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 One week before Penske driver Will Power begins the defense of his
IndyCar championship in St. Petersburg, Penske's NASCAR team already
has both of its drivers eligible for the championship Chase.
After Brad Keselowski's stunning come-from-behind victory at the
Auto Club Speedway, Penske Racing appears to be the only team
capable of beating Kevin Harvick regularly. Harvick finished behind
Keselowski in Fontana, Calif. on Sunday and was the runner-up to
Penske driver Joey Logano in the Daytona 500. In terms of teams,
Penske has everybody covered when it comes to getting his drivers
qualified for the Chase.
Penske's success - which includes 15 Indy 500 victories - continues
to be the ultimate success story in American racing now that he's
gotten the NASCAR title and Daytona 500 monkeys off his back. For
most of his more than 1,700 NASCAR starts, those two missing items
seemed to haunt an otherwise admirable record in stock car racing.
Is there anything Penske now hasn't done in American racing?
The Auto Club Speedway where Keselowski came from 14th place to
victory over the course of two green-white-checkereds, for example,
was built by Penske. He rescued it from a former Kaiser Steel mill
best known for its scenes in Terminator movies before selling it to
the International Speedway Corporation.
There is a connection between the success Penske is currently
enjoying in IndyCar and NASCAR - where last year Keselowski and
Logano combined for a team record of 11 victories. All of the Penske
entries are run out of the same 425,000 square-foot building in
Mooresville, N.C., where a $7 million conversion of a former
electronics manufacturing facility resulted in a plant that now
manufacturers major race victories and championships.
By moving all his teams to "Race City USA," Penske expanded his role
in NASCAR while losing none of the successful touch with Indy cars
the team enjoyed while housed in its longtime shops in Reading,
Penn. But for the first time since combining Penske Racing "North"
and Penske Racing "South" in 2006, Penske now has two major star
talents behind the wheel of his NASCAR entries who work well
together.
"We went through a choppy period there," said Penske of his driver
line-ups after the opening of the new headquarters. Penske initially
tried to hire Matt Kenseth away from Jack Roush's team. When the
Wisconsinite balked, sponsor Miller Brewing Company insisted on a
former champion to replace Rusty Wallace in the team's Miller
Lite-sponsored cars. That meant hiring Kurt Busch from Roush instead
of Kenseth.
Busch and teammate Ryan Newman won races, but neither scored more
than two victories in a given season. Keselowksi was hired in 2009
to replace Newman and though he failed to win in the Sprint Cup in
his first full season of 2010, Keselowksi brought Penske its first
NASCAR championship in the Xfinity Series. He scored three Sprint
Cup victories in 2011 - the most since Newman's eight-win season in
2003 before winning the Sprint Cup title in 2012.
"Brad came to the shop and said he could help us build a world-class
team," said Penske of the driver who had one career victory at
Talladega when he was hired. "He's not only done that personally
with the way he drives, but also the way his intensity is at the
shop."
As importantly, Keselowski has helped mentor Logano, who had a
reputation for driving over his head without much in the way of
results for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Keselowksi has demonstrated to his younger teammate how not to be
intimidated by the "Jeff Gordon generation" by banging fenders one
week and winning races the next. The way Keselowski has "put his arm
around Joey," said Penske, makes him an even more valuable asset
beyond his own driving. "He's a good team player with Joey."
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Both drivers "feed off each other," said Paul Wolfe, Keselowski'
crew chief since they were paired in the Xfinity Series. The
synergies have always been there for Penske on the IndyCar side
between drivers Helio Castronevers and Will Power. Of course, all
the Penske drivers enjoy the engineering and technical prowess at
the headquarters in Mooresville.
The idea to combine the teams under one roof originated with Tim
Cendric, who came up through the IndyCar ranks to become the team
president.
"We thought the combination of everybody together and moving people
from different programs would help and the cross pollination has
really paid off," said Penske. "The engineering department from
IndyCar and NASCAR are learning from each and I'd say it's been a
home run. The facility is just outstanding and I think that's played
a big role in our success."
Even in its down years, including a miserable spell in Indy cars
when Penske remained loyal to fading driver Al Unser Jr. and
Goodyear's less-than-stellar tire program, the Penske program has
always maintained its incredible work ethic and relentless pursuit
of speed much like its leader. The never-say-die attitude was
present in Fontana on Sunday, where Keselowksi was more of a pawn in
the strategic gambling of crew chief Paul Wolfe.
The crew chief elected to give Keselowski's Ford four fresh tires on
the final pit stop just before the finish, which dropped him to 17th
position. A second green-white-checkered enabled him to charge from
sixth to first, diving underneath hard luck Busch, who had only two
fresh tires.
"I still don't remember the end of the race and I won't really jog
my mind until I watch it on replay," said Keselowski. "I was focused
on the task at hand and trying to win the race and knowing the car
and the opportunity that I had in front of me, and wanting to make
the most of it."
For Penske, the stunning turnaround was another day at the races. He
was asked if this year was the best start ever for his team and as
usual found a way to carefully tread on such questions. He's far
more interested in the process than predicting results, the future
rather than the past. Mark Donohue, who won the first of Penske's 15
Indy 500 trophies, always said the needle goes back to zero as soon
as the checkered flag falls. That remains Penske's attitude.
"Brad's delivered for us before and we know the competition is tough
and to know we have this kind of a kickoff for the team is a
tremendous opportunity," said Penske. "I don't know how many more
races I've got to go to - probably 40 - and then we'll find out what
the answer is."
The prospect of winning the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 in one season
awaits - as well as championship chases in both NASCAR and IndyCar.
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