Roger Penske interview

AT Supercars events, the most prized parking spots are reserved for senior series executives and local bigwigs.

The exception is when Roger Penske visits. Such is Penske’s stature that one of the prime spaces is set aside for his vehicle. Nowhere is his standing more obvious than when he attends the Perth SuperSprint at Barbagallo Raceway.

There he receives personal parking right near the entrance to the paddock. This year the only spot that was closer to the gate was set aside for an ambulance. His place was initially designated by an official “RESERVED ROGER PENSKE” sign.

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Penske is the only Supercars team owner accorded ‘red carpet’ welcomes like this. The sport is proud that the best known team principal outside F1 chose to expand his Team Penske empire across the Pacific.

Known as ‘The Captain’, Penske carries an air of authority that stops a room. Yet he has an inclusive manner. An old-school gentleman, he is always impeccably dressed – an attention to detail that is reflected in the pristine presentation that has been a hallmark of Penske race teams and drivers.

Perth is about as far from Penske Corp HQ at Bloomfield Hills, outside Detroit, as you can get, but he has made the annual trek to coincide with Barbagallo because Western Australia is an important market for the company’s trucking and industrial powerplant interests.

The extraordinary success of Team Penske in American and international racing during the past 51 years has been integral to the growth of Penske Corporation from a single car dealership to a diverse global transport enterprise. He has always used racing to promote his businesses, which is why he bought 51 per cent of DJR.

After a two-year reorganisation, DJR Team Penske has emerged this season as the Supercars squad to beat. It has Triple Eight Race Engineering on the back foot, scrambling to catch up.

Penske’s patronage has restored DJR to its glory days of the late 1980s and much of the ’90s, when it was firmly entrenched among the leading teams. His takeover was a rescue, providing the multimillion-dollar investment to secure its future.

The deal was predicated on former Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose returning from his stint in NASCAR to lead the American-directed effort. The team cut back to one Falcon to concentrate on rebuilding under Ambrose’s guidance while he recaptured his own form.

“We started out thinking that we would be somewhat competitive, but when we got to the track and looked at the results, we were struggling,” Penske tells MOTOR.

“We were also counting on Marcos. He then decided he really wasn’t up to it. Whether it was mentally or physically or just that the game had been raised, I don’t really know. But I take my hat off to him for saying, ‘Hey, you need to go on without me’ and it was a very good discussion with him.”

“I think that’s the bottom line. He did, we did. We were disappointed that we didn’t provide him with a proper car and be able to help him. I think he felt the same way, that maybe he wasn’t able to deliver what we wanted from him.”

He didn’t regard losing Ambrose as a setback, lamenting that the partnership wasn’t able to flourish. “I guess it was more of a disappointment because we really wanted to provide him with a real race team that he could come back here and be on top,” Penske adds.

“That’s the disappointment I had. I think we felt we let him down and he really didn’t maybe have a chance to grab the gear here and get going the way he could. But I think he was so professional in how he handled his dismount.”

DJRTP endured two winless seasons as Pye was joined by Fabian Coulthard in a re-expanded line-up last year. But according to Penske, running two cars and other changes paved the way for the team’s transformation this year. “The bottom line is the experience we have now that we didn’t have when we walked in the door,” he says.

“We built some new cars as we came into this year and, at the end of the day, I think McLaughlin coming on board and teaming with Coulthard, you’d have to say that was a big step. They’re young, they’re experienced and they know how to win. And then I think our technical guys stepped it up.

Penske is a racer at heart and his commitment to conquering Supercars never wavered through the initial difficulties. “One of the great things about coming out here was that it was a real challenge,” he says.

“We were not going to walk away from V8 Supercars just because we had a couple of bad years. And they weren’t that bad. Maybe our reputation was ahead of our batting average.”

As well as securing McLaughlin in the wake of Volvo’s withdrawal, DJRTP was joined by disaffected touring car technical guru Ludo Lacroix, the gifted and eccentric designer of Triple Eight’s previously pace-setting racers.

“I was as surprised as anyone else when we got the call from Ludo that he was interested in coming on board with us,” Penske says.

“I met him at Bathurst (last year) and I didn’t even know who he was. Obviously, when he showed some interest, Tim Cindric (US-based Team Penske president who oversees all racing activities) followed up with him and he ended up coming on board. He didn’t really come over until January 1, so we didn’t have two or three months to do a brain drain on everything he knows. But I think his energy and certainly his knowledge have made a big difference.”

“People talk about how big a budget we have,” he says. “I can tell you this; the budget we have down here, we’re scraping for every sponsorship dollar we have. We’ve always done that and that’s why our company’s been successful. I would have to say that we’re trying to run within a budget that we think is pretty much the same up and down the garage area.”

Leaving aside that Penske cleared DJR’s debts and funded its expansion, there is no question that Penske companies largely underwrote the team’s racing operations in 2015/16. The return of Shell this year as the primary sponsor, gaining season-long signage on both Falcons and team naming rights suggests DJRTP has become a self-funding operation.

“One of the things that I will say I’m so proud of is to be able to see our two cars here (Perth) having the same livery on them every day,” he says.

“That’s the way it used to be (in US racing), instead of now, where you’re changing brands all the time. That’s what you need to do to be able to afford it. Because of our relationship with Shell/Penzoil in the US, it gave us an entry here, plus there’s a great B2B play here with Shell working with us and our customers. For me, it’s the secret sauce for us to keep goin’.”

“Well, you gotta have a big smile to think that we can walk down the pit lane and shake Roland’s hand and say ‘Hey, y’gotta beat us today, too’,” he grins.

“That wasn’t the case for a couple of years and I’m sure he looks forward to the competition. There are other good teams out there also and I want to be sure that people don’t think it’s just Triple Eight and ourselves. I think each race we go to, if we can be fast, that gives me a lot more confidence that we have a solid base.”

“It’s pretty amazing to sit here and say we won some races because that was our goal this year. But there’s no question that we now have to focus on trying to win the championship. Our two drivers are dedicated to winning the championship and we have to give them the cars that do that. Of course, the championship is the goal.”

Throughout half a century, many greats have raced for Penske. McLaughlin and Coulthard are very much in the mould of Penske drivers, who need to be presentable as well as talented. McLaughlin is the quickest of the Kiwi pairing, blazing a pole-winning trail that attests to his sheer speed. He is a natural fan favourite because he is gifted, audacious and cheeky.

“I think the first step of building the real bridge here was Fabian coming on board last year,” Penske says. “He had to go through a time where we were building, so for him to stay cool and commit himself to be with us for the future was a big one.

He and Scott work so well together, and he’s really stepped it up. He was a winning driver before he joined us and there’s no question you’re seeing that with what he’s able to do this year. He’s a terrific asset to the team.”

We’ve got some real good cars now, they both say that. We’ve been able to give them the pay-off of a good car and they both know how to win races when you give them the equipment to do it.”

Approaching his ninth decade, Penske has no plans to slow down, either in business or racing. He is fit and healthy, with the energy, enthusiasm and desire to keep going as the hands-on face of a multi-national corporation and an iconic race team, both of which feed his undiminished competitive spirit.

“You have to be able to respond to criticism, respond to failure and respond to the competition. I guess that’s what I’ll do as long as I can. It’s exactly what I love doing. And then to be able to come to the racetrack, this is my golf game or fishing trip.”

Roger Penske’s Racing Empire

The Team Penske juggernaut has been in motion since 1966 and has scored wins in every catergory it has entered from Trans-Am, Can-Am, endurance racing, Formula 1, American Le Mans, NASCAR, IndyCar and now Supercars.

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