginnings Showed How Penske Would Transform IndyCar Teams

How IndyCar teams are structured today owes itself to how Roger Penske focused it organizationally. Dating up to the 1960s it was not uncommon for cars to be fielded by car designers out of their garage. It seems almost otherworldly for me to drive by a tiny garage underneath what was once an auto repair shop and know that Rolla Vollstedt’s cars for Janet Guthrie were developed in that environment. Penske immediately changed that view.

“One of the first lessons I learned from Roger was before I was driving for him,” said four-time IndyCar winner Rick Mears. “His reputation was already growing and known in the paddock, and I was driving for another team just trying to qualify for the Indy 500. And one night I was walking by the garages and I passed Roger’s to get to ours. And remember walking by and looking in the door, and the place was spotless. Everything was in order. Everything was in matching colors. Everything had a place. And I thought, ‘This is a lesson – the presentation.’ If I had someone with me where I was trying to bring funding to my team and they walked by and saw Roger’s garage to get to our, where are they going to want to stop? It was just a slap in the face with the presentation. I knew then that this was not about dollars that created that atmosphere. It was about work ethic, elbow grease, and attention to detail. And that’s Roger, whether it’s racing or business, then or now, he always embodies that.’

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As for Penske himself, his expectations early on, he was focused on what racing is all about.

“When our team first began racing, we were just focused on being competitive and fighting for wins,” Penske tells me. “Our race teams have certainly come a long way since those early days, but our focus remains the same – winning. I do not think any of us back then could have imagined that we would still be racing and winning more than 50 years later.”

And it is racing that has served as his platform in how he approaches his business that started with a car dealership in 1965 and has grown into Penske Corp today with revenues of more than $32 billion, operating in over 3,200 locations and employing more than 56,000 people worldwide. As to what he’s learned along the way for both Team Penske and his business interests, the two come back to one thing.

“I have certainly learned a lot of valuable lessons through our experience in racing,” Penske said. “Probably the most important advice that always stuck with me came from my father – Effort Equals Results. We have found that to be true in racing, in business, and in life and it has really become part of our identity over the years.”

How IndyCar’s Association With Penske Fueled His Business Growth

The growth of Penske Corp traces itself directly to racing. Those 18 Indianapolis 500 wins, the global audience for the race, and Roger’s business growth in the transportation sector provided a perfect organic relationship to showcase his businesses: a winner at racing must have the right tools to be successful in business.

“The success that we have had on the track has always helped us build our brand and build our business,” Penske tells me. “You really cannot put a value on the exposure and the recognition you receive when you are leading and winning the Indianapolis 500 – the world’s largest single-day sporting event. Our team’s performance in the Indy 500, and our success in racing overall, has helped us grow and create an identity of achievement.”

He went on to say that the elements that it takes to succeed in IndyCar racing have always translated to the business world.

“Teamwork, technology, communication, precision, and performance under pressure are all keys to winning on the track and they also are critically important to building a successful business and delivering for our customers,” he said.

Penske’s attention to detail is something that isn’t lost on the current drivers within his IndyCar roster. As drivers have become more aware of the business that surrounds racing, their appreciation for what Penske has done, and continues to achieve has not gone unnoticed.

“The real magic is the working relationships within the team,” said two-time IndyCar series champion and Team Penske driver, Josef Newgarden. “We cultivate a culture where we feel we have the best of the best with the ability to focus – good or bad in the past races – we are constantly focusing forward on the next task” given the challenges of a championship season.

Penske Approached The Purchase Of IndyCar and IMS Like He Does His Other Businesses

When word broke that Penske would be purchasing IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it sent shockwaves through the motorsports world. With his reputation as a racer, successful team owner, and global business interests, the value he brings with ownership traverse every aspect of the industry.

“When our company was presented with the chance to become the next stewards of not only IndyCar but also the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the fall of 2019, we moved quickly to make it happen,” Penske said to me. “The acquisition of one of the world’s most historic and legendary sports and entertainment venues, along with one of the most competitive and exciting racing series across the globe, was a great opportunity for our organization. Through our Penske Entertainment business, both IndyCar and IMS have already taken us in new directions and we could not be more excited about the road that lies ahead.”

Being part of Team Penske for five years, Newgarden has seen how Penske approaches winning, and IndyCar as a whole. When about Roger being a steward of the IndyCar brand and the most historic race track in the world, he relates it to how Penske approaches his businesses.

“I don’t think you find a person in IndyCar racing that wouldn’t pick Rogers as the perfect custodian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar series,” Newgarden said. “He embodies everything that a racer is and everything that a stand-up businessman is. He is the perfect package for everything that is required to succeed on a level that sees him as the winningest team owner at the Indianapolis 500, but to also amplify all of our causes – all the teams, all the drivers, all the partners – not just us at Team Penske but everyone involved in our sport. He elevates all of us in our industry and that gives us confidence that we’re all going forward and keep things on the right track.”

Over 50 Years, Penske And IndyCar Continue To Move Forward

Given over five decades with IndyCar, the man that’s at the top of the series and IMS, Roger Penske isn’t just part of the historic racing series, he is the heart, soul, and face of the racing league. Asked what changes in the sport over the years, he isn’t one to wax whimsically about the past, and instead, as he has with his teams and business, keeps an eye toward making what he touches, better.

“There have been so many changes in IndyCar racing through the years. From aerodynamic changes on the wings of the cars to incredible technological advancements, even to the way, the drivers and pit crews train to be in top physical condition like other world-class athletes. Probably the most impactful changes have been the advancements in safety. With SAFER barriers, the HANS device, the design of the cockpit and most recently the addition of the aeroscreen, our sport is the safest it has ever been and we are always working toward increasing safety in any way that we can moving forward.”

With all the success, someone else might sit on their laurels. At 84 years of age, it may seem that there are no more mountains to climb for The Captain. For Penske, he’ll be a racer till he can no longer.

“The same thing that motivated me when I first began racing still keeps me going today – winning,” Penske says. “We are racers. We love to compete and prove ourselves against the very best. We look forward to the challenge of the next race and the opportunity to get to the finish line first.”

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Roger Penske is not only the most recognizable name in American motorsports, but a man who commands respect in the international racing community as well. The "Captain" has been racing and winning in the United States since 1958 and has scored victories in every series where he has competed. With 44 national championships, including 17 in Indy car racing, Team Penske has often been referred to as the "New York Yankees of motorsports." Roger Penske was one of America's most successful young road racers before electing to retire from driving in 1965 to focus on his first business - a Philadelphia Chevrolet dealership. However, racing remained a key element in Penske's overall business plan. He fielded Corvettes in the 1966 endurance races at Daytona and Sebring prior to joining forces with driver Mark Donohue to campaign a Lola T70 in the USRRC and Can-Am sports car series. Penske Racing quickly found success with Donohue, winning two consecutive USRRC championships and three SCCA Trans-Am titles. After three years of campaigning sedans and sports cars, Penske Racing and Donohue made their debut in Indy car racing, running a pair of USAC-sanctioned road races in 1968. The following year, the team made its debut in the Indianapolis 500 and Donohue finished seventh, earning "Rookie-of-the-Year" honors.

With Donohue, Penske Racing quickly made its mark in the USAC Championship Series utilizing high standards of car preparation, presentation and development. Donohue finished second at Indianapolis in 1970 and he recorded the team's first Championship Car victory in the Pocono 500 on July 3, 1971. Donohue earned Penske's first Indianapolis 500 triumph less than a year later with an average speed that would remain the race record for a dozen years. Since then, Team Penske has become synonymous with Indy car racing, with more than 230 race victories, nearly 300 poles and 17 National Championships. Team Penske, however, is probably best known for its 19 Indianapolis 500 victories, four with driver Rick Mears and three with Helio Castroneves. Even though Team Penske is legendary in open-wheel racing, it has certainly been able to carry its success to other forms of motorsports. Penske made its NASCAR debut in 1972, the same season the team earned its first Indy 500 victory with Donohue at the wheel. Continuing to compete in NASCAR, the Can-Am Series and in Indy cars, Penske Racing also debuted its Formula 1 car in 1970s.

With legendary racers Tom Sneva, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and Bobby Unser, Al Unser and Danny Sullivan competing for the team, Penske Racing established itself as an Indy car powerhouse throughout the 70s and 80s.

Sam Hornish Jr. came aboard in 2004 and he led the Penske squad to its first IndyCar Series title in 2006. Wallace retired from Cup Series competition after the 2005 season, closing the door on one of the most storied careers in racing. Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup titleholder, joined Team Penske in 2006 as Wallace transitioned to the broadcast booth. More than 30 years after winning at the highest levels of sports car racing, Penske returned to its roots late in the 2005 season, announcing an LMP2-class effort with Porsche in the American Le Mans Series. The squad had a remarkable homecoming, capturing the class championship with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr in '06 before again earning titles in '07 and '08 with teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas. Proven winners Busch and Newman led the charge for the Team Penske NASCAR program in 2008 with Hornish Jr. joining the mix for his first full season of stock car racing. Highlighted by a dramatic 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500 with Newman securing Penske's first win in the "Great American Race" and Busch finishing a close second, the team added to the Penske Racing tradition of excellence.  Castroneves and newcomer Ryan Briscoe both had stellar seasons for the Team Penske IndyCar Series team in 2008. Each driver scored a pair of victories and Castroneves battled Scott Dixon for the series title down to the final lap of the season before finishing a close second in the championship.  On the sports car side, Team Penske claimed its third consecutive ALMS championship in 2008.  Bernhard and Dumas drove a Porsche Riley Daytona Prototype for the team in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2009. In '09, David Stremme joined the team's NASCAR Cup Series lineup alongside Hornish and Busch, who earned two wins and finished fourth in the Chase for the Cup Series title. Rising NASCAR star Justin Allgaier ran the team's first full Xfinity Series season with new partner Verizon Wireless, and Allgaier captured series Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Castroneves cemented his position as one of the all-time greats in the history of the Indianapolis 500 as he earned his third victory at the Brickyard and the 15th victory in the legendary race for Team Penske.

The 2010 season stood out as one of the best in the history of the storied organization. In his first year with the team, Brad Keselowski captured Penske Racing's first NASCAR championship as he earned the Xfinity Series crown behind five wins, six poles a record 26 top-five finishes. Busch posted two victories and a win in the NASCAR All-Star race while qualifying for the Chase and finishing 11th in the series standings. Operating with a full-season three-car team for the first time in nearly 15 years, Power led the way for Team Penske in the NTT IndyCar Series. He paced the series with five wins and a record eight poles and captured the inaugural Mario Andretti Road Course championship before finishing as series runner-up. Castroneves posted three wins and Briscoe added another victory for Team Penske.

The winning tradition continued in 2011 as Power paced the NTT IndyCar Series with six wins and eight poles. After winning his second straight Mario Andretti Road Course title, Power once again finished second in a close battle for the overall series crown. Team Penske qualified each of its cars for the Chase as both Keselowski and Busch pursued the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Keselowski finished fifth in the title chase with three wins and one pole while Busch earned a pair of victories and three pole positions. Keselowski also continued his torrid Xfinity Series production as he scored five wins and four poles. Hornish scored his first-ever NASCAR victory with a win in Phoenix in the XfinitySeries and earned a full-time ride in 2012.       

The 2013 racing season was a winning campaign that saw the organization claim another championship while battling for series titles at all three levels of competition. Every driver that competed for Team Penske visited Victory Lane in 2013. As the team joined Ford Racing in NASCAR and welcomed Joey Logano to its ranks, both he and Keselowski won Cup Series races for their respective teams. Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team qualified for the Chase as they fought for the series title. Keselowski, Logano, Ryan Blaney and AJ Allmendinger all won in the No. 22 Discount Tire/Hertz Ford Mustang as the team claimed the Xfinity Series owner's title for the 25th national championship in the organization's storied history. Hornish also won in Xfinity Series action and battled to the closing laps for the series title before finishing a close second.

Both Castroneves and Power continued their winning ways for the Team Penske IndyCar program in 2013. Behind a win at Texas and a remarkable 16 top-10 finishes in 19 races, Castroneves led the championship most of the season before he finished as series runner up. Power closed the season with a flourish, winning three times in the final five races to claim fourth in the championship standings. Shortly after the season it was announced that winning racer Juan Pablo Montoya would join Castroneves and Power on the IndyCar team for 2014.

It was also a championship season for Team Penske in the NTT IndyCar Series as Power claimed the elusive crown behind three victories in the No. 12 Verizon Dallara/Chevrolet. The team finished 1-2 in the title chase as Castroneves, who earned one win on the year, finished second in the standings. Montoya also had a strong return season to IndyCar Series competition as he finished fourth in the championship with a victory at Pocono. After the season concluded, Team Penske also announced that it would expand to a four-car operation for the first time in history with productive and talented French racer Simon Pagenaud joining the team beginning with the 2015 NTT IndyCar Series season.

More growth for Team Penske was announced in September as the team unveiled a partnership with Dick Johnson Racing (DJR), Australia's most established race team, to compete in the 2015 Supercars Championship. DJR Team Penske made its debut with Scott Pye and Marcos Ambrose driving the iconic No. 17 Ford Falcon for the new-look team. In 2016, DJR Team Penske expanded to a two-car program with Pye and winning series veteran Fabian Coulthard. Scott McLaughlin, one of the rising stars of the sport, was announced to pair with Coulthard for 2017 to form a formidable duo in Australia's wildly popular racing series.

The 2015 campaign brought more success in NASCAR as the team won at every level of competition. Logano began the season with a landmark victory as he took the checkered flag in the Daytona 500 - Team Penske's second win in the "Great American Race." Logano added five more victories, including a remarkable three straight, before being eliminated in the Sprint Cup Series playoffs to finish sixth in the final standings. Keselowski continued his winning ways by posting a win at Auto Club Speedway and earning another trip to the Playoffs before he wound up seventh in the championship. Team Penske claimed its third consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series Owners' Championship with Logano, Keselowski and Ryan Blaney teaming up to win for the No. 22 Ford team.

In his second season with Team Penske, Montoya had a banner year in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2015. The popular Colombian won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg and then produced his second win in the Indianapolis 500, and Team Penske's record 16th victory at Indy, in May. Montoya led the championship standings all the way until the very end as he finished second on a tiebreaker to Scott Dixon. Power posted a win for the eighth consecutive year as he captured the Grand Prix of Indianapolis while Castroneves and Pagenaud also enjoyed strong seasons.

Celebrating its 50th season of competition in 2016, the organization fulfilled its promise to make it a year to remember. In NASCAR, both Keselowski and Logano once again earned spots in the Playoffs with Keselowski producing four wins and Logano claiming three victories on the year and a $1 million payday by capturing the annual NASCAR All-Star race at Charlotte. Logano also claimed both of the team's Xfinity Series wins and he raced his way to the Championship Round of the Playoffs and battled for the Cup Series title down to the very last lap before finishing as series runner-up behind Jimmie Johnson.

Team Penske produced once of its most complete seasons in years in the NTT IndyCar Series claiming the top three positions in the 2016 championship. In just his second year with the team, Pagenaud took control of the point standings after the second race of the season and he never looked back. He won three consecutive races to take the points lead and sealed it with a pair of wins in the final five races, including a dominant win from the pole at Sonoma Raceway in the season finale with the championship on the line. It marked his first IndyCar title and Team Penske's 14th open-wheel championship. After missing the first race of the season with an illness, Power came back strong and produced four victories en route to a runner-up result in the title chase while Castroneves had another strong season to finish third overall. Montoya began the season strong with a win in St. Petersburg but endured some tough luck throughout the season and finished eighth in the standings. Team Penske announced after the season that talented young American driver Josef Newgarden would join the team starting in 2017 to complete a lineup with Pagenaud, Power and Castroneves. 

The 2017 season was one of accomplishment and winning across all levels of competition for Team Penske. Between its NASCAR, INDYCAR and Supercars teams, Team Penske produced an incredible 36 race victories. The organization also earned championships across all three levels of racing to bring its all-time total to 32 titles in its rich history.

In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Keselowski produced three race wins and not only earned a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs, but also raced his way into the final Championship 4 round before finishing fourth in the season standings. Logano got the year started right with a win the Clash at Daytona non-points race in January before adding a victory at Richmond, but he fell just short of being able to advance to the Playoffs and compete for the title. Team Penske's Xfinity Series teams continued to produce with multiple drivers and the team won the Owners' Championship for the fourth time in five seasons. Keselowski, Logano and Blaney all tallied wins for the team, along with Sam Hornish Jr.

The 2017 season also brought growth for Team Penske as the organization announced its long-awaited return to sports car competition. Teaming up with Acura to field two DPi entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the team was positioned for a strong re-entry into sports car racing in 2018.

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney all recorded victories and raced their way into the Playoffs. Keselowski's win at Las Vegas gave the team and Roger Penske their landmark 500th victory. Logano advanced to the Championship 4 round of the Playoffs and won in dramatic fashion at Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his first Cup Series title and Team Penske's second Cup Series crown.

All three Team Penske drivers finished among the top six positions in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2018 as the trio of Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud produced a combined six wins and eight pole positions. Power earned the biggest victory of his career when he became the first Australian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, while claiming Team Penske's 17th Indy 500 triumph.

In its return to sports car racing, Acura Team Penske team enjoyed a solid 2018 season competing with its two ARX-05 DPi entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The duo of Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor led a team 1-2 finish at Mid-Ohio while the pairing of Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron finished fifth in the series standings.

For the second consecutive season, DJR Team Penske claimed a title in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Following up its team crown from a year earlier, Scott McLaughlin posted nine victories and won the driver's championship for DJRTP while his teammate, Fabian Coulthard, also visited Victory Lane and enjoyed a solid season.

The 2019 season brought incredible achievements in some exciting new areas in what could be considered the most successful season ever for Team Penske. The team produced single-season records of 40 victories and 43 pole positions to go along with three championships across its five series of competition.

All three teams earned a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs with Keselowski, Logano and Blaney all advancing to the Round of 12 and Blaney and Logano qualifying for the Round of 8. Cindric continued to emerge as a rising star of the sport as he produced his first two career Xfinity Series victories while he advanced to the NXS Playoffs. 

In just its second season back competing in sports car racing, Acura Team Penske won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype international title. Cameron and Montoya earned three victories in the No. 6 ARX-05 to secure the title for the team. 

It was also a record-setting season for DJR Team Penske in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. Scott McLaughlin produced 18 wins to establish a new record for the most victories in a Supercars season. McLaughlin also earned Team Penske's first-ever victory in the legendary Bathurst 1000 race as he earned his second series Driver's Championship for the Shell V-Power team. DJR Team Penske also claimed the team title, generating 20 victories overall with Fabian Coulthard contributing with two wins for the team.

Team Penske expanded into the realm of eSports in 2019 with the team fielding a two-car lineup in the eNASCAR Heat Pro League. The team won the opening race of the season and led the series standings for most of the year before finishing third in the championship during its rookie season.

Despite dealing with the challenges presented by a global pandemic in 2020, Team Penske showed its ability to adapt and overcome. While racing and all sports were put on hold for several months in the spring due to COVID-19, Team Penske returned to action and produced a collective 39 race wins, 30 pole positions and three series championships to close out the unprecedented season.

All three of the organization's NASCAR Cup Series teams won races and qualified for the Playoffs while Keselowski and Logano raced their way into the Championship 4 before finishing second and third in the final standings, respectively. 

All three Team Penske drivers visited Victory Lane in the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Newgarden scoring four victories, Power earning a pair of wins and Pagenaud producing one triumph. Newgarden came close to repeating as INDYCAR champion as he competed down to the final lap of the season before finishing as series runner up. 

During the 2021 racing season, Team Penske scored 13 wins competing across the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The organization earned its 41st national championship by producing its fifth NXS Owner's title behind another strong season from Cindric, Logano, Blaney and Keselowski - racing in his final season for the team - earned spots in the NASCAR Playoffs while Newgarden and Power also competed for the INDYCAR title. In his first full season transitioning from Supercars, McLaughlin earned the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year honors for Team Penske.

For 2024, Team Penske is already adding more chapters to its legacy, once again competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team opened the season with a Porsche Penske Motorsport victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Josef Newgarden secured back-to-back wins at the Indianapolis 500 in May for Team Penske's 20th triumph at the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

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Roger Penske

A true captain of industry, Penske has steered one of the most successful motorsports ships in the sport's history.

• Inducted: 2019
• Position: Owner

Shaker Heights, OH

PREMIER SERIES OWNER STATS

1972-present (Stats as of 2017)

1 Premier (2012)

1,939 / 107 / 123

The Captain

Roger Penske is known simply as 'The Captain.'

Penske, who celebrated his 50th anniversary in racing in 2016, reached a major milestone and collected a prestigious award during the golden anniversary season. That year, he reached 100 wins in NASCAR’s premier series and capped off the season by receiving the Bill France Award of Excellence.

Penske won the premier series championship in 2012 with driver Brad Keselowski, and owns two Daytona 500 wins with Ryan Newman in 2008 and Joey Logano in 2015. And from 2013-2015, Penske tied a record with three consecutive owner championships in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Off the track, Penske likewise left an indelible mark. He built the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California in 1996, and previously owned Michigan International Speedway.

Roger Penske sees his NASCAR fortunes soar with the hiring of Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace (2013), who scores 39 of his 55 career premier series victories driving for Penske. Photo by Nigel Kinrade.

Roger Penske with Joey Logano following their victory in the 2015 Daytona 500, his second in the Great American Race. Photo by Nigel Kinrade.

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Roger S. Penske

Inducted 2015, industry leader of the year award 1994.

Roger Penske’s international automotive and transportation enterprise reported sales of $19 billion in 2014, employing 39,000 employees worldwide. Holdings include the world’s second largest automobile dealership group as well as truck and equipment rentals, leasing and logistics services.

But for all of those accomplishments, the Corporation’s best-known asset is Penske Racing. With an unrivaled record for wins at the Indianapolis 500 and dominant presence in virtually every major national series, Team Penske is the most respected “brand” in American motorsports. Roger’s path to success began as a car-loving teenager in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. From his parents’ driveway Penske would buy and sell sports cars, which he had purchased and restored. Some found their way to the track — and Victory Circle, with Roger at the wheel. By 1961 Penske was honored as Sports Illustrated’s “Driver of the Year”.

In 1965, at the top of his game, he gave up driving to build his automotive empire, starting with a dealership in Philadelphia, then acquiring a truck leasing business, a second dealership and two racing tire distributorships. In 1969, Penske Corporation was formed. While his passion for driving may have been put on hold, his love of motorsports never waned. Joining forces with driver/engineer Mark Donohue, Penske Racing was created, becoming the motorsports arm of Penske Corporation. Penske Racing debuted at the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, winning the first of 16 Indy 500’s in 1972. Since then, Penske Racing has dominated in virtually every form of racing, earning nearly 400 victories and 27 National Championships including IndyCar, Sports Car, Trans Am and NASCAR.

The reasons for Penske’s remarkable success were well documented in the late Mark Donahue’s book, “The Unfair Advantage”. Their “unfair advantage” was identified as a total dedication to preparation and professionalism. Those same qualities are found in all Penske enterprises, on the track or in a boardroom. Clearly, racing improves the product.

2015 Automotive Hall of Fame Induction acceptance speech.

2015 Automotive Hall of Fame Induction Tribute Video.

2015 Inductees Ratan Tata, Luca di Montezemolo,  Roger Penske.

Roger Penske at the 2015 Automotive Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Ceremony.

• Penske Racing Team: 40 Years of Excellence

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Roger Penske

ROGER PENSKE is by far the most successful owner/ entrant in the history of the Indianapolis 500 with 18 victories through 2021, thus more than tripling Lou Moore’s record of five established from 1938 through 1949. Following his first win in 1972 with Mark Donohue, Penske won four times with Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, and 1991), three times with Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, and 2009), and once each with Bobby Unser (1981), Danny Sullivan (1985), Al Unser (1987), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser, Jr., (1994), Gil DeFerran (2003), Sam Hornish, Jr. (2006), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015), Will Power (2018), and Simon Pagenaud (2019). A successful sports car driver, Penske won the 1962 L.A. Times Grand Prix at Riverside and finished the year as the United States Auto Club Road Racing champion. After competing in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York, in 1961 and 1962 and winning all three Nassau Trophy races in the Bahamas in 1964, Penske retired from driving to pursue business interests. The scope of successes by Team Penske since the mid-1960s includes race wins and championships (28 total through August 2015) in such diversified racing disciplines as United States Auto Club and Championship Auto Racing Team National Championship racing, Sports Car Club of America’s Can-Am series, Trans-Am, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), and long-distance endurance races, typically competing for several different championships at the same time. Penske entries have won such marquee races as the 24-Hours of Daytona, 12-Hours of Sebring, and the Daytona 500, as well as the 1976 Grand Prix of Austria with Irishman John Watson during a brief run in Formula One racing.

YEAR INDUCTED: 2002

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• Spark Program

By Preston Lerner

Racing, so the saying goes, is a great way to turn a big fortune into a small one. Unless, that is, you're Roger Penske, a man who's made a career out of standing convention on its ear. Penske was only 27 years old, seemingly at the height of his powers, when he hung up his driving suit to concentrate on the business of business. Today, he commands a vast corporate empire that embraces more than 13,000 employees. More to the point, he remains the captain of Penske Racing, perhaps the most dominant race team in American history.

Behind the wheel, Penske was talented enough to be honored as the Sports Car Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and the LosAngeles Times. But even then, he aspired to be more than the next Fangio. "I don't want to be known as a race driver," he told a reporter a year before he retired and he isn't. Today, Penske is remembered best as the man whose cars have won ten Indy 500s; two Can-Am championships; three Trans-Am titles; numerous Winston Cup races; and one of only three Formula I Grands Prix won by an American team. Hes also a founding director of CART, a principal of Ilmor Engineering, the owner of two major racetracks and a constructor in his own right.

Few men have cast as large a shadow over their respective fields as Penske. Even as a privateer, he always insisted that his cars look impeccable. And nobody ever earned the Unfair Advantage as often as he did, whether it be by turning a Formula I wreck into a world-beating sports car, building special refueling rigs for lighting-fast Trans-Am pit stops, introducing turbocharging to the Can-Am series, or developing an entirely new engine to win a single race the 1994 Indy 500.

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1937, the son of a corporate executive, Penske started racing sports cars before graduating from Lehigh University. He won numerous races and several SCCA championships while driving a wide variety of machinery, Jags, Porsches, Coopers, Maseratis, Ferraris, Corvette Grand Sports and Chaparrals. But it was with a mongrel known as the Zerex Special that Penske achieved his greatest notoriety.

A wrecked Formula I car transformed into a two-seat sports racer, the Zerex Special met the letter if not the spirit of the law. With it, Penske blitzed the fields at Riverside and Laguna Seca to win the country's premier sports car races of 1962. Coupled with two more victories in Puerto Rico and Nassau, Penske pocketed $34,350 a princely sum by the standards of the day. At the same time, he also pointed the way toward a new era of major-league corporate sponsorship.

In 1964, Penske retired from driving after scoring back-to-back wins in Nassau in a Grand Sport and a Chaparral. Two years later, he returned to racing as an entrant. Although the team's debut at Sebring in 1966 with al obsolete Grand Sport was inauspicious, Penske soon bought a Lola T70 and hired Mark Donohue as his fulltime driver.

In Donohue, the Brown University engineering graduate, Penske found the perfect foil. Usually racing in irreproachable Sunoco livery, the two men dominated Trans-Am (in Camaros and later Javelins) and Can-Am (in the Porsche 917-10 and 917-30 Turbopanzers) racing so comprehensively that neither series was ever the same again. At the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1969, they scored Lola's first long-distance victory. Turning next to Indy cars, they won the 1972 edition of the 500.

In 1974, with little left to conquer here in the States, Penske created Penske Cars Ltd. in Poole, England, and went Grand Prix racing. The Formula I adventure was an unhappy one, reaching its low ebb when Donohue was killed in a practice crash in 1975. Although John Watson gave the PC4 a historic victory in the Austrian Grand Prix in 1976, Penske shut down his Fl operation at the end of the season and concentrated his efforts on Indy cars.

Since then, nobody has done it better. With a stable of champions that includes Rick Mears (a Penske discovery), Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andrctti, Tom Sneva, Danny Sullivan, Paul Tracy (another Penske find) and Bobby, Al and Al Unser Jr., Penske Racing posted 91 wins, 114 poles and nine CART championships through the end of the 1994 season. Meanwhile, Rusty Wallace scored another 18 Winston Cup victories in Penske Racing South cars. And now, of course, Roger Penske is being inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Keith Black

Louis Chevrolet

Peter De Paolo

Chip Hanauer

Bruce McLaren

Fireball Roberts

Jim Luikens

Denise McCluggage

Frank "Scoop" Vessels

Craig Breedlove

David Dewald

Griffith Borgeson

The Burklands

Roger S. Penske

• Chairman and CEO Penske Corporation

Effort equals results.

Roger Penske was born in 1937, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. His father worked for a metal distributorship for 30 years, and eventually became its vice president and general manager. "My father, who was born in 1900, taught me about the importance of loyalty," says Penske. "Later in my business life, I came to see loyalty as an important asset, both for me and my dealings with my employees as well as for the employees who work so hard to make the company a success."

Penske's mother, whom he describes as the heart of the household, stayed home to care for the family. His father worked hard to provide for the family. "My parents were a great team," he says. "They taught me to be truthful and to help others. We didn't have a lot, but my parents always shared with others."

Religion was a regular part of life for the Penske family. Penske sang in the church choir and served as an acolyte. "My parents were people of high integrity," he says, "and they expected me to learn that value."

At age 11, Penske was sent for a summer program at the Culver Military Academy. He credits that experience with teaching him leadership and self-discipline.

As a boy, Penske was encouraged to work for the things he wanted. "Usually my parents would pay half for my extras, and I would work to pay the other half," says Penske. "That pact between us taught me patience. There was no instant gratification. I believe the way I was raised served me well throughout my life."

From an early age, Penske loved sports and cars. When Penske was 14, his father took him to the Indianapolis 500 race, which had a profound effect on him. "I knew immediately that the race track was a place where I wanted to be," he says. "I told my father that day I wanted to be a race-car driver."

As a teenager, Penske bought, repaired, and sold old cars. He studied business at Lehigh University and began his career as a race-car driver. Penske quickly found success in sports car and stock car competition and was named Sports Illustrated's 1961 Sports Car Club of America Driver of the Year.

For three summers during college, Penske worked in an Alcoa plant. In 1959, he became a sales engineer. At the same time, he continued his professional car racing and participated the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. During these events, Penske developed relationships with Chevrolet executives.

In 1963, at the age of 26, he left Alcoa to work as the general manager of a Chevrolet franchise in Philadelphia. He later borrowed $50,000 from his father to purchase the dealership. "I was focused on making the dealership successful so that I could pay back my father," he says. "I was determined not to let down his faith in me."

In 1963, Penske received an invitation for a rookie test in the Indianapolis 500, which was the ultimate opportunity for him as a race-car driver. Because Chevrolet was not comfortable with him dividing his time between business and racing, Penske decided to focus on his dealership. "I never regretted my decision," he says. "Racing was special, but business was something I knew I wanted to pursue. Later in life, I formed a racing team that has won the Indianapolis 500 16 times, so I feel like I ended up with the best of both worlds."

The Chevrolet dealership became the cornerstone of Penske's various business enterprises. He founded his career on the principles of ethics and integrity and a realization that human capital is the most important asset on his balance sheet. He founded Penske Corporation, a diversified transportation services company that grew to manage several enterprises, including Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Automotive Group. Team Penske, the professional stock car racing and open wheel racing team, became one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports.

"I've come a long way from Shaker Heights," says Penske. "Looking back, I can see that it's my relationships with people and interests that led me from one business to another. I had a love of cars and went into racing; through racing, I met people who could put me into managing and then owning a dealership, which included a car rental franchise that I developed. I returned to racing as an owner, and that led to a diesel engine distributorship for GM. Money was never the motivator for me, however. As you succeed, you want to build more. You begin to build a group of associates and team members, and to see them grow in their positions is very rewarding. We have a saying at Penske, that it should be a place that is hard to join and hard to leave. We don't have a lot of turnover. I came from an environment where my dad had one job his whole life. I want the same thing for my employees."

When defining success, Penske thinks of his family first. "My first focus was always to provide well for my family," he says. "I've been able to do that and I feel very fortunate."

Penske advises youth to set goals, and emphasizes the importance of team spirit. "I would hope young people would develop some loyalty, rather than going from job to job every few years. They should figure out their interests and then plug into a good company. The great thing about America is that there is always a job for the person who wants to work. If you are a loyal, honest, and a hard worker, you will be successful."

Honored by his Horatio Alger Award, Penske says, "When I look at the list of members, it's amazing that I would be included in such an impressive group. I hope that I will represent the award in a way that is respectful of all those who have come before me."

In 2006, Penske served as chairman of the host committee for the Super Bowl, which was held in Detroit. "That was a great opportunity for me to give back time and effort to my community," he says "but it was a challenge. We started a project called Clean Downtown where we supplied trucks and cleaning equipment for 30 volunteers to clean 200 blocks of the city each day. Hosting the Super Bowl reignited interest in revitalizing Detroit, and I'm proud to have been a part of that. I want Detroit to become a great city again, and I think we're on our way."

Penske also offers his customers opportunities to donate to help paralyzed veterans. The donations are then matched by his company. "I think it's important for each of my enterprises to give something back," Penske says. "I've discovered that what is true in business is also true in philanthropy: Effort Equals Results."

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Racing with Roger Penske: A History of a Motorsport Dynasty Paperback – September 20, 2022

Auto racing legend Roger Penske began as a successful sportscar driver before transitioning to owning a race team and opening a car dealership. Within eight years, Team Penske won the Indianapolis 500. Today, the team boasts more than 580 victories, including an unparalleled 18 Indianapolis 500 wins and two at the Daytona 500.

Penske's efforts on the track have been intertwined with his business ventures. Penske Corporation, with $32 billion in revenues, includes Penske truck leasing and rentals, retail automotive centers and logistics. In 2019, he bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and related assets, including IndyCar, and led both through the coronavirus pandemic, when racing continued with no fans in the stands.

This book chronicles more than 50 years of Roger Penske's racing history, with an overview of his business career, including the turnaround of Detroit Diesel.

• Print length 280 pages
• Language English
• Publisher McFarland
• Publication date September 20, 2022
• Reading age 18 years and up
• Dimensions 7 x 0.56 x 10 inches
• ISBN-10 1476687862
• ISBN-13 978-1476687865
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ McFarland (September 20, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476687862
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476687865
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.3 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 0.56 x 10 inches
• #347 in Motor Sports (Books)
• #3,096 in Sports Biographies (Books)

About the author

Sigur e. whitaker.

On a trip to her hometown of Indianapolis, Sigur discovered a photograph album of the historic home "Riverdale" which belonged to her great great uncle, James Allison, one of the keystones of the thriving Indianapolis automobile industry in the early 20th century. Her desire to learn more about Allison led to the writing of her first book James Allison, A Biography of the Engine Manufacturer and Indianapolis 500 Cofounder.

With a love of history, her next undertaking was to learn more about successful Indiana businessman, Tony Hulman who purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then on the verge of being torn down, in 1945. Hulman resurrected the Speedway and made it into the "greatest spectacle in racing." The result is the book Tony Hulman, The Man Who Saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Her third book, The Indy Car Wars, the 30-year fight for control of American open-wheel racing, documents the melt-down in Indy car racing which started in 1978. Driven by the desire of team owners for an increase in the payouts at the races, particularly the Indianapolis 500, the management team at the Indianapolis 500 saw it as an attempt to take control of the iconic race.

Most people thought that she would become a journalist as she had been the editor of the world's oldest high school daily newspaper. But instead, the world of business was to be in her future. Both her undergraduate degree and a Master's of Business Administration are from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In addition to writing biographies of people involved in auto racing, she works as a copywriter specializing in the financial and auto racing industries. She is also active in her Rotary Club.

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