Season Preview: Penske Racing

Roger Penske has undoubtedly assembled one of the greatest and most consistent racing organizations in NASCAR in what has become known as the “modern era”, despite not having yet won himself a Cup Series championship. Originally formed back in 1972 on an interim part-time basis, Penske didn’t go full-time until 1976 with Bobby Allison, but soon exited the sport after running only 2 races in 1980 with Rusty Wallace behind the wheel.

Penske Racing returned to the Cup Series in 1991 with Rusty again driving for the team, this team with the #2 Miller Genuine Draft car. Rusty would remain with the team until he retired in 2005, collecting a total of 37 wins for Penske and nearly winning them the Cup Series title in 1993, finishing only 80 points shy of the eventual champion Dale Earnhardt. Rusty’s success for Roger Penske in the 90’s not only established the team as a dominant force to be reckoned with in the NASCAR garage, but has also established what appears to be a permanent sponsor for them as well, as the #2 car has never had a primary sponsor under Penske’s control other than a Miller Brewing Co product.

Despite Penske not bringing the #12 car into play until 1997 and the #77 team having only two full-time seasons under their belt (2004 & 2005), the organization has proven their consistency by the sheer fact that the only two years in which they’ve failed to produce a top ten points team were 1992 (they had only one team; Rusty finished 13th that season) and 2006 (Penske had 2 teams; finished 16th & 18th). They’ve also never had a full-time team finish outside of the top 35 in owner points.

After a very successful campaign in 2005 in which Penske saw both Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman finish inside the top ten in points after qualifying for that year’s Chase field, things suddenly took a turn for the worse. Rusty retired at the end of the year and was replaced by another former champion, Kurt Busch. Not only was Kurt’s debut season with Penske not a success – recording only one win and finishing 16th in points, the worst finish in his career other than his rookie campaign in 2001 – but, teammate Ryan Newman finished with a career-worst finish of 18th in points. After 2007 started off much the same way that ’06 ended, many people were really starting to give up on the Penske organization. Then, a miracle occurred that resurrected the #2 team when they signed Pat Tryson has the new Crew Chief for Pat Tryson. Not only did this move get Busch back into victory lane twice, but it also got him back into the “Chase” field as he went onto finish the year 7th in points while Newman came in a respectable 13th. The teams’ spirits have been lifted, and hopes are high as we head into 2008. This team should be well on their way back down the road of success and should possibly be competing for championships once again.

Cup Series Roster:

#2: Kurt Busch – As previously mentioned, Busch has received a much-needed boost with the addition of Pat Tryson to his team. Tryson is credited with much of the success accrued in the career of Mark Martin during his time with Roush Racing, and many people feel he will do the same for Busch … including me. The 2004 Cup Champion struggled during his first year and a half with the Penske group, but went on an absolute tear heading into the Chase last season after adding Tryson to the mix. Many people are picking Busch as an early favorite to not only make the Chase field again this year, but to seriously compete for – if not win – the Sprint Cup title. I will stick with the prediction I made at the beginning of January and call Kurt Busch for a third place finish in the championship run.

#12: Ryan Newman – “Flyin” Ryan busted into the Cup Series in 2002 – narrowly winning the Rookie of the Year race over Jimmie Johnson – and, went onto win 12 races and 34 pole awards in his first four seasons in the series. Since losing Matt Borland as his crew chief, however, Newman has won only 7 pole awards and has failed to score a single victory over the past 2 years. What’s worse is that Newman’s worst points finish in his first four years was 7th in 2004, but has finished 18th and 13th in ’06 and ’07. Newman’s 13th place finish last year was at first a surprise considering he was only in 18th a third of the way into the season. Then, it became disappointment as he bounced back-and-forth between 13th and 14th for the remainder of the season, unable to climb a spot higher into the Chase brackets. With a new Crew Chief once again this year, he will need Roy McCauley to step up in ’08 if he wants to leave the horrors and pressure from the past two seasons in the past and reclaim his spot amongst NASCAR’s top stars.

#77: Sam Hornish Jr – Penske has brought the #77 back from the graveyard specifically to Sam Hornish a ride in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. As if that weren’t enough, Penske has also taken Kurt Busch’s owner points from last season and transferred them over to #77 for 2008. So, needless to say, there’s a lot of pressure sitting on the shoulders of the three-time Indy Car Series Champion to perform well and keep the car inside the top 35 in points. While nobody’s expecting him to compete for a spot in the 2008 Chase field, though, the real points race for this driver is going to be for Rookie of the Year honors as he battles against 3 other former open wheel stars that will also be making their NASCAR debuts this year. Hornish ran the final two races of the season in ’07, finishing 30th and 37th. He should have a better feel for the handling of these stock cars this year, though, and should make a solid effort to remain in the top 35.

Driver Roster: B+
Off-Season: B-
2008 Outlook: B+