THE DRIVING FORCE; CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY MAKES PENSKE A LEGEND'S LEGEND.Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer The mind of motor sports icon Roger Penske Roger Penske (born February 20, 1937 in Shaker Heights, Ohio) is the owner of a very successful automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. must look something like the garage of one his highly successful racing teams. Engineers and mechanics in clean, snappy uniforms, the latest in technology at their finger tips Finger Tips is a television programme by The Foundation for CITV, first broadcast in 2000. Presented by Stephen Mulhern and Fearne Cotton (later replaced by Naomi Wilkinson). The show is about creating models out of household items and aimed at a child audience. , huddle to plan strategy to keep Penske's enterprises running a couple laps up on the competition. All is spotless. Tools not in use are neatly put away. Refuse goes to the trash bin without ever hitting the floor. There's not a stray splash of oil anywhere. And the cerebral activity rarely slows and never stops. ``I really think the key things with Roger are effort and organization,'' said Rick Mears Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas) is an American race car driver. He is the third of three men to have won the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991), and the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1979, , who won four Indianapolis 500 races while driving for Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, ALMS, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske. . ``He's always after it. One of his sayings is, `Effort equals results,' and that's true.'' The result of the 60-year-old Penske's latest effort is the California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. in Fontana, a $110 million racing venue which opens this week with the running of NASCAR's Winston Cup stock car racers on Sunday. More than 80,000 fans are expected. When the doors open Thursday for practice, the track will take its place as the crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover in a Penske empire that grew from a childhood paper route into a corporation that chalked up $6 billion in sales in 1996. Penske's holdings are impressive: a diesel engine company, truck leasing enterprises throughout North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , seven Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, auto dealerships, 800 auto service centers, three speedways and two racing teams, including the most successful team in the history of Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) history. But more impressive than the achievements, say those who know him, is the man himself. ``I admire Roger very much,'' said Bob Russo, a former Penske employee and noted auto racing historian. ``He's a self-made man self-made man n → hombre que ha triunfado por su propio esfuerzo self-made man n → self-made man m self-made man n → .'' Penske was driven to succeed even as a child. He won many awards as a paperboy delivering the Cleveland News in his native Shaker Heights, Ohio Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 29,405. It is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland that abuts the city on its eastern side. . And he used the money made delivering papers to buy his first car, an MG. Over his teen-age years, he bought and sold a variety of cars, restoring and repairing each and selling it for more than he paid. He finally wound up with a Corvette corvette, small warship, classed between a frigate and a sloop-of-war. Corvettes usually were flush-decked and carried fewer than 28 guns. They were widely employed in escorting convoys and attacking merchant ships during the great naval wars of the late 18th and . And when he got his 'Vette, he went racing. He loved it. ``Basically, I've always been a racer,'' Penske said. ``I love to win.'' Penske built his race career even while earning a business degree at Lehigh University Lehigh University, at Bethlehem, Pa.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1866 by Asa Packer. It has undergraduate colleges of arts and science, business and economics, and engineering and applied science, as well as several graduate programs. . And by the time he had reached his mid-twenties, he was one of the best. ``Roger was an excellent driver,'' said racing great Dan Gurney Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is one of the most important figures in the history of American auto racing. The son of a Metropolitan Opera star,[1] he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager. , now also a CART team owner. ``He did a lot of winning.'' Indeed, Penske won 53 of the 155 sports car and open-wheel races he entered as a driver. His personal highlight is winning a 500-mile race at Riverside International Raceway in 1962, beating racing legends Gurney gurney /gur·ney/ (gur´ne) a wheeled cot used in hospitals. gur·ney n. pl. gur·neys A metal stretcher with wheeled legs, used for transporting patients. and Parnelli Jones. ``That was a pretty exciting day,'' Penske said. By 1964, though, Penske was rethinking his future. He was 27 years old, had business aspirations and a family. And he didn't feel he could devote himself to each and still race. So he bought a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia and retired. It wasn't easy. As Penske was contemplating his future, one of the leading Indy car teams offered him a chance to drive. ``Roger passed on the opportunity,'' said Penske aid Dan Lugenbuhl. ``The team's second choice was Mario Andretti. That kind of speaks to the regard people in the business had for Roger's driving ability.'' Even though he had retired from racing, Penske still had the competitive itch. And in 1969, with his dealership on its feet, he started a racing team. In the years since, he has been a pioneer in the country's fastest-growing sport. ``I think he has done more for racing over the past 20 or 25 years than any other one individual I can think of,'' said Russo, who was public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most coordinator for Penske's Danny Sullivan team in 1985 and 1986. ``He's introduced new ways of doing things.'' Penske has been a technological innovator. A company he owns in England builds the chassis he uses for his CART teams, driven by Al Unser Jr. and Paul Tracy. But his greatest contributions to auto racing have come from his leadership in improving the image of the sport and his heavy recruitment of corporate sponsors. ``He's always been very conscious of his image and the image of his equipment and the image of his people,'' Gurney said. Gurney said that from Penske's earliest involvement in racing, his garage was always spotless, his crew in team uniforms and the cars and trucks polished. ``I think he realized that when people see that, they see pride in an organization,'' Gurney said. Mears, who was driving for another team at the time, remembers walking by Penske's garage at Indianapolis in the early 1980s. ``Everything was neat and clean, everything was put away. Everything was painted the same color,'' Mears recalls. ``Then I went in my garage,'' he said. ``There were things laying on the floor, nothing was painted the same. I thought, `When they bring the sponsors over here, I hope they don't go by Roger's garage first. If they do, they'll want to sponsor him, not us.' '' The key to winning sponsorship, Penske said, is giving the company its money's worth, making it feel it is an important part of the effort. Nowadays, teams regularly bring sponsors to the races, taking them to the pits and garage, introducing them to the driver - and then making the driver and the team available to them for advertising. Penske was the first. The Penske team has achieved unprecedented success racing. Its Indy car teams have earned an all-time best 99 victories, won 10 Indy 500s and seven CART season championships. Tracy is the current CART season points leader despite having missed the June 8 Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Grand Prix may refer to:
Mears said it makes him angry when opponents grouse grouse, common name for a game bird of the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 18 species. Grouse are henlike terrestrial birds, protectively plumaged in shades of red, brown, and gray. that they could win like Penske, too, if they had his money. ``There were a lot of years when Roger didn't have the money the other teams did,'' Mears said. ``He still won. It doesn't take just money. It takes effort and organization and that's Roger - effort and organization.'' Jim Williams, chairman of Golden State Foods - a supplier of food products for McDonald's restaurants - said Penske shares traits with other highly successful people he knows. ``I've been involved with several guys like Roger and the (former McDonald's chief) Ray Krocs of the world,'' Williams said. ``There's a common thread with those guys and it is consistency and taking care of the basics.'' Despite his record of success, Penske has had his failures. ``Roger has stubbed his toe a few times,'' Williams said. His first marriage ended in divorce. (He and second wife Kathryn will celebrate their 24th anniversary in August.) And there was a car dealership in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of that didn't survive. But Williams said Penske doesn't let adversity get him down. ``He learns from his mistakes and doesn't spend a lot of time looking back,'' Williams said. ``Everything points toward the future.'' Despite his reputation as a workhorse, Penske finds time to keep fit and enjoy life, Williams said. ``He doesn't smoke and drinks very little,'' Williams said. ``He knows how to laugh. When he comes out here (to Southern California), we'll play golf or go to a Ducks game or something.'' But Penske's greatest joy is racing. And when the Marlboro Penske team is racing, Penske is there, a working member of Al Unser Jr.'s team, with rare exceptions. ``I guess over the last 30 years, I've probably missed about three races,'' Penske said. Number four will come Sunday, when Penske oversees his new track's first big race while Unser and Tracy are racing in the Budweiser/G.I. Joe 200 in Portland, Ore. Somehow, Penske finds time amid the racing to run his constantly growing empire. And he runs each of his enterprises with much the same attitude he has about racing. ``In racing, no one tells you how to go faster, you have to do it yourself,'' Penske said. ``It's the same way in business. That keeps me motivated.'' Meanwhile, the rest of the world is trying to keep up. ``Roger has been an overachiever o·ver·a·chieve intr.v. o·ver·a·chieved, o·ver·a·chiev·ing, o·ver·a·chieves To perform better or achieve more success than expected. o ever since I've known him,'' said Gurney, who now competes against Penske on the CART circuit with his All-American Racers team. ``I am continually amazed that a guy who used to be a fellow racer has become a corporate giant.'' CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY Address: 9300 Cherry Ave., Fontana Cost:$110 million Owner: Penske Motorsports Inc. Inaugural event schedule: Thursday: 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Winston Cup, NASCAR Winston West, IROC IROC International Race Of Champions IROC Independent Rental Owners Council IROC Independent Rental Owners Committee IROC Instantaneous Rate of Change IROC Integrated Repair Operations Center (Sprint) IROC Intrusion-Resistant Optical Cable practice. Friday: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Winston Cup, Winston West practice and qualifying, IROC practice. Saturday: 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Winston Cup qualifying and practice; Noon Auto Club 200 NASCAR Winston West race; 3-4 p.m. Winston Cup practice; 5 p.m. Pontiac-True Value IROC race. Sunday: 11 a.m. Winston Cup California 500. ROGER PENSKE Age: 60 Family: Wife Kathryn; children Roger Jr., Greg, Mark, Jay, Blair. Residence: Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Principle holdings: Detroit Diesel Corporation (2,500 authorized dealers), Penske Truck Leasing Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P., headquartered in Reading, Pa., is a joint venture of Penske Corporation and General Electric. A global transportation services provider, Penske operates over 216,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South (600 locations, 100,000 trucks), Penske Automotive Group Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG), headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is the worlds second largest automotive dealership. Previously called UnitedAuto Group, (seven car dealers, 40,000 cars sold annually), Penske Auto Centers, Inc. (auto service centers at 800 Kmarts), Penske Motorsports, Inc. (CART and NASCAR racing teams, speedways in Fontana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania and part interest in North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. Motor Speedway). Corporate income:$6 billion in 1996 CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, 2 Boxes Photo: (1--color) Les Richter, left, Roger Penske, center, and Greg Penske sit on a wall in the house that Roger built - California Speedway in Fontana. John Lazar / Special to the Daily News (2) no caption (Roger Penske) Box: (1) California Speedway (see text) (2) Roger Penske (see text) |
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