Motor Speedway

Iconic Indianapolis 500 team owner Roger Penske will be saluted Saturday, May 26 during “Legends Day Honoring Roger Penske” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 96th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 27 will mark the 40th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500 victory for Penske. Mark Donohue drove Penske’s Sunoco McLaren to victory in the 56th Indianapolis 500 on May 27, 1972. Penske-owned cars have earned 15 race victories and 16 poles – both records by a wide margin – in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

“The Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have meant so much to me personally as well as our race teams,” Penske said. “I am honored to celebrate the anniversary of our first Indy 500 win with the fans on May 26, and we look forward to an exciting race weekend.”

Penske will participate in a question-and-answer session with fans May 26 on the Coca-Cola Stage in the Pagoda Plaza, followed by a brief autograph session.

Other featured events on “Legends Day Honoring Roger Penske” will include the annual Public Drivers’ Meeting on pit road adjacent to the Tower Terrace grandstand, autograph sessions with the 2012 Indianapolis 500 starting field of 33 drivers and former Indy 500 drivers, and a huge Indianapolis 500 memorabilia show featuring vendors from the United States, Europe and Australia.

Admission to IMS on “Legends Day Honoring Roger Penske” will be $10 for adults, with children 12 and under free when accompanied by an adult.

“It’s fitting to pay tribute to Roger Penske, one of the true icons of the Indianapolis 500, on the 40th anniversary of his first victory at Indianapolis,” said Jeff Belskus, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation president and chief executive officer. “His teams and drivers have set an incredible standard for excellence and professionalism at the Speedway, and Roger has become a landmark figure of the world’s greatest race. This will be a memorable day for fans and everyone who loves the Speedway in May to honor Roger.”

Best known for his multiple Indianapolis 500 victories with Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009), Penske also has scored “500” victories with Donohue (1972), Bobby Unser (1981), Danny Sullivan (1985), Al Unser (1987), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Gil de Ferran (2003) and Sam Hornish Jr. (2006).

Penske Racing holds nearly every record in Indy car racing, with 159 victories, 203 pole positions and 12 national championships.

 

Source: Racer Global Racing News. Fast

No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Team News and Notes
• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge Challenger, will make his sixth start of the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Saturday afternoon in the Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway
• From 2006 to present, Hornish has made a total of 25 Nationwide Series starts. He has scored eight top-15 finishes during that time and has also captured two top-five, five top-10 and eleven top-15 starting positions while competing in a limited NNS schedule over the last five years.
• This weekend marks the sixth outing together for Hornish and crew chief, Chad Walter, who called the shots for the No. 12 Penske Racing Nationwide Series team in the past and helped guide driver Justin Allgaier to top-six championship finishes in each of the last two seasons.
• Hornish heads to Michigan with good momentum after he started seventh and finished 12th in the NNS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 28.
• This will be Hornish’s second NNS race at Michigan International Speedway and his eighth start at this track overall for Hornish, who hails from nearby Defiance, Ohio.
• Alliance Truck Parts, the primary sponsor of the No. 12 car, is also the title sponsor of the NNS race at MIS this weekend
• Hornish’s Dodge Challenger will carry one of the in-car cameras featured during the ABC-TV race broadcast on Saturday, which begins at 3:30 pm ET.

Sam Hornish Jr.’s comments on this weekend’s Alliance Truck Parts 250

“I am very excited to be racing this weekend at Michigan in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge. Living in nearby Defiance, Ohio, I consider Michigan my home track so it’s nice to be able to come home for a few days and have family and friends come out to the race as well. Another reason to be excited is that Alliance Truck Parts is sponsoring the race this weekend so I feel even more privileged to be sporting their black and yellow colors. It’s always great to get back together with the No. 12 crew as well. I feel like each week together, we keep improving so I can’t wait to see how the weekend turns out.”

Crew Chief Chad Walter’s comments on this weekend’s Alliance Truck Parts 250

“The No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts crew has been looking forward to Michigan for a few weeks now. We overcame some obstacles at Charlotte (Motor Speedway) but we are ready to move on and continue to improve. We have a brand new chassis this week, No. 220, that we have been working on in the shop these last few weeks so we’re ready to see how successful it can be. I also couldn’t be happier to represent Alliance Truck Parts for the Alliance Truck Parts 250, hopefully we can give them an extra reason to celebrate by bring home a win.”

[Source: PenskeRacing.com]

BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 20, 2011) – Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch battled to a solid seventh-place finish in today’s Jeff Byrd 500 here at Bristol Motor Speedway.  The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion’s fourth top-10 finish in as many races this season has him in sole possession of the points lead.

“It was a good day for us with our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge,” Busch said after the grueling 500-lap battle had been completed.  “We were in good position early on, riding around in third and could see the leaders.  We pushed our car hard on some of the restarts trying to get up there and lead a lap.  It just didn’t seem we had the mojo to compete.  Those guys were pretty tough today.

“Overall, we had a solid day,” said Busch.  “We couldn’t adjust on the car as the race got past halfway.  That seems to be our struggle.  We had another top 10 which is great.  We’ll take that.  It’s a point-leader type effort.  We just want to get up there and try to win one of these things.  We’ll keep pushing hard.”

Busch started 20th in today’s race and made steady progress toward the front.  He cracked the top 15 on the seventh lap and was up to 10th on Lap 43.  A competition yellow on Lap 50 here today due to the tire situation saw the Steve Addington-led team go with four new Goodyears and Busch fell back to 13th for the restart.

By Lap 87, the “Double Deuce” Dodge was back in the top 10.  He cracked the top five for the first time on Lap 146 and held a top-five position for the next 200 circuits around this .533-mile oval.  The track started rubbering in and Busch had fallen to sixth with 100 laps remaining.

He remained a fixture among the top-10 drivers for the remainder of the race except for a brief period when he overshot his pits on a pit stop (on Lap 430 under the seventh caution period of the race) and fell from sixth to 14th for the restart.  Only 15 laps later, he was back inside the top 10 and continued to gain ground until the final laps of the race.

Although Busch never led a lap here today, he did run as high as second-place on two occasions.  He lined up ninth for the final restart on Lap 464 and clawed his way up to sixth with 15 laps remaining.  A three-car battle for fifth was where the action was on the final two circuits.  Busch was on the high line and trapped behind Paul Menard, while Kevin Harvick made the low lane work to his favor and nipped Busch at the line for the sixth finishing position.

Kyle Busch came home the winner here today, with a 0.946-second victory over runner-up Carl Edwards.  It was his fifth career Cup win here and 20th career victory overall.  Jimmie Johnson finished third, with Matt Kenseth fourth and Menard fifth.  Harvick edged out Kurt Busch for sixth, with Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounding out today’s top-10 finishers.

“We’ve shown some pretty good consistency so far this season and that’s something our Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Team is very proud of,” crew chief Addington offered.  “If we can keep it up, we’re hopeful that the wins will come our way.  It really feels good to come out of Bristol with the points lead, but we realize that we have to get stronger to stay up there running with these guys every week as the season goes on.”

Kurt Busch entered today’s race tied with Tony Stewart for the points lead, but Stewart’s 19th-place finish today saw him fall to third in the standings.  After four races have been placed into the 2011 record books, Kurt Busch leads the standings with 150 points.  Edwards is second with 149 and Stewart is third with 138.  Newman also has 138 and holds down the fourth spot, with Menard in fifth with 136 points.

Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski fought back from going several laps down early here today and brought his Miller Lite “Blue Deuce” Dodge home in the 18th finishing position.  His finish today moved him up to 21st in the points (with 89 points).

The Sprint Cup tour now heads out to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., for next Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 on that 2.0-mile track.  This weekend’s Sprint Cup schedule at Auto Club Speedway gets under way with Friday’s practice from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m.  Coors Light Pole Award qualifying to establish the starting grid for Sunday’s battle is set for Friday at 4:10 p.m. local (live on SPEED-TV).  Saturday’s action begins with morning practice from 11:30 a.m. till 12:15 p.m.  The final “happy hour” practice session is scheduled from 12:50 p.m. till 1:50 p.m. Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (200 laps, 400 miles) has a scheduled 12:00 noon PDT starting time (3:00 p.m. PDT).  FOX-TV and MRN Radio will provide live coverage of all the action.

[Source: penskeracing.com]