Penske Racing - NASCAR

NASCAR

Running under the banner of Penske Racing South, Penske made its NASCAR debut in 1972 at Riverside International Raceway. Mark Donohue was driving a factory-sponsored red-white-blue American Motors Matador. It was dubbed the "flying brick" by many noting its squarish aerodynamics. The car finished 39th after rear end problems. The team ran part-time for a few years, fielding cars for several drivers including Donohue, Dave Marcis, Donnie Allison, and Bobby Allison. The team went full-time with Bobby Allison in 1976 with a new, more aerodynamic fastback coupe, finishing 4th in the points. In 1980, the team fielded two races for Rusty Wallace, finishing 2nd in his first race at Atlanta. Penske sold his machinery to the Elliott family in 1977 and got out of NASCAR.

The team didn't run for eleven years, returning in 1991 with Wallace at the wheel again, with Rusty moving his Miller beer dollars to the new team. Early in 2008, Roger Penske and Penske Racing won the 2008 Daytona 500 with Ryan Newman, the first time Penske has won a restrictor plate race, winning with a 1–2 finish.

In 2003, Penske switched from fielding Fords to Dodges. By 2011, however, Penske was the only NASCAR team running Dodges full-time as most of the former Dodge teams had either folded or switched to other brands such as Ford or Toyota. Owner Roger Penske announced on March 1, 2012 that the team would return to Ford in 2013.

For the 2013 season Penske Racing South fields the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion for Keselowski and the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Fusion for Joey Logano.