Roger Penske

Early life and education

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Penske's father was a corporate executive for a metal fabrication company and encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur. As a teenager he bought older cars, repaired them and sold them at a profit from his family's home in Cleveland, Ohio. In 10 years, Penske raced and sold about 32 cars. Penske dropped out of Lehigh University.

Racing career

Starting in 1958, Penske purchased, raced and sold race cars, and was successful both financially and on the track. Penske made his first professional racing start at the now-abandoned Marlboro Motor Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

By 1960, he was a well-known race car driver (Sports Illustrated SCCA Driver of the Year). He competed in two Formula One Grands Prix, and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963. He never ran the Indianapolis 500: he was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis, but turned it down for business reasons; rookie Mario Andretti stepped in for Penske to take that test.

Penske continued racing until 1965, when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia, PA.

Racing teams

Penske Racing debuted in 1966 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, after Penske had retired from race driving. His team first competed in the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, winning that event in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue, and their first NASCAR win was in 1973. His teams have won many races in the subsequent years. He closed his European-based Formula One business in 1977. In 1982, he became the Chairman of the Penske Truck Leasing business.

Penske Racing now operates a NASCAR team with drivers Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano. It also operates an IndyCar Series team composed of Hélio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Previously, Penske Racing ran cars in the CART series that included some of the best drivers of the time, including Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Sneva, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan, Paul Tracy and Gil de Ferran. After many years of trying, his team won the Daytona 500 in 2008 with Ryan Newman driving. Penske, would later win another Daytona 500 in 2015 with Logano behind the wheel.

In 2005, Porsche set the stage to make a comeback in sports car racing in the United States and chose Penske Racing to run in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The Penske Porsches took center stage in 2006, winning immediately, including victories at Mid-Ohio finishing 1-2 ahead of Audi (competing in a higher classification) and the annual Petit Le Mans, a 10-hour showcase event held at Road Atlanta. His team scored an overall victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2008.

Penske also ran a Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype in the 2008 Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Kurt Busch, Ryan Briscoe, and Hélio Castroneves driving. The car was run in conjunction with Wayne Taylor's SunTrust Racing. They finished third overall.

In 2009, Penske suspended his participation in the ALMS, switching to ALMS's rival Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series for the full season. They used a Porsche-powered Riley with Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas driving.

Penske purchased the old Matsushita air conditioning plant in Mooresville, NC and reconditioned it to consolidate his racing business. All of Penske's racing operations are under one roof, with his IndyCar, NASCAR, and American Le Mans Series (through 2009) teams sharing over 424,000 square feet (39,400 m²) of space encompassing 105 acres (42 ha).

Penske won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with driver Brad Keselowski on November 18, 2012.

In September 2013, Penske's Cup Series team was the center of controversy when driver Joey Logano made the Chase for the Cup. Radio communications showed everybody that Penske's team had tried to manipulate the finish of the Federated Auto Parts 400 like Michael Waltrip Racing did to help Logano earn his spot in the Chase. Penske's team was put on indefinite probation for their antics. Penske denies the allegations to this day.

In late 2014, it was announced Penske would take a 51% stake in Australian V8 Supercars team Dick Johnson Racing, forming DJR Team Penske. The team entered one car in 2015, initially for Marcos Ambrose before he stepped aside to make way for Scott Pye. The team expanded to a second car for New Zealander Fabian Coulthard in 2016, before Pye was replaced with another Kiwi in Scott McLaughlin in 2017. Coulthard won the combined team's first championship race at the 2017 Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint.

Personal life

Penske has five children, two with first wife Lisa and three with second wife Kathy: Roger, Jr, Gregory, Blair, Mark, and Jay Penske.

Penske, an avid car collector, owns many rare American and European automobiles, including a Ferrari FXX, of which only 30 were made.

Political activities

Penske Racing donated $500,000 to Restore Our Future, Mitt Romney's Super PAC. Penske was discussed as a potential candidate for Mayor of Detroit, but he declined to run.

In 2016 a "Draft Roger Penske for US Senate (Michigan)" movement began.

Penske Automotive Group

While CEO of Penske Automotive Group in 2008, Penske earned a total compensation of $2,706,388, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, no cash bonus, stocks granted of $1,680,005, and no options granted. He was involved in an attempt to purchase the Saturn Corporation, makers of Saturn cars. On September 30, 2009, his Penske Automotive Group announced the deal to purchase Saturn had fallen through.

Racing awards

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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