Penske hoping for elusive Cup win at Brickyard

By foxsports
Published

DETROIT (AP) For Roger Penske, this weekend offers something of a rarity - a chance to accomplish something he's never done before.

Penske has never won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Brickyard, in stark contrast to his 16 Indy 500 victories.

''We've been close - been second a number of times - but never was able to get across the stripe at Indy with NASCAR,'' Penske said. ''We did it in Nationwide. Winning the Indy 500 there this year and also the Daytona, this would be a real Triple Crown for us.''

With the Brickyard 400 coming up Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Penske was in downtown Detroit on Thursday night for a ceremony as one of the inductees to the Automotive Hall of Fame. Also inducted were former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, Tata Sons founder Ratan Tata, and Elwood Haynes, co-founder of the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company.

It's been another eventful year for Penske, the winning owner at the Indy 500 with driver Juan Pablo Montoya and the Daytona 500 with Joey Logano. Montoya leads the IndyCar standings by 42 points.

Maybe this will be the weekend Penske breaks through with a Cup victory at the Brickyard.

''Rusty Wallace had a couple times that he was close. The competition is so tough there,'' Penske said. ''Now with the new rules package coming up this weekend, we're not sure what's going to happen. Is it going to be horsepower? Is it going to be handling? Is it going to be aerodynamics?''

NASCAR will try a package with higher drag this weekend in an effort to improve passing opportunities at Indianapolis, and the package at Michigan next month will be similar. A track-specific package used in the July 11 race at Kentucky went over well, and a similar package will be used at Darlington.

Penske indicated he'd be supportive of track-specific packages in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

''I think that the low-drag package that we had at Kentucky, I think will make better racing. All the drivers say that it puts the driver back in the car,'' Penske said. ''Unfortunately, we've got rules today that have really gotten to a point where anybody can drive the car. Well, we need to put the driver back in the car, and I think we're going to see some great racing.''

Penske has been a major force behind Detroit's IndyCar races at Belle Isle. Bad weather put a damper on this year's weekend doubleheader in May, but Penske is optimistic about the event's future.

''The corporate support that we've had in this city for the races has been outstanding. I think it's going to be something that we look forward to every year. It continues to build,'' he said. ''This is an event for the city, and we're just so happy to be part of it.''