Business is booming for Team Penske
As Josef Newgarden was draped with an American flag behind the celebration stage Sunday at Sonoma Raceway, team owner Roger Penske nestled in a less-trafficked corner.
That Penske had won a 15th Verizon IndyCar Series championship, second consecutively and third since 2014 was no surprise.
Fifty-one years in racing and nearly six decades as an entrepreneur had meshed well to create an almost unreachable standard in the IndyCar garage.
The paddock and Penske officials knew what Newgarden would bring to the series’ power organization.
None of them, including, Team Penske president Tim Cindric, could be sure it would happen so soon.
Newgarden, 26, had become just the fourth driver to win an open-wheel title for Penske in his first season with the team. And teammate Simon Pagenaud had come within 13 points of the top of the standings after winning a first championship last season. So it was clear that as many of motor sports’ hallmark teams struggle in a new racing climate, Team Penske seems set up for the long-term future.
“This entire team has a lot going on,” Newgarden told USA TODAY Sports. “More than ever at the moment. They handle it well. They have the capability to
handle it well and I don’t think they ever over-extend themselves.
“But it’s kind of exciting here. They’re at sort of a new point in a couple of areas. It’s a fun time to be a part of it. It’s an honor to be a part of it, helping to contribute to the overall cause.”
Even with the possibility of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves joining former Penske open-wheel driver Juan Pablo Montoya on Penske’s new IMSA teams, the organization would have three championship winners — Pagenaud, 33; Will Power, 36; and Newgarden — under contract in IndyCar.
The team will bring Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff qualifier Ryan Blaney on board for what will be a threecar program next season. Blaney, 23, considered one of the sport’s more promising prospects, joins 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, 33, and Joey Logano, 27. Both drivers signed multiyear extensions this season.
In Supercars, an Australianbased stock car series Penske joined in 2015 in a merger with local legend Dick Johnson, 24year-old Scott McLauglin leads the top rung in points and victories.
Part of the reason Penske racing business is good is be- cause Penske business is good. While most teams continue to clamber for millions to fund enormously expensive racing budgets even for the highly successful, Penske, 80, has been able to leverage his business-to-business relationships with his transportation companies and race teams to expand.
He added a fourth IndyCar program for Pagenaud in 2015 and was rewarded with a championship the next season.
The team nabbed Newgarden — the most alluring free agent last offseason — after Penske said “he was a commodity we had to have.”
Team Penske has been masterful at identifying under-exploited or underperforming values on the driver market — notably Keselowski, who as a younger driver was in Hendrick Motorsports’ orbit, and Logano, who had struggled in his first major chance with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“We’ve never been in this business to make money,” Cindric said when Penske announced its sports car program with Honda Performance Development and Acura.
“Really, it’s a matter of opportunity.
“Obviously, one of our key businesses and core businesses is the car dealership business. When you’re able to cross-pollinate across the different manufacturers, represent them on the weekends at the racetracks, that helps us sell cars as well. It’s really all interconnected.”
And now, it’s connecting extremely well.