Strange coincidence? Mark Donohue died after a warm up crash for the Austrian Grand Prix in 1975. John Watson earned Penske’s first Formula One win at the same track one year later. (Donohue penned in his autobiography, “The Unfair Advantage,” “All race drivers return to the obscurity they came from.” Not true in his case!)

“Penske Racing Team: 40 Years of Excellence takes us on a chronological ride through USRRC, Can-Am, Trans-Am, World Endurance Championship, USAC Indy-Cars, Formula A, F 5000, The Can-Am Turbo Porsche 917, NASCAR, Formula 1, CART, Penske South, the IRL and ends with an Appendix that contains Penske Race Victories and Championships through 2006 as well as an excellent list of references…including some superb internet sites.

Just a few Penske potables that await the reader…

In five seasons of Trans-Am competition, Donohue scored a total of 29 race wins, a record that would stand for 33 years. (Donohue earned his 29 wins in 55 starts, compared to 196 starts for Paul Gentilozzi.)

In 1970 at Road America, Penske introduced a new “out of sequence” pit strategy that helped Donohue snooker the competition and charge to a win. Penske has utilized it many times since in several different series.

You want a “Who’s Who” of race winners from the Penske stables? How about Mark Donohue, George Follmer, Ron Bucknum, John Watson, Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Sneva, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Danny Sullivan, Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr., Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr., Bobby Allison, Rusty Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas…and that’s only through 2006!

301 Wins and Counting! Penske has won 14 Indianapolis 500’s…135 Indy Car, 62 NASCAR Cup, 30 Trans Am, 22 ALMS, 15 Can-Am, 12 USRRC, 9 NASCAR Busch, 6 ARCA, 4 FIA Endurance, 2 USAC Stock, 2 Formula A/F5000, 1 Formula One and 1 FIA/Pro Series races. (Thanks to the September 2008 RACER magazine.)

“Penske Racing Team” rates 4 out of 5 lug nuts.

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