These are the two of the greatest races ever around the world,” Penske said. “I guess I put Le Mans in the category of the Indianapolis 500.
Make no mistake, Le Mans means every bit to Penske as those 19 wins at Indy. Penske returned to Le Mans as a team owner in 1971, an effort derailed by early engine failure. He eventually gave up driving - at the urging of his father - to focus on building his global transportation business and, in his spare time, one of the most respected empires in motor sports. The car started on the pole and never ran lower than sixth when, about nine hours into the race, a broken oil pipe ended Penske’s only run at Le Mans behind the wheel. Penske himself once entered the legendary French endurance race in 1963, driving a Ferrari for the North American Racing Team. And in this same year when he swept Indy and the Coca-Cola 600 - a year he has reigning series champions Joey Logano in NASCAR and Power in Ind圜ar under contract - he also wants to add the only race Penske has never won. He is 86 years old, yet Penske still moves at the same pace he did during his early days dabbling as a race car driver. But just to go there and compete, this first year with Porsche, that’s something we wanted to do for a long time with a quality brand.
”We’ve got three good cars and it’s going to be competitive. “We want to win Le Mans, that’s what we’d like to do,” Penske told The Associated Press. He leads the American return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and is due to arrive in France on Tuesday with a three-car effort chasing a victory that has eluded him.
The whirlwind week closed with a sold-out Sunday race in which Team Penske driver Will Power finished second, but Penske’s engine is still running at full throttle. Penske was in Detroit by Tuesday to oversee the return of downtown street racing for the first time in 32 years - a three-day festival for a reenergized city as Penske’s gift to his adopted hometown. There was zero time to bask in his press clippings. As any avid race fan would do.īlaney’s victory gave Penske a resume builder that somehow had evaded his illustrious career: Team Penske swept the two Memorial Day weekend races in the U.S.
He watched on his cellphone as Ryan Blaney won the Coca-Cola 600 on a Monday, streaming the rain-delayed NASCAR race during the Indy 500 banquet. LE MANS, France (AP) - Roger Penske won the Indianapolis 500 on a Sunday and celebrated Josef Newgarden’s thrilling win as if it was the first for Team Penske, not a record-stretching 19th for The Captain.
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