Roger Penske never made it big as a race-car driver. As a businessman, however, he regularly leaves the competition in the dust.
Referred to in racing circles as “The Captain,” Penske is the most successful team owner in Indy car-racing history, and his automotive empire includes hundreds of car dealership franchises, a truck-leasing business and a successful NASCAR team.
Now, the 72-year-old Penske is taking on perhaps the biggest challenge of his career: turning around the Saturn passenger car brand after reaching a tentative agreement to buy it from General Motors. Given Penske’s competitive streak and record of success, people who have worked with him and raced against him expect he’ll pull it off.
“If anybody can do it, he can do it,” said former NASCAR champion and Penske driver Rusty Wallace. “More seamlessly than anybody. That guy doesn’t do anything unless he’s already got the team in place.”
Rival racing team owner Chip Ganassi voiced strong support for Penske’s latest project.
“It’s very refreshing to know the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive in this country,” Ganassi said. “We need more entrepreneurs and less bureaucracy. Roger has a way of cutting to the chase, and that’s what the car industry needs right now.”
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage says having a strong, respected private businessman such as Penske running Saturn — instead of the federal government — should greatly increase the company’s chances.
Gossage has known Penske 25 years. And in all that time, he can’t recall them ever sharing a laugh together.
“You don’t joke with him,” Gossage said. “It’s all business, no small talk.”
Gossage says Penske has a reputation as a hands-on manager, despite the wide scope of his business interests. And he expects Penske to take the same approach with Saturn.
“Even though it’s a big company, his personal touch will be felt from top to bottom,” Gossage said.
In addition to his racing success — Penske’s racing team has won the Indianapolis 500 a record 15 times since 1972, including Helio Castroneves’ victory last month — Penske has quietly become a major power broker in the U.S. auto industry.
Penske Automotive owns the second-largest U.S. automobile retail chain by sales and consistently scores high in customer satisfaction surveys. The company distributes Daimler AG’s Smart subcompact car line and has several other auto-related business interests.
In an interview with The Associated Press before the May 31 Indy 500 race at the Milwaukee Mile racetrack, Penske politely declined to answer questions about the state of the auto industry or his then-rumored interest in Saturn. But he was more than happy to talk about his racing team’s recent success.
