Whale lookie here folks; Tuh-duh! Another Meisterbrau; Err Masterpiece has managed to escape the tenuous grasp of that all conquering nebulous black hole diabolically known here as the NoFenderz WormHole vortex; Hya! As in honouring El Capitano, aka Roger Penske, Thee Captain an his 40th Anniversary of his debutant Indy 500 victory this May, (Mark Donohue - 1972) thought I’d post this long lost classic (story) in the No Fenders archives - especially whilst I’m playing ‘Ketsup in Der ‘Vurld de Motorsporten Ja-Ja! Having just returned from goin’ round ‘N round in the Dessert...
Preface
I vaguely remember copying the following paragraph from the Penske Racing Museum Arizona
“Come celebrate 40 years of winning racing tradition at the Penske Racing Museum
The Penske Racing Museum Penske Racing Museum
Introduction
Faithfully watching Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain, during the weekend of the (2005) Phoenix Scottsdale , AZ
Roger Penske:
“Kurt had a run-in with the Sheriff and we intend to do everything possible to make something positive occur from this unfortunate situation.”
That’s the infamous “Sherriff Joe,” (Arpaio) self-proclaimed “toughest Sherriff in America Scottsdale
(Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2005)
Staying at my brother’s ‘Housianda in Scottsdale
Entering the parking lot, Miguel spotted a brand new red Ferrari F430 parked outside; this must be the place, eh? After snapping what would become the first of many zillion pictures, (80) we sauntered over to view a “Fly-Yellow” 2002 Maserati Spyder parked next to a 2005 Corvette. The “Maser” was listed at a “kOOL $66.5,” marked down to ONLY $59,900.00.
Before entering the museum I had to get my picture ‘Turr-aken in front of the Ferrari F430. As my brother attempted to take my “mug-shot” the building’s automatic glass doors opened and a woman dressed in a smartly looking blue blazer told us: “If you’re going to take a picture of that car... Then you definitely need to come inside and take a picture of the half million Porsche!” As parked in the showroom’s display window sat NOT “Juan but two of Porsche’s latest Supercar, the Carrera Porsche. (Red, silver; with a $OLD sticker on it)
Walking inside I told the woman that we were just going to the museum. She replied: “This is just like the museum except you can BUY these cars...”
Turns out she was the receptionist for the flagship portion of the UAG Arizona (Penske) “Superstore” Auto Mall, the “Used Cars Dept.” We ended up having a pleasant 5-10 minute conversation with her as she sat behind her desk. Standing there while surveying the “Used” cars... She corrected herself by referring to them as “Pre-Owned Cars.” While she was raving about the Bentley they’d just acquired from New York
My brother asked her about if she enjoyed her job and what type of clientele frequent the showroom? The majority of our customers aren’t here to buy a car. They already have several. They’re coming here mostly to buy a “TOY.” Usually the Ferrari buyer’s look likes they “Just fell out of bed.” (Was she referring to mwah? Yeah that’s me, Mr. Ferrari buyer, right? In a frumpy sweatshirt and having let my face grown long...)
I wandered over to a lone black Ferrari 360 Modena, and then took a serious look at the Ford GT. What a FREAKIN’ AWESOME car! (Ford definitely hit a HOME RUN with this magnificent re-incarnation of the original GT 40!) As the aura of the Ford GT made me simply pay ZERO attention to the Aston Martin DB9 behind it... As it’d sound even better when we had to drive in behind a black Ford GT at Indy for the ’06 USGP; Aye Karumba!
Then we meandered around two more “garden-variety” Aston Martin’s, a red Ferrari F355 GTS, and a black Lamborghini Gallardo along with a gaggle of four different Ferrari 360 Modena’s.
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Can you say: Oh What a Feeling! |
Finally we forced ourselves outside to gawk at the purple Bentley Continental GT. What a wild machine... (6.0 liter Twin Turbocharged V-12) Forlornly looking abandoned sat a “Nasty” red 2003 Porsche 911... The Porsche looked menacingly “slammed and ALL business!” And that was before we ever made it to the Racing museum - double SHEISA!!!
Tearing ourselves away from the “Fanta$y Garage,” we walked next door to the museum. Entering from the rear of the 8,000 square foot building, the very first car to greet us was the magnificent Sunoco Special! Marveling at the AWESOME gleaming Sunoco Blue paint, I couldn’t believe that I was staring at the actual 1972 McLaren M16B that Mark Donohue drove to victory at the Indy 500... This was the first of Roger Penske’s (Record) 13 Indianapolis
As Miguel began to take a few pictures of the car, another woman in a blue blazer approached us. You may take photos of all of the cars EXCEPT for the Red & White Marlboro cars. Also NO photos of any Marlboro memorabilia on the walls behind the cars or anywhere in the museum... How come, I asked? Because of the possibility of lawsuits; there are countless amounts of litigation occurring over Tobacco sponsorship; as I exclaimed that I was highly disappointed, since part of the whole reason I had come was to take pictures of the “BAD HABBIT$ carZs.”
She replied that most museums wouldn’t even let you take any pictures... My brother countered by saying “Don’t shoot the Messenger.”
Opposite the Sunoco McLaren sat Rusty Wallace’s 2005 “Last Call” Miller Lite Dodge Charger and ‘Pardenerin’ the Dodge was the 1963 Pontiac Catalina that Roger Penske drove to victory in the Riverside
The center of the museum featured two rows of four racecars divided by the main aisle. Across from the Rusty “BARK at the MOON” Wallace (Stock Car) ‘Bomber sat the Norton Gould liveried 1981 Penske PC-9B, driven by Bobby Unser. (B. Unser’s 3rd Indy 500 victory) alongside is the bright yellow “Pennzoil Special.” The 1984 March 84C was piloted by Rick Mears. (Mears 2nd Indy 500 victory) Next is the first of five BAD HABBITZ (Marlboro) chassis. The 1993 Penske PC-22 which garnered “emmaLOe or ‘EMMO” (Emerson Fittipaldi) his second Indy 500 victory... And at the end of “Winner’s Row-1:” was the second banana yellow charger. The 1988 Penske PC-17 piloted by Rick Mears to his third Indy 500 victory.
The “kOOLest” part about this row of Indy winner’s was that these four race car chassis bodywork were removed and hanging above each racecar respectively. As it’s always amazing to look at how these missiles are packaged so compactly!
Directly across from these four cars is the museum’s main entrance, with receptionist desk and three more chassis facing inwards. The woman who’d earlier “scolded us” asked if we’d like to sign the guest register while offering us brochures. A man decorating a large Christmas tree “chimed-in,” asking: Where are you from and how did you hear about the museum? I replied that I’d seen Mr. Penske being interviewed on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain from this museum. Yes, the receptionist said: He sat right there at the end of the museum in front of the Miller Lite car.
I mentioned how he was talking about his newest driver (Kurt Busch) who’d had a little trouble with Sheriff Joe of Maricopa County
Moving along towards the three racecars beckoning our attention, quite amazing was the stark contrast between the 1974 Penske PC-1 Formula 1 chassis and the 1977 Penske PC-5 Indycar, parked side by side. The F1 chassis utilized much smaller diameter, wider width tyres compared with the Indycar. Mark Donohue & John Watson drove this F1 chassis, as sadly Donohue died from accident injuries incurred while piloting a Penske F1 car in 1974.
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Tom Sneva, ex-school teacher from Spokane , WA , piloted the Norton Spirit PC-5; as Sneva, known as “The Gasman” was a recent co-host of Wind Tunnel, (Robin Miller spins a great yarn about Sneva stealing a school bus when CART traveled to Mexico City in the early 1980’s…) became the first person to qualify above 200mph at Indianapolis
Perched on an engine stand sat the all-conquering Mercedes Benz 500i “Push-Rod” motor. Taking a page from Donohue’s book: The Unfair Advantage, Penske and Mercedes exploited a loophole for Indy “Stock-Block” engines; with the ‘Merc ‘lump producing 1,024bhp, it was the first engine to claim both pole position and victory in its debut race with Al Unser Jr. decimating the field. (1994) The Speedway promptly banned this engine the following year...
Tucked into a cubbyhole against the wall sat a very impressive three racecar grouping. First was the famous “Spin & Win” chassis. Danny Sullivan spun the 1985 March 85C 360 degrees while attempting to pass race leader Mario Andretti. “Sully” recovered undamaged to win the ’85 Indy 500 upon making his second pass on Mario stick…. This fame led to his cameo appearance on Miami
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Pennzoil racecar with Rick Mears helmet |
The 1991 Penske PC-20 piloted by Rick Mears also made history when Mears became only the third driver in history to win four Indy 500’s. An Ilmor-Chevrolet 265A engine accompanied this row of winners, with another left-over Chevy ‘lump (motor) floating about the museum...
The final row of four vehicles was a mixed euphoria, which seems to mirror the current state of open wheel racing. I found myself mesmerized by the beautiful red & white non-Marlboro liveried #68 Dallara IRL chassis. Perhaps it was the side view profile? Or the fact that this car seemed to closely mimic the style of today’s current F1 designs?
Alongside the #68 was the now full Marlboro liveried Dallara also piloted by ‘Hulio Castro-nervous, who drove both Penske Bad Habits cars to consecutive victories in 2001-02.The final race car was the 2003 G-Force driven to victory by Gil de Ferran, garnering Toyota’s first Borg-Warner trophy. What a really “kOOL” sight to see three BAD HABITZ chassis parked together! As I was highly tempted to have Miguel snap an “ILLEGAL” picture of three IRL cars… (Am I LOSING my mind, eh?) Looking absolutely LOST and out of place was the 2003 ‘Chebbie SSR Pace truck at the end of the row. What an absolute WASTE of display space!
Alongside the Sunoco McLaren was the corresponding 1972 Hurst/Olds Cutlass Pace car and a 40% wind tunnel Marlboro Penske Indycar.
Finally walking upstairs, the second floor seemed to lack the luster of downstairs. Situated around a circular hole in the floor sat six wonderful 40% scale wind tunnel replicas of various Indy cars in individual display cases... Along the wall was a small display of trophies, including 2001 F1 Gran Premio Brazilia and 1999 Belgian GP Spa Francorchamps Constructors trophies... (As my sensory-overloaded “64k confuzer” has just figured out that these were the winning Constructors trophies that Ron Dennis accepts on the podium. Ilmor Engineering built the Mercedes Benz F1 engines prior to being “bought-out” by Mercedes)
The far corner featured a triangle shaped room serving as the gift store with various Penske “knick-knacks” for sale, i.e.; T-shirts, Coffee mugs, etc. (Which weirdly NEVER has any attendants in it whenever I visit! As I guess they want you to do your shopping online?)
These trinkets were interspersed between other various memorabilia, with the most interesting item for sale being a single side front speedway wing section autographed by Sam Hornish Jr. & Castroneves for $1,000.00...
Securely tucked against the wall was a mammoth Vanderbilt Cup trophy engraved with 2000-01 Champion Gil de Ferran. (CART Driver’s Champion) Further along the wall was a Honda “ChumpCarzs” valve cover in recognition of Penske’s 100th Champ Car victory. Also for sale were two Carousel 1/18 diecasts... The newly released 1972 Sunoco Donohue: $140.00; 1-of-3,600 pieces, (My latest acquisition) and a 1976 Cam2 red McLaren hand-signed Mario Andretti for $120.00.
Outside the gift shop resided a lone racecar, the 2004 NASCAR Dodge Intrepid of Ryan Newman, and you could actually touch this car, as it sat without ropes or gates around it. To which I must admit they’re pretty “bad-ass” looking cars, whilst I could only imagine planting my foot on the gas pedal of this 775bhp gorilla, snapping into several doughnuts before smacking the wall! (Sounds like a seen straight out of Days ‘O Blunder with Cole Trickle behind the wheel, right?)
A full-length wall display case is filled with various trophies, including a pair of “Texas-sized” gold plated boots - while for some reason several Monterey Grand Prix (Laguna Seca) winners’ trophies dominated the display case...
Prior to walking back downstairs I spotted the BESTEST! Photograph of Roger Penske I’ve ever seen... (At the head of the stairway) The 6-foot by 4-feet photo captures Penske jubilantly spraying champagne at the camera while celebrating his record 100th Champ Cars victory. The entire team is on one side of Penske all adorning 100 WIN hats, with joyous fans on the other side behind the winning Gil de Ferran chassis. Penske looks so “stoked!” (I want that picture!)
Returning downstairs to quickly count the number of Indy winners... We counted twelve: With the only chassis MISSING being the 1994 Penske PC-23 Al Unser Jr. car which I assume must be in the brand-new Unser museum in Albuquerque , NM
Then a quick jaunt outside to the adjoining Land Rover test track, Yep, that’s correct... A “wicked” test track of every off road obstacle imaginable including a waterfall... “Juan” last dash back through the “Used Cars Dept;” Err Pre-owned cars led us back outside for “Juan” last mug-shot beside a black Hummer H2 before forcing ourselves to leave...
Epilogue
I guess I’ve been a “Pe$ke-Basher” for several years… Since Penske always seems ‘Juan ‘O” the team’s to BEAT… And thus I’d detested Roger Penske’s DEFECTION to ‘lil napoleons (Tony “Ronnie” George) irL (Indy Retirement League) in 2002 and regularly lambasted Rodger’s exploits by spelling his name “Pe$ke” as he happily took Marlboro’s millions on his way back to the Brickyard...
The Captain wrangled Emerson Fittipaldi along with the Marlboro ssponsorship away from Pat Patrick in 1990 as Penske Racing scored three more Bad Habitz speedway victories including Marlboro’s final CART Indy 500 victory in 1994. Al Unser Jr. triumphed from pole.
Going “From Hero to Zero,” Penske’s team was unable to qualify his cars the following year. Yet having sat out five runnings of Indy as a loyal CART owner, Penske returned in 2001 with Non-Marlboro liveried chassis before becoming the first major CART ‘Domo (owner) to jump ship full time to the rival Indy Racing League.
In late 2004 A Penske “penned” Editorial appeared in a prominent East coast newspaper pleading for the reunification of the two rival leagues. Vainly trying to bring “The Split” full-circle, Penske’s effort failed as the two sides seem determined to stay at loggerheads, as ironically Roger was instrumental in forming CART in 1979.
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was formed in order to break away from Indy’s United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioning body - as the team owners had felt that they weren’t being treated right... And now Roger was trying to re-incarnate open-wheel racing - as fortunately the two whimpering, warring factions finally reunited in 2008...
Watching Penske’s interview on Wind Tunnel, (some six-plus years ago) I chuckled to myself over how impressed I was by “The Captain,” noting how much of a class act he was and how business ALWAYS comes first.
And on my final day of vacation, after mondo burritos for lunch at Chupatas with Miguel, I found myself back at the museum once again, picking up a few extra brochures. (Which I thought I’d do something clever with - like may be framing ‘Juan?) Of course another “walk-about” was mandatory. This time I noticed that every Indycar had the respective driver’s helmet sitting on the left-hand sidepod.
While checking sponsors of the three yellow “Hertz-Doughnut” chassis, we discussed how the “Spin & Win” Miller Beer March 85C racecar had the most obliquely bulbous square nose! Being totally unique, the nose cone was blunt, unlike the expected pencil sharp pointed noses on the rest of its contemporary speedway brethren - of which I was certain this, was a road course ‘Snauzage. (As I seem to recall that I did learn that the Indy configuration was indeed different...)
Also noted was the severe “lowness” of the Penske PC-20. This chassis had the lowest ground clearance of all the Indy cars present. It appeared to have approx. one-inch ground clearance from the nose to the start of the cockpit before transitioning to two-inches approx.
Once again talking to the museum’s staff, my “eagle-eyed” brother inquired; where is the Donohue Porsche RSR IROC car shown in the brochure? To which we were informed that the car had just left last week when the Sneva car arrived after its restoration... It’s currently being displayed in the new ALMS shop.
(Penske’s main facility: Penske South in Mooresville , NC Reading , PA
Penske will campaign the entire 2006 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season with a pair of Porsche RS Spyders after winning the LMP2 category during its debut at the Laguna Seca season finale. (“Juan” can only speculate that this will eventually lead to Porsche’s return to Lemans for overall victory in the LMP1 category, eh?) Porsche plans to have Penske build and sell RS Spyder’s to wealthy “privateer” teams beginning in 2007 with a projected base price of $1.25 million… (Approx. four times the cost of a Porsche 911 GT3!)
Once again, Miguel commented how it just didn’t feel right to be climbing back into his “daily driver.” Look, they moved the Ferrari. (F430) Asking is that the same black Lamborghini we saw yesterday? Yeah, it must be... Look at that car, it’s freaking AWESOME!
Pulling up to the “Lot-Jockey” Miguel asked him if that was the same car that was inside yesterday? Yes, he replied while casually polishing a fender. Then he climbed inside and started the Lambo.BBBURRAPPP- BBBURRAPPP- BBBURRAPPP-VROOMMMMMMMMMM....... As the Gallardo sat idling, we watched with shear humility as he drove back inside the dealership. SHEISA!!! I want that job... “I’ll just be gone for about one-our while I go down the street to get some petrol!”
I was TOTALLY blown away by this AWESOME museum nestled inside the LARGEST MEGA Auto dealership I’ve ever been too - with the museum exuding typical Penske perfection.
The funniest part of my first two visits before flying home was that after my sentimental favourite (the 1972 Sunoco Donohue McLaren) I could NOT quit marveling, gawking and commenting how AWESOME the 2001 Dallara IRL chassis looked... SHEISA!!!
Although I still despised the ‘irL - which I promptly nicknamed the inDEE retirement League, and ALL of the “Heavy-Hitter’s” (Ganassi, Rahal, Fernandes, etc) who DEFECTED from the sinking ship (CART ) to follow Penske’s example of switching leagues, I still applauded Champ Cars resurgence circa ’05 - refusing to admit that NOBODY beats Indianapolis... Although it seemed pathetic that the two rival leagues would both be running chassis built by the same raceing car manufacture in 2007, (Panoz) while this year (2005) both series will be powered by single-source engine suppliers (Cosworth: Champ Car World Series, Honda: Indy Racing League) Thus, It sure would be nice if ‘lil napoleon & The Three Musketeers’ could return to the “Glory Days of the mid-1980’s & early ‘90’s. “Can you say “Consolidation?”
“Desert!”
Shortly the UGLY DUCKLING’S of Sports Car racing (Grand Am: endorsed by ‘RASSCAR, hey! NOT only were they members; BUTT! They liked the series so much that they bought I-T! (France
With the DREADED start of another SPN-CAR season waiting to rear it’s Godzilla-like girth upon “mainstream America” beginning at Daytona in February, SPEED will soon revert back to it’s 800+ hour weekly allegiance ‘O Roundly-Round…
The Open-Wheel Feud looks set to continue once again with a new wrinkle. PKV & Rocketsports Racing have both tested Katherine Legge in winter tests at Sebring recently. Legge, whom unlike Danica Patrick, WON a race last year in Toyota Atlantic’s…Look for the “Battle
Can you say “Cat-Fight - Meow...?
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Old School Chevrolet Ilmor 2.65-liter V-8 turbocharged CART engine |
Fall, 2005: PRM-Cars on Display
This is the list of vehicles I noted whilst making my debutant visit to The Captain’s Cathedral ‘O Speed - which the vehicles on display has changed over the years since, albeit the Indy Cars, Formula 1 & engines remain the same - their locations do tend to change..
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“Bombers”
1963 Pontiac Catalina: 421 cid Pontiac Super Duty V-8
2004 Dodge Intrepid: 358 cid Dodge V-8; 775bhp
2005 Dodge Charger: 358 cid Dodge V-8; 800bhp
Pace Vehicles
1972 Hurst
2003 ‘Chebbie SSR Pacetruck: 5.3 liter V-8; 300bhp
Engines
Mercedes Benz 500I V-8
Ilmor Chevy 265A V-8
Ilmor-Chevy 265(?) V-8
Indy cars
1972 McLaren M16B
Turbocharged Drake-Offenhauser Inline 4; 850bhp @ 9,000RPM
1977 Penske PC-5
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 800bhp @ 9,000RPM
1979 Penske PC-6
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 800bhp @ 9,000RPM
1981 Penske PC-9B
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 600bhp @ 9,800RPM
1984 March 84C
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 700bhp @ 10,000RPM
1985 Penske March 85C
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 700bhp @ 10,000RPM
1987 Penske March 86C
2.65 liter Turbocharged Cosworth DFX V-8; 700bhp @ 10,000RPM
1988 Penske PC-17
2.65 liter Turbocharged Ilmor-Chevy V-8; 720bhp @ 11,000RPM
1991 Penske PC-20
2.65 liter Turbocharged Ilmor-Chevy V-8; 720bhp @ 11,000RPM
1993 Penske PC-22
2.65 liter Turbocharged Ilmor-Chevy V-8; 720bhp @ 11,000RPM
2001 Dallara IR1
3.5 liter Ilmor Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V-8; 675bhp @ 10,700RPM
2002 Dallara IR2
3.5 liter Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8; 675bhp @ 10,700RPM
2003 G-Force GF3
3.5 liter Toyota Indy V-8; 675bhp @ 10,300RPM
Formula 1
1974 Penske PC-1: 3.0 liter Cosworth- Ford V-8; 450bhp @ 10,000RPM