Joey Logano and Roger Penske.
MOORESVILLE, NC — Roger Penske has a favorite phrase when it comes to auto racing success.
He likes to say: “Write numbers on the blackboard”.
Here are the numbers that Team Penske has put on the board since it started as Penske Racing in Newtown Square, Pa. in 1966.
Penske has the record for most Indianapolis 500 wins as a team owner at 18, most IndyCar championships at 17, and now owns three NASCAR Cup Series titles. Team Penske has 611 race wins and 674 poles.
Joey Logano’s 2022 NASCAR Cup Series title has given Penske 43 championships since the team started in this humble three-bay garage on Newtown Square. Logano also gave Penske a first, and that’s hard to do given how successful the 85-year-old is in business and auto racing.
Logano’s second NASCAR Cup Series title, combined with Will Power’s second NTT IndyCar Series crown earlier this year, gave Penske both major championships in the same season. That’s unprecedented in the history of Team Penske, which began in 1966 and added a NASCAR team in 1991.
In fact, prior to Penske in 2022, no team owner in auto racing history had won NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar titles in the same season.
“I think we’ve been trying for 31 years, so it’s about time,” Penske said, referring to the years he was a NASCAR team owner. “What a special weekend for us. Joey did a great job. You saw what he was capable of when he came into the team and for us to have two championships in the same year, that’s what we’re here for. That’s the goal we have every year.
“I think we came close but we made it this year.”
Despite his NASCAR Hall of Fame record, Rusty Wallace never won a NASCAR Cup Series title while driving for Team Penske. Wallace’s only NASCAR Cup Series championship came in 1989 when he drove for drag racer Raymond Beadle’s Blue Max Racing.
Penske’s first NASCAR Cup Series championship came in 2012 with Brad Keselowski. That season, Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series Championship for Andretti Autosport. Logano delivered Penske’s second NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2018. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won the fifth of his six championships in the NTT IndyCar Series this season.
Since 1967, Team Penske has been multiple champions in seven seasons, and in three of those years the team has won three championships. But those titles were either a combination of the IndyCar Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Owners’ Championship, the Australian Supercars Championship, or the NASCAR Cup Series title.
But never, IndyCar and the Cup Series in the same season until this year.
“It’s a great team effort for everyone here in Phoenix today to finish among the winners, and winning the championship is also something special,” said Penske after Logano secured the Cup Series title on November 6th at Phoenix Raceway had. “What a day Ford. What a day for Pennzoil and what a day for our team. It’s just tremendous.
“It took us 31 years to do this. It shows you that I’m getting pretty old. Can you believe that? I can not.
“It was a full team effort and I’m so excited to be here.”
It was a very special year for Penske. One of his three NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Austin Cindric, won the Daytona 500 on Penske’s birthday to open the racing year. In Phoenix, Logano ended the year by handing the Cup Series championship to Penske.
“Well, I hate to say that one is better than the other, but I have to say — when you put them all together, they all come first as far as I’m concerned,” Penske said. “What it’s doing as a team, the dynamism that it gives not only to the racing team but also to the 70,000 people at our company because they’re all watching.
“We don’t win every day, do we? But it teaches us how to win and stay in the game, and I think that’s what it did. Really three super days, super performances for the team. I can’t say one is better than the other. I’m just happy to be here.”
Team Penske continues to “put the numbers on the table” and Penske Corp. continues to generate positive returns on its earnings record. But there remains one racing challenge for Penske, and he hopes to meet it next season.
It is the famous Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race.
He is preparing for this challenge with a team that is currently being set up at Porsche Penske Motorsport.
“I would say that’s the mountain we’re trying to climb in a year to go to Le Mans and win safely,” said Penske.
If history is any indication, expect him to put this “number on the board” along with his other racing accomplishments.
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