Team Penske

Team Penske: One of the Oldest and Most Successful Teams

Team Penske is one of the oldest and most successful teams in American motorsport. With victories in NASCAR and the American Le Mans Series, the team is most successful in IndyCars. Founded in 1965, Roger Penske's team first entered an IndyCar race in 1968 and quickly reached the top of the podium. In 1969, they made their debut at the Indy 500, and in 1972 they won with Mark Donohue, marking the first of a record 15 Indy 500 victories. After a few years in F1, Penske was one of the founders of CART in 1978 as an alternative to the USAC-led Indy Car series. In the 1980s and 90s, the team was a dominant force in the series with numerous championship titles.

CART Championships, IRL Championships, and Indy 500 Wins

During the split in 1996, the team remained loyal to CART but struggled to keep up with the dominant teams until they won the championship again in 2000 and 2001. After winning the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 in the rival IRL, Penske returned full-time in 2002 to what was then known as the Indy Racing League and won with Gil de Ferran in 2003 for the third consecutive time at the Indianapolis 500. In 2006, the team won the Indy 500 and the championship with Sam Hornish Jr., and they finished second in 2008, 2010, and 2011. From 1977 to 2011, Team Penske won 12 championships in USAC, CART, and IRL, with a total of 159 wins, 65 of which were from pole position.

Power and Castroneves as Consistent Forces

In 2012, the team ran with Will Power, Helio Castroneves, and Ryan Briscoe in the new Chevrolet/Dallara combination. In 2013, A.J. Allmendinger joined part-time as a replacement for Briscoe. Hélio Castroneves led the standings for much of that season but ultimately lost to Ganassi driver Scott Dixon. In 2014, Juan Pablo Montoya returned to IndyCar after seven years as a full-time NASCAR Cup driver and won the Pocono IndyCar 500 that year. Most importantly for Penske, Will Power finally won his IndyCar title after narrowly missing out in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Expansion with a Fourth Car in 2015

After narrowly missing the title again in 2015, Penske aimed for success in 2016 with Montoya, Castroneves, Power, and Simon Pagenaud. The season was a great success, with Pagenaud convincingly winning his first IndyCar title. In 2017, Josef Newgarden joined the team and surprised everyone by winning the championship in his first year as a Team Penske driver. In 2018, the team consisted of Newgarden, Power, and Pagenaud, with Power’s victory at the Indianapolis 500 being the highlight. Castroneves and Montoya raced full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, and Castroneves also competed in the INDYCAR Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 in 2018.

2022: Scaling Back to Three Cars

In 2022, Penske fielded three full-time cars after running four cars the previous year. Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, and Will Power continued to drive for Penske, while Simon Pagenaud left for Meyer Shank Racing. Penske decided to race with three full-time cars in 2022. The team also fielded three cars in 2023 with the same lineup as the previous year. While Power won the title in 2022, 2023 marked the first season since 2006 in which he did not score a win. Scott McLaughlin surprisingly became the highest-ranked Penske driver in the championship, but he was outperformed by Ganassi's Alex Palou and Scott Dixon.

2024 & 2025: Declining performance and Disqualifications

The 2024 season was supposed to be the year when Penske could once again fight for the championship, but the season opener started on the wrong foot with disqualifications for Newgarden and McLaughlin. What followed was an inconsistent season in which the Penske drivers collided with each other multiple times, costing the team valuable points. As a result, a third-place finish for McLaughlin in the championship was the highest the team could achieve.

A year later, things went even worse for Team Penske. For much of the season, the team struggled with a lack of speed in its cars. During the Indy 500, the situation hit rock bottom when Penske’s entries were found to be illegal during qualifying. In response, Roger Penske took drastic action, dismissing president Tim Cindric, IndyCar director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer. To make matters worse, none of the team’s cars finished that year’s Indy 500.

Only towards the end of the season did the team begin to recover, scoring two late victories courtesy of Power and Newgarden. Still, a ninth-place finish in the championship for Will Power as the team’s top driver was far below Penske standards.

After the 2025 season, Power was not offered a contract extension and was replaced by David Malukas, who had been under Penske contract while placed at AJ Foyt Racing in 2025.