Newgarden passes McLaughlin in final turn to steal Texas win
Roger Penske met Josef Newgarden in victory lane with six crisp hundred dollar bills to gift the race winner. Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated. It was the 600th overall victory for Roger Penske across all of his platforms.
news.yahoo.comDaytona champ Cindric takes pole in wild session at Fontana
Austin Cindric followed up his Daytona 500 victory by earning his first career pole in the NASCAR Cup series Saturday at Auto Club Speedway during a tumultuous debut for the new practice and qualifying format at intermediate tracks. Cindric posted the fastest average lap speed in his Team Penske Ford at 174.647 mph, holding off Erik Jones (174.157 mph) and capping an eventful morning for NASCAR’s first practice and qualifying session on a 2-mile oval with its Next Gen cars. “There’s so much learning going on, and obviously it’s all happening really fast,” said the 23-year-old Cindric, who earned his first career Cup victory at Daytona.
news.yahoo.comNewgarden snaps streak on 50th anniversary of 1st Penske win
Josef Newgarden snapped his streak of late race misfortunes to win for the first time this season, earning the first IndyCar victory of the year for Team Penske on the same weekend the storied organization celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first win.
Roger Penske bullish on large crowd for Indianapolis 500
FILE - Roger Penske looks over the track from the grandstand at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, in this Thursday, July 2, 2020, file photo. There will be fans at this year's Indianapolis 500, Penske said Monday, March 22, 2021, but how many remains a moving target based on pandemic restrictions. (AP Photo/Jenna Fryer, File)A fully vaccinated Roger Penske is hard at work at Indianapolis Motor Speedway preparing for a full season of racing that will include spectators at his showcase event. There will be fans at this year's Indianapolis 500, Penske said Monday, but how many remains a moving target based on COVID-19 restrictions. Penske noted Monday that the positivity rate for COVID-19 for Marion County, where Indianapolis Motor Speedway is located, was 3.1%.
Logano wants peace at Penske following Daytona 500 crash
(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A truce has yet to be called in the Team Penske camp amid friction following the last lap Daytona 500 crash between teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. To me, the biggest heartbreak of this whole thing is that there are 400 people at Team Penske asking where their Daytona 500 bonus is and it’s up in a ball of flames up in turn three.”Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin bristled at Logano's deflection. The Daytona crash belied Roger Penske's edict that his drivers are permitted to race one another hard so long as they don't wreck. That’s a great problem to have.”It remains to be seen how Keselowski chooses to work with Logano going forward. Logano, also a Cup champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 winner, doesn't have the same job security concerns.
Women-led race team gearing up to run in Indianapolis 500
FILE - In this May 12, 2015, file photo, driver Simona de Silvestro, of Switzerland, watches during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. Beth Paretta and Simona de Silvestro will be teaming up to put another woman on the Indianapolis 500 starting grid this May. She wants to send the first female driver to victory lane at the Indianapolis 500 with the support of a predominantly female cast. “It’s that idea if you find something that you love and you work hard at, maybe the result isn’t a race team but there’s somewhere you can fit. Now she's back with a five-time 500 starter, Simona de Silvestro, and some assistance from Team Penske, the most successful team in Indy history.
Denny Hamlin faces tough field for elusive 1st NASCAR title
(AP Photo/Ralph Freso, File)AVONDALE, Ariz. – Denny Hamlin is 0-for-3 in championship chances, his shot at an elusive first NASCAR crown ending just short each time. Hamlin on Sunday will try to close his own career-defining season with the Cup title in NASCAR's season finale at Phoenix Raceway. Chase Elliott last week drove Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports back into the championship race for the first time since 2016. The 24-year-old is statistically enjoying his best Cup season and advanced to the final four after three previous failures. The last two times I’ve raced for championships I’ve had no regrets.”Hamlin turns 40 exactly 10 days after Sunday's title race and has matured greatly the last several seasons.
Newgarden wins IndyCar finale but can't deny Dixon 6th title
Newgarden won the season finale, using a spectacular two-car pass for the lead in a valiant effort to win a second consecutive title. Dixon has won two of the last three championships, a run interrupted last year when Newgarden won his second title. Newgarden tied Dixon with his series-best fourth win of the season but Newgarden was in too large of a hole to catch his rival. It came to a close in front of a sold-out 20,000 spectators, the largest crowd of the season for IndyCar. There was nothing Newgarden could do, even on a day he did everything he had to, to deny Dixon a sixth championship.
IndyCar back in St. Pete seven months later to finish season
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – IndyCar opened the second week of March giddy to finally start its season. The entire industry left St. Pete in March unsure how IndyCar could survive. Yet here IndyCar is, back on the St. Pete streets preparing to crown a champion in Sunday's season finale. Now this cruel 2020 season closes right back at St. Pete, the only street course to survive the schedule disruptions and where it all fell apart in March. Askew missed two races but returned for St. Pete, his final race in another unpopular firing by Arrow McLaren.
Newgarden tightens championship race ahead of IndyCar finale
FILE - In this Friday, July 17, 2020, file photo, Scott Dixon gets ready for qualifying for an IndyCar Series auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Scott Dixon has controlled IndyCar’s title race since the start of this disrupted start-and-stop season. The American has whittled 85 points off of Dixon's lead and turned Sunday's season finale into a championship-deciding event. “It was like 20,000 scenarios -- 1% of the scenarios means we can win the championship,” Newgarden said. “Had I not spun, I think it would have been a different scenario going into the last race,” Dixon said.
McLaughlin makes long journey for overdue IndyCar debut
McLaughlin's pandemic-postponed IndyCar debut at last comes Sunday in the season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida. “I obviously never thought I’d get a chance this year due to the nature of the beast with COVID,” McLaughlin said Thursday before boarding yet another flight, this one headed to his first IndyCar race. It’s something that I’m just going to go in like a sponge, soak everything up, see what comes out of it. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to like the series, I’m going to like the cars, I’m going to like everything.”McLaughlin has accomplished all he can racing touring cars in Australia, where he's won 56 races, including last year's Bathurst 1000, and all those titles. He drives for Roger Penske in Supercars and in 2019 the boss asked McLaughlin if he was interested in driving an Indy car.
AutoNation, other dealer groups optimistic about a recovery after coronavirus devastates sales
"I'm comfortable sitting here today and declaring the automotive recovery is underway," AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said Monday during CNBC's "Squawk Box." AutoNation, the nation's largest new-vehicle retailer, reported a net loss of $232.3 million for the first quarter earlier in the day. Other publicly traded dealer groups such as Penske Automotive, Group 1 Automotive and Asbury Automotive all reported significant declines in earnings but managed to remain in the black. Penske Automotive Chairman and CEO Roger Penske, in a statement on April 25, said he was "optimistic about the remainder of the year." Penske Automotive furloughed approximately 15,000 people, or 57% of its worldwide workforce, and initiated pay cuts for executives.
cnbc.comIndianapolis Motor Speedway sold to businessman Roger Penske
For the fourth time in its 110-year history, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be changing owners. Hulman & Company is selling the race track other assets to Penske Entertainment Corp., owned by businessman Roger Penske. The deal includes the racing circuit, NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Productions. George said he approached Penske at the final race of the season to discuss "stewardship." Some of the improvements Penske mentioned are making the environment more fan-friendly, possibly adding 24-hour races or a Formula 1 race to help the Speedway.
cnbc.comTrump says he'll go to the World Series if it goes to Game 5
Washington President Trump said he will go to the World Series in Washington on Sunday, assuming the Houston Astros survive that long. The Washington Nationals lead the Astros 2-0 in the seven-game series after taking the first two games on the road in Houston. President Trump speaks about attending the World Series as he departs the Oval Office on Thursday, October 24, 2019, in Washington. APThe hometown Nationals are appearing in the franchise's first World Series after dispensing with the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The president welcomed the Astros to the White House in 2018 to celebrate their World Series victory in 2017 when they defeated the New York Yankees to capture their first franchise title.
cbsnews.comMercedes-Benz's tiny car brand bets on China after failing in US
Mercedes-Benz's struggling city car brand is betting a move to China will keep it alive. When it was first brought to the U.S. in 2008 by dealership mogul Roger Penske, the smart car promised tiny, fuel-efficient transportation for young urban Americans. It was tiny: the only model sold in the U.S. had just two seats and very little trunk space. In 2019, Daimler partnered with Chinese automaker Geely to produce electric Smart cars at a factory in China. It will also give Daimler a chance to sell the Smart cars in China, the world's largest car market.
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