1994 Indy 500 winning Penske PC23 driven by Al Unser Jr.Penske in 2005
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937), also known as "the Captain", is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and former professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and other auto racing-related businesses. Penske is the founder and chairman of the Penske Corporation, a holding company for his various businesses. Penske is also a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
Penske was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1937[1] into a devout Episcopalian family. He was heavily involved with his church as a boy, singing in the church's choir and serving in the ministry as an acolyte.[2] His father Jay was a successful corporate executive for a metal fabrication company who encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur.[3] As a teenager he bought older cars, repaired them and sold them at a profit from his family's home outside Cleveland, Ohio.[4]
Sports Illustrated named him SCCA Driver of the Year in 1961.[7] He competed in two Formula One Grands Prix and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963. He never ran the Indianapolis 500: he was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis with the Dean Van Lines team.[8]
Penske continued racing until 1965, when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[9]
Business career
During college, Penske worked at Alcoa as an intern, and joined them as a sales engineer in 1959 after graduating, while also pursuing a career in race-car driving where he met people involved in Chevrolet. In 1963, he left Alcoa to become a manager of a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia, which he bought a year later with a loan from his father.[10] He shifted his focus away from race-car driving to the dealership after the purchase.[10]
In 1969, he founded Penske Truck Leasing in Reading, Pennsylvania by purchasing a truck rental and leasing business with three locations serving eastern Pennsylvania.[11]
Racing teams
Penske Racing debuted in 1966 at the 24 Hours of Daytona.[12] He developed one of the most successful teams in IndyCar Series and NASCAR racing. He is the most successful team owner at the Indianapolis 500 with 20 victories. He is known by his nickname of "The Captain".[13] Penske also served as a race strategist for his IndyCar team, most recently for driver Will Power.[14]
Penske won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with driver Brad Keselowski on November 18, 2012.[15]
On September 16, 2018, driver Brad Keselowski won the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, giving Penske his 500th race victory as an owner across all racing series. Later the same season, Joey Logano would clinch the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning Penske his second championship in the Cup series.[16]
Penske was married to Lisa Stouffer, daughter of Gordon Stouffer,[18] with whom he had two sons, Roger Jr. and Gregory.[19]Gregory is vice chair of the board of Penske Automotive Group and CEO of Penske Motor Group,[20] and Roger Jr. owns several automotive dealerships.[21] Penske was later married to Kathryn Penske (née Hulbert),[18][22] and the couple have three children: Jay, Mark, and Kathryn Blair.[23][24]Jay is the owner of Penske Media Corporation.[25] Roger Penske received a kidney transplant from his son Greg in 2017.[26]
As of October 2023, Penske's estimated net worth is $3.8 billion.[27]
Penske (right) with President Donald Trump (center) and racing driver Joey Logano (left) on the White House south lawn in 2019Penske (left) with President Donald Trump (right) at The White House in 2025
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