Sure, you might not notice it this weekend at the Sydney 500, nor on the streets of Adelaide for the Clipsal 500 or at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix, but, most likely, if history is anything to go by, it’ll be around this time next year that we’ll look back to the weekend of 4-5-6 December 2014 as a turning point for V8 Supercar racing in Australia.
Because this weekend signals the arrival of the mighty Penske Racing organisation, headed by racing genius, trucking tycoon and proven winner, Roger ‘The Captain’ Penske, and, make no mistake, the Team Penske squad are proven winners. They win frequently, and they don’t jump into a series without expecting to rise quickly to the top and dominate.
Roger Penske doesn’t do anything by halves. Over the years, he’s had a presence, either short-term or ongoing, in the world’s biggest motorsport brands. He runs a NASCAR Sprint Cup team with Ford backing, brought Chevrolet back into IndyCar racing, was in charge of Porsche’s North American factory sports car prototype aspirations for a number of years, and has entered cars in Trans-Am, Can-Am, Formula One, USAC and won the fabled 24 Hours of Daytona in surprise fashion back in 1969.
Of course, Penske is best known for his IndyCar successes. His drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 a record fifteen times – the great Mark Donohue was the first in 1972 and spider-man himself, Helio Castroneves, the most recent, in 2009, captured pole at the Brickyard sixteen times, and Team Penske drivers have won the IndyCar Championship twice.
Penske’s successes spread to NASCAR, where his driver Brad Keselowski won the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to go along with two NASCAR Nationwide Series owners championships. Team Penske’s Ryan Newman won the 2008 Daytona 500 amongst an even 100 Sprint Cup Series wins. On any given weekend, Penske’s cars can be found at the pointy end of a very stacked field.
As operator of the Porsche prototype team in the American Le Mans Series from 2005 to 2007 (with Australian Ryan Briscoe sharing the driving duties with other Porsche factory guns), Penske’s team won the LMP2 championship in 2006 and the venerable 12 Hours of Sebring overall – no mean feat on a track where a car’s reliability is tested like nowhere else.
The status quo of V8 Supercar racing has perceptibly shifted this weekend, and although returning hero Marcos Ambrose likely won’t have much of a say as far as what happens at the pointy end of the Sydney 500 field this weekend, it’s more what is going on behind the scenes that will likely be worrying the established stars and teams in V8 racing.
I’ve seen plenty of Penske over the years, back to when I fell in love with the CART World Series – now IndyCar – when The Captain ran Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, and if there’s one thing that is abundantly clear, it’s that Penske doesn’t go racing without the intention to dominate. He isn’t coming to Australia to run mid-pack or near the back. That isn’t Roger Penske’s style. In just about every category they’ve entered, Team Penske has tasted success and tasted it fairly quickly. I doubt that we’ll see anything different in V8 Supercars from next year.
In preparation for the Team Penske assault on Sydney Olympic Park – officially, Penske’s squad have bought into Dick Johnson Racing, and will be known as DJR Team Penske, but make no mistake, the Penske side of the equation is bigger, and nothing will happen without The Captain’s say-so first – a troupe of racing geniuses have arrived in Australia, and will begin to shape things behind the scenes ahead of Penske’s full-time arrival in the series next year.
Chief amongst them is Jeff Swartwout, who spent time orchestrating Penske’s sports car operation before moving to the NASCAR side, at times with full, day-to-day management of all of Team Penske’s stock car operation. He has a pedigree of success, like every other guy Penske hires, from the lowliest guy in the shop to the president of Team Penske, Indianan Tim Cindric. Australia’s Nick Hughes, a long-time Penske employee, will also be a part of the setup.
Roger Penske and Tim Cindric are a lethal combination, two peas in a pod. Whilst Penske and Cindric won’t be here in Australia like Swartwout will, you can bet that they will be keeping a close eye on developments and, if necessary, will unleash one of the many veteran engineers from all walks of motorsport life, proven winners all.
That’s why live in the V8 Supercar world has changed. The Penske/Ambrose invasion has begun, and life might never be the same for the traditional powers of Australian motorsport, the Triple Eight’s, Pro Drive Australia’s and Walkinshaw Racing’s of the world. They must be eager to see if they can match it with the great Roger Penske…but also be a little nervous that, perhaps, their run at the top of Australian motorsport is coming to an end. Like I said, The Captain isn’t coming here to finish second. He’s got the funding and assets to make an immediate impact.
And finally, a word on Penske’s driver, Marcos Ambrose: Roger Penske is one of the most wily and shrewd operators, famous for being able to spot up-and-coming talent before just about anyone else. He knows race car drivers, having worked around them for countless decades, so you have to believe he’s taken a long, hard look at Ambrose before signing the Tasmanian to a contract.
Quite simply, if The Captain had any worries about Ambrose’s ability to readapt to a V8 Supercar – a topic of hot conversation and debate in Australia of late – then Penske simply would have looked elsewhere. If Roger Penske believes that Ambrose can still win, then the rest of us should probably take notice and prepare to see the Devil Racer atop the podium.
Roll on 2015, and let us remember this quiet Penske debut as a turning point for Australian motorsport.
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