Team Penske Tag

DARLINGTON, S.C. – On a night when throwback paint schemes recalled NASCAR’s past in vivid color, and a low-downforce aerodynamic package suggested the future direction of the sport, Carl Edwards overcame early misfortune to win an exhilarating race at the Lady in Black. Grabbing the lead thanks to a blisteringly fast pit stop under the track-record 18th caution of Sunday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Edwards pulled away after a restart with eight laps left and beat polesitter Brad Keselowski to the finish line by .902 seconds toRead More
DARLINGTON, S.C. – With two races left before the start of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Brad Keselowski got the momentum builder he needed with Saturday’s pole-winning effort at Darlington Raceway. “Boy, this feels good,” said Keselowski, who toured the treacherous 1.366-mile Lady in Black in 27.492 seconds (178.874 mph) to edge Kurt Busch for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (7 p.m. ET on NBC). The Coors Light Pole Award was Keselowski’s first of the season, his first at Darlington and the ninthRead More

Posted On September 3, 2015By Frank SantoroskiIn Breaking News, IndyCar

Scott Dixon and the case for greatness

New Zealand’s Scott Dixon make headlines this past weekend by taking home a fourth Verizon IndyCar Series Championship in spectacular come-from-behind fashion. In the wake of this, there is a lot of talk as to Dixon’s legacy as one of the best ever in the sport. I can’t disagree with any of that talk, as I firmly believe that Dixon will indeed be remembered as one of the greats. The problem with that speculation, is that Dixon has a number of good years left, with no signs of slowing downRead More

Posted On August 29, 2015By Frank SantoroskiIn Breaking News, Headline News, IndyCar

IndyCar title fight comes down to Sonoma

As the NFL is gearing up for the season, and NASCAR is ready for its Chase for the Championship, the Verizon Indycar Season is winding down, as planned, before Labor Day. The final race on the schedule, The Go Pro Grand Prix of Sonoma, will take place this weekend, with a season champion being crowned on Sunday afternoon. With any luck, we will have a longer season in 2016 and beyond, but, I’ll write about that on another day. It will undoubtedly be a subdued celebration on Sunday as theRead More
BRISTOL, Tenn. – With Kevin Harvick hounding him mercilessly for 63 laps, Joey Logano kept his No. 22 Team Penske Ford out front after taking the lead on a Lap 438 restart and held on to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Successfully defending last year’s victory at Thunder Valley, Logano won his third race of the season, his second at the .533-mile short track and the 11th of his career. Harvick recovered from two pit road speeding penalties to finish second, a mere .220 secondsRead More
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A week after running out of fuel while leading with three laps left at Pocono, Joey Logano finished off an unprecedented weekend sweep at Watkins Glen International with his first road course victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Pressuring race leader Kevin Harvick over a 30-lap green-flag run to the finish of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Logano made the winning pass through the final two corners at the 2.45-mile road course as Harvick ran out of fuel in Turn 6. Picking up hisRead More
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Penalty? So what? Polesitter Joey Logano shook off a pit road infraction that sent him to the back of the field early in Saturday’s Zippo 200 at The Glen. But by the end of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race, Logano’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford was comfortably at the front of the field. The only other car that was close was the No. 22 of teammate Brad Keselowski, who recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to finish second. “Everything went as planned,” said Logano, whoRead More

Posted On August 7, 2015By Frank SantoroskiIn Breaking News, IndyCar

IndyCar: One-Car team poised to slay the giants

It was back on March 23rd of this year that I wrote the following passage in my pre-season article for Drafting the Circuits. “While Graham Rahal surprised many by having the fastest Honda in pre-season testing, I believe that the team will still struggle in 2015. I could be wrong, the younger Rahal had some quick glimpses of the front of the field in 2014, but not enough for a Championship run.” Now, a little more than four months later, the one statement that rings most true in that paragraphRead More
INDIANAPOLIS—With a relentless charge that forced Ryan Blaney into a mistake on the final lap, Kyle Busch grabbed the lead with a half-lap left at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and took the checkered flag in Saturday’s Lilly Diabetes 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race. Blaney missed his mark in Turn 2 as Busch closed in, and with his momentum broken, the driver of the No. 22 Ford couldn’t stave off Busch’s winning pass on the backstretch. The No. 54 pulled away to win by .421 seconds, as Busch continued his white-hot runRead More
Twice I have asked Juan Pablo Montoya if he had considered a Le Mans run and an attempt at the Triple Crown. First when he rejoined IndyCar with Penske and again at a reception held after his Indy 500 victory in May. Both times he brushed off the suggestion. Bemused that a driver wouldn’t want to take on the greatest challenge in racing and become only the second man in history after Graham Hill to achieve the feat of winning at Indy, Monaco and Le Mans, I even considered startingRead More