The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
IndyCar series’ new owner Penske aims for fans at Indy 500
Roger Penske was slated to watch the IndyCar season opener Saturday night from a suite at Texas Motor Speedway — his first time off the pit stand and on the other side of the fence since his teams failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1995.
His relocation is partly for safety. At 83, Penske is considered at high risk for the coronavirus, and he will avoid large crowds by working inside the paddock from a transporter separate from the rest of his team. But as the new owner of the IndyCar Series, he has also relinquished his role as a strategist for Team Penske to avoid conflicts of interest.
“I don’t know if I will be able to stand it. We’ll have a conversation after the show. I guess it will be like a NASCAR race,” Penske, who watches NASCAR events from a suite, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The pandemic has disrupted Penske’s first year as owner of iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar Series, which suspended its season March 13 just 48 hours before its opening race in Florida. The schedule has been overhauled, his beloved Indianapolis 500 moved to August from the Memorial Day weekend date it held for 73 years, and Penske has spent nearly six months focused on improvements for his newest properties.
Penske said he is at IMS at least two days a week overseeing massive upgrades. He is involved in every detail, from freshening public bathrooms to paving parking lots, lowering television monitors and creating a lift to an elevated winner’s circle.
Fans won’t get a true sense of the changes to the national landmark built in 1911 until at least August. Its first event, a doubleheader between NASCAR and IndyCar Series, will run July 4 weekend without spectators. In making that decision last week, Penske said it moves the speedway closer “to execute with full fans” for the Indy 500.
“We really wanted to go forward with fans, but it wasn’t realistic,” Penske said. “If we had fans and had any problems, that would absolutely close the door on for us for the 500.”
Penske said he travels from his Michigan home to Indianapolis twice a week and wears gloves and a mask while working. His Bloomfield Hills office is a three-minute drive from his home, and he said a nurse is on site, and “everybody has to go through a temperature check.” Penske, a cancer survivor who received a kidney transplant in 2017, said Penske Corp. practices social distancing at work.
“I’ve been at home with my wife and have been careful on any interface,” he said. “All my transportation has been from Pontiac Airport to Indianapolis and back. I’ve not gone downtown. I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m not, you know, in trouble.”
The coronavirus has given Penske additional time to raise the speedway to his standards. All work on the track was halted early in the pandemic under stay-at-home orders, but moving the 500 to August allowed time for capital improvements.
He often likens his visions for the speedway to pristine Augusta National.
“Every time I walk around, I find something else to do,” he said. “I thought there were only so many chapters in the book. Every time I get to the last chapter, there’s one or two more to look at. Time is always beneficial.”
He said new video boards at the speedway would not have been in place for the 500 if it had been run in May as scheduled.
“I’ve never been more excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said.
“The future is very, very bright. I’ve never been more motivated, never been more excited.”