Penske ready for 300,000 guests
INDIANAPOLIS » Roger Penske motioned toward the turn four grandstands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His father took him to those seats in 1951 and a 14-yearold Penske was instantly hooked by the sights and the sounds of “The 500-Mile Sweepstakes,” won that day by Lee Wallard.
It was the beginning of a love affair between Penske and the speedway that produced 18 victories for the owner of Team Penske and, in 2019, the unexpected opportunity to purchase the national landmark.
Penske took ownership of Indianapolis Motor Speedway just two months before the pandemic closed the country, and only now, in his third Indianapolis 500 as promoter, can he throw open the gates and host more than 300,000 guests at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“I hope my dad is looking down and saying, ’ Son, you did a good job here,’” Penske told The Associated Press.
Penske’s crowning moment comes Sunday when the hundreds of millions of dollars he’s poured into sprawling venue will at last be on full display. His first Indy 500, pushed to August 2020 from its traditional Memorial Day weekend slot, was held in front of empty grandstands.
Penske was allowed to admit 40% capacity last year and welcomed approximately 150,000 guests in what then was the largest sporting event since the pandemic began. On Sunday, the crowd will be the largest since the sold-out 100th running of the Indy 500 in 2016, with late ticket sales trending closer to that threshold.
Penske would love a sellout. It would be a reward for the financial bloodbath he’s taken since Tony George approached him on the starting grid ahead of the 2019 season finale and said the one thing Penske’s money could never buy was now for sale.
Penske snapped up both Indycar and the speedway that had been owned by the Hulman-george family since 1945; Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media, told AP that Penske outbid his company, which had completed its purchase of Formula One in 2017.
The pandemic has prevented Penske from turning any sort of profit — he’s pumped more than $30 million beyond the purchase price into bringing the speedway grounds up to his standards — and despite operating in the red, Penske has no regrets.
“We had a business plan and we were counting on over 200,000 people at our first 500,” Penske told AP. “But I look forward, I can’t look back. You don’t get any credit for what you did last year. I’d do the same deal again. I’m fully engaged.”