The "House Of Penske" Influence Owns Winning To Open 2022 Racing Season

What a great day for the speedway, and a great day to celebrate Roger Penske’s 85th birthday! "So I went back to the speedway this morning to get my painting that I did in the suites overlooking Ruoff Victory Lane," said events artist Bill Patterson.  "I just happened to find myself with my painting in victory Lane and my timing was perfect!" Pictured from Left to Right - Event Artist Bill Patterson, Event Painting of Daytona 500 finish with the Penske Racing's Discount Tire sponsored No, 2 Ford Mustang of Austin Cindric at P1 and the 23XI Racing's McDonald's sponsored No. 23 Toyota Camary of Bubba Wallace in P2, Daytona 500 Winner Austin Cindric. Image Credit: Bill Patterson via META/FB (2022)

The "House Of Penske" Influence Owns Winning To Open 2022 Racing Season

Looking back from the holding of the NASCAR Daytona 500, there have been three races to open the professional 2022 automobile racing season here in North America - IMSA's Rolex 24 Hours Of Daytona followed by the NASCAR non-points paying, attention-getting promotional short-track race one-week before the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum (the original home of the RAMS when they came to Los Angeles), and last weekend's NASCAR Daytona 500. 

Team Penske driver Joey Logano, who started 4th, celebrates, with many donuts at the Start/Finish Line, his hold off win against race start leader Kyle Busch in the 150 lap heat race performed on the "one-of" 1/4 mile temporary track built on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This venue was normally the collage football house of USC, but no matter how NASCAR tried to make this weekend NASCAR's house, the title sponsor had kept the USC front and center - BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum.  Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

All three of these races were won by a Team Penske operation or through efforts started by Team Penske and carried on through the legacy efforts of drivers and engineers familiar with the motor culture path cut by Roger Penske. 

What began this above focus was the occasion of a ZOOM Call - to kick off the first race of the 2022 season at Saint Petersburg, Florida - sponsored by INDYCAR that featured two drivers, one who will race for Team Penske, and the other who performs double-duty this season between IMSA DPi Class sports car racing and INDYCAR for Meyer Shank Racing - Will Power and Helio Castroneves respectively.

Q. I find it interesting with all the activity in auto racing that we've had in 2022, we have seen a lot of influence from the "House Of Penske" ... after all, you have Acura DPi, you and Simon winning the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. We have the NASCAR Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum won by Joey Logano, Team Penske. And then, of course, the Daytona 500 with Austin Cindric … also Team Penske.

What do you think it is with the Penske culture that delivers this kind of success? 

Rolex 24 At Daytona Victory Lane from above - #60: Meyer Shank Racing W/Curb-Agajanian, Acura DPi, DPi Drivers:Simon Pagenaud, Oliver Jarvis, Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves. This car was originally introduced to IMSA prototype racing through an agreement reached by Team Penske with Acura Motorsports on July 11, 2017 and ended its campaign at the end of 2020. Two DPi cars were fielded and then transferred to Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing. It was the second overall victory for Michael Shank’s MSR team, which also won the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona. “I just make it happen,” said Castroneves, who was teamed with Simon Pagenaud (his teammate with Team Penske in IndyCar, and a first-time Rolex 24 winner), Oliver Jarvis and Blomqvist. “I had amazing teammates. What a great, incredible race.” Image Credit: Michael L. Levitt - LAT Images via IMSA (2022)

First, Helio.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, I worked with the organization for over 20 years, and no question they're looking for every small detail and continue to develop in off-season and during the season. It's a great organization and they don't see any limits. They actually -- the same way -- and I believe the INDYCAR started that with kind of like the work attitude translates to the NASCAR world, and probably that's why one of the successes that happened is having that mentality from INDYCAR to the NASCAR world.

Now it's not only that but INDYCAR and NASCAR, IMSA, they all have that kind of mentality, which helps. It helps everyone to stay in the program, understanding what they need to do. It gives you the tools that you need to go there and execute. The results obviously come out later, and it's no question the team that has the most record in a lot of the series, and they'll always be a contender.

Team Penske's Will Power rounds Turn 6 at the 2021 late September season finale at the ACURA Grand Prix Of Long Beach. Power (2021 P9) will be on a three driver team with Josef Newgarden (2021 P2) and fellow Southern hemispherical colonies born, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin (2021 P14). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)

Q. Will, your reflection on Penske culture?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it starts from the top down. You see the way Roger runs his corporation, the business, any business that he's in, and like he always says, it's human capital. It's the people that you invest in. He always has a very good team at the top, and that filters all the way down through the whole organization to really anyone doing anything within the shop.

Great people preparing the cars. You've got great people doing development behind the scenes, and you're expected to win. Roger expects the team to win. That's why last year was so disappointing on the INDYCAR side, because we did win but we didn't win enough, and we weren't competitive enough at Indianapolis.

Certainly went into this last off-season really, really digging deep, and the whole team looked at everything and has done some great development.

Hopefully that translates on to the track. It's a super competitive series and environment right now, so you can never know. But Roger expects all of us on the INDYCAR side to be contending for a championship.

ENDS

The culture that Roger Penske instills has expectations for high standards followed by finding the right people to deliver the deepest understanding of every small detail, from equipment, personnel, and processes that yield planned winning results. 

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is back and bigger than ever as the NTT IndyCar Series opener.

A field of 26 cars — tying a St. Pete GP record set in 2008 and 2012 — will take the green flag Sunday as the race opens the season for the first time.

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETERSBURG START TIMES

TV: Noon ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2022.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 12:30 p.m. ET

DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (180 miles) on a 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course through downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, including a runway of Albert Whitted Airport

PRACTICE: Friday, 3:40 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9 a.m. ET (Peacock Premium), Sunday warmup, 8:45 a.m. ET (Peacock Premium)

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET (Peacock Premium)

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate. One additional set is available to rookie drivers for use in the Friday afternoon practice session. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum single duration of 15 seconds. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 73 degrees with a 3% chance of rain at the green flag.

We will have to wait and see if this "House Of Penske" string of wins can extend itself to the 2022 season opener on the streets and around the salt waters of Saint Petersburg. 

... notes from The EDJE

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UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE

After all that was said and done given the events held by NASCAR in the Wise Power 400 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California and the season opening of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at St. Petersburg, Florida in the Firestone Grand Prix at St, Petersburg, the "House Of Penske" added to their impressive opening to the 2022 professional racing series seasons. After NASCAR's Austin Cindric captured the pole in Fontana and INDYCAR's Scott McLaughlin captured the pole in St. Petersburg, another promising outcome awaited for a total of 5 wins in 3 racing series with no other racing organization other than Team Penske winning a race in these - IMSA DPi/NASCAR/INDYCAR - racing series in all of 2022. 

Firestone Grand Prix of Saint Petersburg Podium celebration - P2 Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou, P1 race winner Team Penske, Scott McLaughlin and P3 Team Penske, Will Power - Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski (2022)

By days end on Sunday, February 27, 2022, a 100% sweep was not in the cards, but all was not lost. While no Team Penske driver was able to score a win in the race held by NASCAR at Auto Club Speedway, Team Penske did go on to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES opener in St. Petersburg with New Zealander Scott McLaughlin registering his first win in the racing series to begin his second year driving the Chevrolet Dallara. 

In the end, the "House Of Penske" won all of the season opening races in the three professional motorsports racing series at the highest levels in North America - IMSA DPi through the legacy of Acura fielded by Meyer Shank Racing driven by Penske legacy drivers Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud | NASCAR in two races where one was a non-points paying race known as the BUSCH Light Clash at the Coliseum won by Team Penske driver Joey Logano followed by a win in the first season points paying race at the Daytona 500 won by Team Penske driver Austin Cindric | NTT INDYCAR in the season opener won by Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin - that's 4 wins in 5 races in all of the top professional racing series (3) here in North America! 

That's what OWNS WINNING looks like.

Viva and congratulations to all in the pursuits of excellence at the "House Of Penske" ! 

ENDS

TAGS: Team Penske Roger Penske, Happy Birthday, ACURA DPi. NASCAR, IMSA, INDYCAR, Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Penske Hall Of Fame, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Simon Pagenaud, MSR Racing, House Of Penske, The EDJE

From Beginning To End, BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum A GoGo Logano Show

Penske Racing's Joey Logano, driving the new Next Gen No. 22 Ford Mustang racing platform, accepts the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum trophy for his win in this unique "one-of" promotional non-points paying race to kick-off the 2022 season on February 6th, 2022. Image Credit: Ralph Garcia (2022)

From Beginning To End, BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum A GoGo Logano Show

It is as if Joey, and Team Penske, were going to own this very special and unique opportunity to showcase both NASCAR and the introduction of the 7th specification racing platform developed for the racing sectioning body termed "Next Gen" from the time the racing team transporters were scheduled to load-in to the trophy presentation at the Peristyle End of the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Pennzoil/Shell logo'd Team Penske transporter kicked the event off in grand style by being the absolute last rig to arrive and signaling to all just who was in town and that the party could now begin with the scheduled 5:00pm Transporter staging process. 

The staging area was one parking lot on the South side of the Banc Of California Stadium (just East of the NASCAR staging and pits), designed for professional soccer competitions during this sport's annual competitive seasons. Mixed in with all of the NASCAR team semi-truck transporters was a group of transporters used to be the equipment travelling squad for concerts headlined by two southern California bands, Glendale's System Of A Down and KORN, having formed in Bakersfield. 

Once all of the team rigs were set, then the pit preparation began and this potential delay would have set all of the teams back in their BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum preparations.

The Transporters were placed side-by-side in the Southeast open parking lot that parallels Martin Luther King Blvd., the teams set their pit operations directly out of the back tail lift gate continuing straight out as the pit crews worked elbow to elbow next to each other.

  

The life of a winning race car driver has many demands placed on their time. It is rare that during an event/race weekend that the curiosity and the joy of discovery is able to have precedence over sponsor receptions and other business gatherings to keep engines running. Joey ... had other ideas. He just wanted to see custom builds that featured very powerful engines.

The Coliseum, besides going through very incredible and professional transformation into a first rate 1/4 mile asphalt racing track ... but the transformation did not end there. Nobody would have guessed this, but on Friday (Feb. 4, 2022), the whole venue became a production set and studio for the promotion of several related products and upcoming events.

Lightning McQueen begins to stretch it out along the back straight-away after leaving Turn 2 at the peristyle end, complete with the Olympic Flame Torch, during his time on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum "one-of" oval race track during a promotional photo shoot for Mattel's Hot Wheels. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

If this were not real life, one might think this posed image of Disney Pixar's Lightning McQueen was actually a computer-generated painted cell from an upcoming presentation of Cars. McQueen is posing not too far from where famed Olympic track athlete, Carl Lewis won four of his nine Olympic gold medals during the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.  Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

NBC Sports was able, with the permission of NASCAR racing series co-broadcasting partner FOX Sports, to film a special Super Bowl advertisement having four of the new Next Gen cars enter the floor of the Coliseum. 

The cars and drivers featured for this advert shoot were No. 9 Chase Elliott - Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | No. 12 Ryan Blaney - Team Penske Ford | No. 23 Bubba Wallace - 23XI Racing Toyota | No. 48 Alex Bowman - Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. 

The shoot had these cars line up behind a pick-up truck painted with a special livery using Cincinnati Bengals black and orange colors featuring a Bengals football helmet graphic on the outside-track right-hand door, and a Los Angeles Rams helmet graphic on the inside-track left-hand door (still surrounded with the Bengals colors livery where the LA Rams used to call home field). 

The pick-up truck led the four cars on a pace lap, then turned them loose for a few laps of exhibition - the very first time the sound of these 670hp NASCAR engines filled the LA Coliseum with the vibrations bouncing off of the empty stadium seats. Everyone at the Coliseum at the time, felt the same as the NBC Producer (assumed) exclaimed, after hopping over the infield wall near the Start/Finish Line, at the end of this shoot, "That was awesome!" which could also be heard bouncing off of the empty stadium seats - pretty cool moment.

  

Finished NBC Promotion >>>

Saturday was a day of testing the new Next Gen platform of this unique racing track and surface (which is scheduled to be torn up and removed the very next week). 

UPDATE - Just One Week Later Feb, 12, 2022 >>>

Before the seriousness of the day, however, where the Next Gen race cars take to the track in a more serious posture - testing and timing - Joey "GoGo" Logano had a very important date for a photo opportunity to promote his last year liveried Generation 6 Hot Wheels car while standing in front of Lightning McQueen placed in a Cars backdrop set in the fan appreciation area, on the grass, just outside of the Peristyle End of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Caption on this captured META/FB posting: Joey Logano - February 5 at 2:53 PM  · "GoGo Logano and Lightning McQueen photo op at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum" - Shell Motorsport - Pennzoil - Team Penske - Disney Pixar

On Saturday (Feb. 5th, 2022), after a series of practice sessions, a timing trial on an each-by-each basis will be run in order to establish the groupings of the Qualifications Heat format race sessions to be run on Sunday before the main heat event of 150 Laps - with a break at 75 Laps to allow for team assessments, adjustment for a final 75 Lap run to a Checkered Flag.

To be clear, Joey didn't capture every important point-of-order in an event that was compressed on the playing surface (some have said that this was like taking a size 14 foot and trying to fit it into a size 6 shoe) but intentionally set to grab the attention of the unindoctrinated through hosting this 43 year annual Daytona based showcase, non-points paying, team and equipment shake-down, tradition known as The Clash at one of the most important media and communications centers in the world, one-week before the 56th NFL Super Bowl - BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum in Los Angeles.

Image Source Credit: Jay Wells via Racing Junk (2015)

This excerpted and edited from Racing Junk -

When NASCAR secured CBS Television as a strategic broadcasting partner in 1979, the agreement included the inaugural Busch Clash which featured the largest purse per mile event in the history of the sport. The winner of the race would take home $50,000 for 50 miles (or 20 laps) of racing.

The clash was the brainchild of Busch Beer brand manager, Monty Roberts, who pronounced Busch the “Official Beer of NASCAR” in 1979 and sponsored car owner Junior Johnson and driver, Cale Yarborough.  Roberts wanted to showcase the competitive aspects of stock car racing, with the Busch brand front and center.

---

The race took just over 15 minutes to complete and Buddy Baker averaged a rocket-like 194.384 mph in the caution-free event, banking a cool $50,000 to the Harry Ranier-owned team out of Charlotte, N.C.

ENDS - (reference here)

So, when this first started, it was thought that, wouldn't it be fun and promotional to hold a race featuring just the drivers and teams that won pole positions during the previous 1978 season. We will schedule a 50 mile (basically a 20 Lap sprint on the banked curves of the 2,5 mile Daytona International Raceway) challenge with a $50,000 purse for the winner at the beginning of the season before the Daytona 500.

The fastest single lap that set the mark during the shake-down practice sessions run as the very first time all teams and drivers could take to this temporary racing surface transforming the football field during the previous month so this 1/4 mile oval motorsports racing event could take place - Chase Elliott 13.455 seconds (66.890 mph) in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Phone image grabbed from FS2 broadcast of the initial practice sessions. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2022)

This beat out the time set later, under cooler conditions, in the each-by each time trials headed by Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Busch turned a lap in 13.745 seconds (65.489 mph) on Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to pace single-car qualifying for Sunday’s Busch Light Clash At The Coliseum. 

The fastest time set throughout the entire event was set by Joey Logano, posted within the 150 Lap race, at 13.336 seconds (67.487 mph) ... Ka-Chow!

Joey Logano as he enters this promotional 150 Lap Next Gen chariot heat race from the Coliseum's famed Peristyle End under the Olympic Flame torch. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

Joey Logano has also set the distinction with this win that all two major racing events sanctioned by operations owned by NASCAR - IMSA Sportscar Championship's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the NASCAR Cup Series Championship's BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum - were won by owners and teams influenced and/or staffed by competitors of INDYCAR Series - a Roger Penske headed enterprise. 

GoGo Logano performs a back straight-away burn-out in front of his team assembled in the infield of this "one-of" quarter mile race track on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to celebrate his win over Kyle Busch in the BUSCH Light Clash At The Coliseum. Image Credit: KK Garcia (2022)

IMSA Sportscar Championship's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona held just the weekend before, GREEN GREEN GREEN on January 29th, 2022, was won by Meyer Shank Racing (the INDYCAR racing team that won last year's INDY500 - Helio Castroneves' 4th title) fielding an Acura originally fielded for competition by Team Penske (2017) and driven by two drivers originally associated with Team Penske - INDY 500 Champions Helio Castroneves (4-titles) and Simon Pagenaud (one title and INDYCAR 2016 Series Champion).

The Team Penske influence owned this NASCAR experiment in attention and introduction to the Next Gen, 7th generation NASCAR racing platform. From the late "The Party Doesn't Start Till We Arrive" horn honk entry into the load-in for staging and pits, to race end combined with Ford visit at Jay Leno's Garage and Mattel's Hot Wheels public relations events along the way - this edition of the BUSCH Clash was a GoGo Logano show all the way. 

Additional Event Images From NASCAR >>>

... notes from The EDJE

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UPDATE >>>

See Restored Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Floor HERE

TAGS: NASCAR, BUSCH Light, The Clash, Los Angeles, Memorial Coliseum, one-of, Shell Motorsport, Pennzoil, Team Penske, Disney Pixar, Lightning McQueen, Jay Leno, Joey Logano, The EDJE