Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 16, 1991 TAG: 9102160122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB ZELLER SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. LENGTH: Long
A downpour had chased everyone under cover, and amid the mechanics, publicists, reporters and hangers on milling about under the metal roof of the garage, the impeccably dressed Penske stood out, his arms folded across his chest.
He was dressed in black, except for the white collar of the shirt sticking above his sweater and the white cap covering the silver hair on his head. Black is the primary color of Rusty Wallace's Miller Genuine Draft Pontiac, of which Penske is the primary owner.
A crewman showed Penske where he planned to put the decal. Penske nodded his assent.
"The guys in the shop, we talked about placing the decal and felt that the troops in the Mideast are committed to try to bring peace," Penske said. "And we'd like to be part of it because we just think it's the proper thing to do."
That last sentence might also apply to Penske's reentry into stock car racing, although the reasoning behind his return to NASCAR is purely economics.
"We're using this as a business venture for us," said Penske, whose companies generate more than $2 billion a year in revenues. "It helps us in our truck leasing and our Detroit diesel engine business.
"One of our strongest markets is the Southeast for our truck leasing business. We probably have 15,000 trucks running in the NASCAR market area. I love to see the truckers come in the plant in Detroit and say, `We can't wait to see you run on the NASCAR circuit.'
"And we use it as a customer entertainment medium. Racing has been a common thread throughout our businesses for years."
Penske, 54, had a NASCAR team from 1972 through 1977. With Bobby and Donnie Allison, Dave Marcis, Mark Donohue, Gary Bettenhausen and George Follmer as drivers, the Penske cars won five races. And he entered a car in two 1980 races, with Wallace as his driver.
But Penske's primary racing effort has been with Indy cars. His teams have seven Indianapolis 500 victories - a record - and eight Indy car national championships.
Although the names Penske and Chevrolet are nearly synonymous at Indianapolis, his new stock car is a Pontiac.
"That was Rusty's call," Penske said. "Rusty had had a long relationship with Pontiac and won a championship with them. It's under the General Motors banner.
"It's kind of ironic. I drove for Ray Nichols in a Pontiac stock car. I just drove some road races - didn't really run a lot - but it's been a long time since I raced."
Penske's brief stock car career was in the early 1960s, primarily on the USAC circuit, although he competed in some NASCAR road races as well.
Penske's re-entry into NASCAR is joint effort with Wallace and longtime Penske friend and associate Don Miller.
One day in the 1970s, Miller agreed to help the Penske team on pit road at Talladega, Ala..
"I asked Don, `Can you help me handle just the [gas] catch can?' " Penske said. "That day, Grant Adcox came in and spun and cut Don's leg off. He had a real tough time for quite awhile, then took over our Penske Products show car programs and merchandise."
Last year, when Miller and Wallace, who are friends, came to Penske about forming a NASCAR team, he agreed.
"What I've been most impressed with is the two guys themselves have spent 20 hours a day at the shop pulling the thing together," Penske said. "I didn't know the extent of the knowledge Rusty has of the vehicle. He could probably rebuild a car by himself.
"We're bringing in guys from all different disciplines. They've worked for different teams. Some are new. Some have come from our operation in Reading [Pa.].
"The first order of business was to build some race cars. We've been able to do that. We have five cars done. And we had to build a shop [in Mooresville, N.C.] in 4 1/2 months."
Some have wondered whether Wallace's high-strung temperament will clash with Penske's serious, disciplined demeanor.
"They must be talking about a different Rusty Wallace than the one I'm dealing with," Penske said. "He's more focused as a race driver than almost anyone I've ever had. He wants things done detailed. He's concerned about the way the tiles are going down in the shop, how the the car looks. As far as I'm concerned, he's exactly the kind of guy I'd want to be hooked up with."
Although Penske's primary racing program is still his Indy car effort, he said he hopes to come to as many NASCAR races as his schedule will allow. Penske wants Wallace and the Miller crew, headed by Jimmy Makar, to be in the hunt this year, but he is not expecting miracles.
"One has to realize that when you put a new team together, the first ingredient is to have a good quarterback, and we certainly have that in Rusty," Penske said. "The thing I want to accomplish in 1991 is to start to build a team.
"A lot of these fellows, you know, have been here a long time. You just don't walk in here and expect to do anything that's outstanding. We want to be able to run competitively, but we didn't come down here with any grandiose ideas.
"But we're not in this just for one season. We're in it for a long period of time. We wouldn't have made the investment in the shop and the equipment if we didn't feel that way."
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB