AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Josef Newgarden threw down the gauntlet shortly after winning the IndyCar opener of the “desert doubleheader”…
AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Josef Newgarden threw down the gauntlet shortly after winning the IndyCar opener of the “desert doubleheader” at Phoenix Raceway that paired Roger Penske’s open-wheel series with NASCAR for a first-ever twin billing at an oval track.
His victory in IndyCar’s first race at Phoenix since 2018 set up Team Penske for a sweep on the same weekend the organization kicked off a season-long celebration of its 60th year in motorsports. Roger Penske had his six drivers spanning two series at the same track, where they mingled and cheered each other on, eager to make the boss proud.
“It will be so disappointing if the Cup guys do not deliver,” Newgarden said after Saturday’s win. “We got to go first. It worked out. Now you got to put the pressure on.”
He didn’t let up later that night at a dinner with Team Penske partners, where Newgarden continued to talk trash to NASCAR teammates Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric and Joey Logano. Then Newgarden wore a Blaney shirt and sat on his pit stand Sunday cheering as Blaney won the Cup Series race to complete a Phoenix sweep; in addition to the two race victories, David Malukas won the IndyCar pole and Logano won the pole for the NASCAR race.
Newgarden, Malukas and Scott McLaughlin all joined Blaney in victory lane to celebrate.
“Josef put the pressure on us. He said, ‘This weekend is going to be absolutely ruined if you guys don’t do it on Sunday,’” Blaney said. “It’s always special to win for Roger. You don’t want to mess it up. We had three out of the four boxes checked. We had IndyCar pole, Cup pole, IndyCar win. You got to finish it out, right? There’s a little more internal pressure because you don’t want to be the guys that don’t finish out the whole weekend for RP.”
These are the moments that inspire the Penske employees who strive to make the boss proud. Penske, who turned 89 last month, has been fielding championship-contending teams for more than five decades, setting an industry standard for excellence.
Penske was an aspiring racer but gave it up in 1965 to focus on his business ventures. He didn’t leave motorsports, though, and the next year launched a sports car program that was the foundation for his racing empire.
He now fields cars in NASCAR, IndyCar, IMSA sports cars and the World Endurance Champioship series. Penske has won a record 20 Indianapolis 500s, three Daytona 500s, and in January won the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the third consecutive year.
Team Penske has more than 650 major race wins and 48 championships across multiple series The last decade has seen 20 championships, which includes 14 consecutive seasons earning at least one series title.
He owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar series, a role that makes him the promoter of the Indianapolis 500 and in charge of IndyCar’s schedule. He owns the Detroit Grand Prix and last year added to his portfolio the Long Beach Grand Prix, the most prestigious street race in the United States.
Penske this year has partnerted with Jerry Jones for this weekend’s inagural IndyCar race in Arlington, Texas, and the series in August is scheduled to race through Washington, D.C. in the Freedom 250, an event supported by President Donald Trump.
He needed early-season races to close the traditional long gap between IndyCar’s season-opener and its second event, which sometimes didn’t happen for three or more weeks. This year, he loaded the schedule with a record four consecutive races in March to open the season and build momentum for IndyCar.
So he worked out a pairing with NASCAR to share Phoenix oval over the weekend, marking the first time the once bitter rivals have shared an oval track. NASCAR and IndyCar did partner on the road course at Indianapolis after Penske bought the track in 2020 but that doubleheader failed to generate the enthusiasm seen in Phoenix.
It culminated with a new feat in Team Penske history: the first time his IndyCar and NASCAR teams won on the same track on the same weekend.
“As most people know, Roger Penske does this to win races. That’s what he loves to do,” said NASCAR team President Michael Nelson. “To give him something he hasn’t achieved before, to give him race wins with two different series means the world to all of us.”
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