When it comes to "racing excellence," motor sports team Owner Roger Penske is the "gold standard," according to Bruce Martin of SI.com. From his series-high 161 IndyCar wins to his 72 career NASCAR victories, Penske has "visited Victory Lane 353 times" in his career. The 75-year-old Penske "shows no signs of slowing down," and in a recent Q&A, discussed NASCAR, IndyCar and his "decision to switch engines." The following is an excerpt from that Q&A.
Q: You are joining Ford in NASCAR next year. How are things going with that?
Penske: We've had a lot of conversations with Ford leading up to the announcement and are talking to a lot of people in Ford moving forward. ... If Ford is successful, [Roush Fenway Racing co-Owner Jack Roush] will get the benefit and so will we. We have a lot of people calling us wanting to run Dodge. We have a big investment in our engine shop so we are not going to shut the door. ... If Dodge is interested in having us build engines as a separate source, then our shop can be available for that.
Q: Ralph Gilles of Dodge noted that Ford gave you a long-term contract. Did that play into your decision?
Penske: You want a long-term commitment from your employer if you can. We are in a business where we are contractually bonded with race engineers, drivers and sponsors. We prepare contracts to make sure we are in a position to commit to our people, so a long-term commitment is very important to us. We had very good discussions with Dodge and based on their senior management they weren't able to make the kind of commitment we felt was necessary to compete at the higher levels.
Q: Are you pleased with where IndyCar is right now?
Penske: One of the great things is we have a full field of cars and will have 27 when we go to Brazil (on April 29). The new engine programs with Chevrolet and Honda are in pretty good shape. I think Lotus is a little bit behind but (they) have been fielding the five cars they are committed to. Overall, the cars have been good.
Q: What about the commitment Chevrolet has made to the IndyCar engine program?
Penske: They made the commitment to invest in the brand and there is no question they have committed to IndyCar from an engine perspective but also made the commitment to be involved with the race in Detroit that will be run the week after Indy. The nice thing is from top to bottom within General Motors North America motor sports has support (SI.com, 4/10).
