Happy Birthday, Roger Penske: A Look at Career Statistics (February 20, 2018)

Happy birthday to the Captain, Roger Penske, who turns 81 today. Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Penske shares a birthday with one of his former drivers, Bobby Unser, who gave Penske a victory in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, so happy birthday to Bobby Unser as well.

Team Penske celebrates its 52nd year in 2018, which has already started out strong. Now a three-car team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Brad Keselowski won the Advance Auto Parts Clash on Sunday, February 11, then Ryan Blaney won his Can-Am Duel and led a race-high 118 laps of the Daytona 500. Joey Logano finished fourth in the race, completing every lap for the seventh consecutive time.

Within the next month, Penske will look to add victories in the Supercars Championship, the Verizon IndyCar Series and 12 Hours of Sebring. The IndyCar Series opens with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, a race Team Penske has won eight times in the last 13 races.

Here’s a quick synopsis of Penske’s career statistics, mostly as a team owner. Since this is posted on Tuesday, we’ll stick with the “By The Numbers” format.

By The Numbers – Team Penske

1 – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship (Brad Keselowski, 2012)

1 – Formula 1 World Championship victory (John Watson, 1976 Austrian Grand Prix)

1 – NASCAR Xfinity Series title (Brad Keselowski, 2010)

1 – Victory by Roger Penske as a driver in United States Road Racing Championship (1963, Pensacola, Florida), driving for Mecom Racing Team

2 – Daytona 500 victories (Ryan Newman, 2008; Joey Logano, 2015)

2 – Cam-Am Series championships (George Follmer, 1972; Mark Donohue, 1973)

6 – Penske earned six podiums in seven races en route to winning the 1962 USAC Road Racing Championship as a driver.

9 – Number of times Penske has recorded a 1-2-3 podium sweep in an IndyCar race (most recently 2017 Grand Prix of Sonoma)

12 – Victories in Australia’s Supercars Championship (Scott McLaughlin, 8; Fabian Coulthard, 4)

12 – Victories in United States Road Racing Championship between 1965 and 1968

14 – Can-Am Series victories

15 – IndyCar championships (2 in USAC; 9 in CART; 4 in IndyCar Series)

16 – Indianapolis 500 victories

16 – Car number used by Roger Penske Racing and Mark Donohue in the team’s first major victory, the 1966 Pacific North West Grand Prix at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.

18 – Number of drivers to win an IndyCar race with Team Penske

31 – IndyCar 500-mile race victories

66 – Number driven by Mark Donohue to give Penske his first Indianapolis 500 victory.

103 – IndyCar oval victories

197 – Total IndyCar victories

200.401 – Tom Sneva broke the 200 mph barrier at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1977, setting a first-lap speed of 200.401 mph in his Penske-owned machine. His second lap was faster but his four-lap average was just over 198 mph.

241.428 – Speed, in mph, that set a closed-course world record in 2000, by CART driver Gil de Ferran at California Speedway in Fontana.

256 – IndyCar pole positions

917 – Team Penske raced the Porsche 917-10 and Porsche 917-30 in dominating the Can-Am Series in the 1970s.

1,655 – Number of starts made by IndyCar Series drivers at Team Penske

1971 – First year that Team Penske won an IndyCar race, with Mark Donohue winning the Pocono 500

2,458 – Race starts in NASCAR’s three national touring series – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

26,472 – Laps completed by Team Penske drivers winning IndyCar races

Note of Interest
- In addition to the above statistics, Penske also won the Rolex 24 At Daytona in class in 1966; has class victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring; and earned several victories in Trans-Am competition, most of which came with Mark Donohue.

Sources

- Team Penske website: www.teampenske.com

- Wikipedia: United States Road Racing Championship; Can-Am Series; 1977 Indianapolis 500

- IndyCar Series media guide