He stated that McLaughlin, the Australian Supercars Series three-time champion, would be having a great sophomore year. That was just before McLaughlin won.

Penske hugged McLaughlin as he climbed out of his winning car in Sunday’s IndyCar season opening. The Captain went to victory lane before the race to congratulate Myles rowe, the young Black driver that Penske chose to back as part of its “Race for Equality & Change diversity program.”

Penske was already on pit road in Florida, wearing his black Team Penske vest, starched white shirt, and sleeves, while watching Ernie Francis’ debut at Indy Lights. Before he won the Trans Am race last summer, few people had heard of him.

Penske was present at the race, which happened to be held in Indianapolis. He was able to find Francis’ phone number quickly and cold-called him. Penske wanted a Black driver for the Indianapolis 500. Francis, a Florida native of Haitian heritage, was fast tracked to become the first Black driver since 2002, possibly by next year.

Francis was about to fall asleep before the Trans Am race in Brainerd (Minnesota) when he received a call from a unknown Michigan number.

“A voice says, “Hi Roger Penske,” and I thought that I was dreaming. Francis said that I was shocked and stood up quickly. “Then he repeated it again, and I was like “This is real!” I was freaking out.”

Two weeks later, Francis was flying to Indianapolis in Penske’s motorhome. Penske never had told Francis what he wanted Francis do and he assumed he was being called to discuss Austin Cindric’s upcoming seat in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

He said that he wanted me to be in the Indy 500 by 2023 or 2024. I was like, “Well, if this’s what you want, let’s go.” Francis replied, “Let’s get after that.”

Francis’ debut was a great day for Penske. Myles won the USF2000 opener, McLaughlin got his first win, and Francis made his debut. Remember that Cindric won the Daytona 500 seven days prior to Penske’s 85th Birthday. That’s a helluva week.

Since announcing that he would be purchasing IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2019, Penske has been working tirelessly to improve his legacy. Penske Corp. is an international company that is a leader in truck leasing and automobile dealerships.

He enjoys racing and has won a record 18 Indianapolis 500 victories, three Daytona 500 wins, and 39 championships in all of his racing endeavors. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.

Penske is not satisfied with this.

He spent millions renovating the National Historic Speedway, and will finally host the Indy 500 this May. In 2020, he ran the race with no spectators. COVID-19 restrictions restricted him to 150,000 property properties last year.

He made sure that the Indy 500 continued, largely at his expense. Few doubt that the IndyCar Series would not have survived 2020 or the first year of the pandemic if it wasn’t for Penske’s support and stewardship.

Penske has been able to keep IndyCar in good financial shape despite the financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. IndyCar has 14 broadcast races this season and is currently in the first year a three-year TV contract with NBC Sports. Penske is also chasing a third manufacturer. Next season will see a new engine and 26 full-time drivers, the highest number in a decade, began Sunday’s race.

Penske helped a team of women to win the Indy 500 last year, and Tatiana Calderon from Colombia will be riding with AJ Foyt Racing this year. He is working hard to increase diversity and provide opportunities for minorities in all aspects of IndyCar, and hopefully the Indy 500.

Penske could have slowed down, but it’s hard to tell. Greg Penske, his son, has been very visible in IndyCar as well as NASCAR for the past year. Greg Penske was in St. Pete, not his father who was present at the series’ news conference. However, Penske was the first driver to McLaughlin’s victory lane — the 599th Penske win.

Penske will be attending the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a team owner in June. He also traveled to Sebring to see Felipe Nasr, a new Porsche factory driver, test a sports car. He watched Francis test the car and took his parents to dinner. Penske assured McLaughlin that he was on his way to a breakthrough, and that he didn’t have to worry about last year’s disappointing results.

“It’s not hard to be candid about the highs and lows of being a professional athlete. It’s hard to get a good salary when you’re running 15th. I drive for the largest motorsport team in the globe. McLaughlin said that it was not good for him. “Roger’s pulled me in, and we just kept going.”