TEAM REPORTS (VARIOUS LOCATIONS) - PENSKE RACING REPORT

IMSA American Le Mans Series

Capping off an improbable week where the LMP1 Audis were more than one second a lap faster than the LMP2 Porsches, France's Romain Dumas and Germany's Timo Bernhard squeezed out a 1.7-second overall victory in Saturday's American Le Mans Series Generac 500 at Road America.

The win was Penske Motorsports' sixth overall consecutive victory, assuring Porsche of at least half of the overall wins for the 2007 season. Sascha Maassen's and Ryan Briscoe's second place LMP2 position Saturday also provided the Penske Porsches with their sixth 1-2 Class finish.

"This was a great team effort. Nobody gave us a chance to win overall," Penske Porsche team manager Jeff Swartwout said. "We took a big step towards the LMP2 championship, and the Penske Racing crew takes great pride in the overall win, as well. Our strategy was to ignore the Audis and run our own race to the Class win, but everyone worked hard and the drivers did a great job today."

Dumas, who started the car, was pleased with his green-flag jump, but then fell behind the Audis and Briscoe on the restart after a first lap yellow flag. He was then resigned to competing for a Class win.

"I was surprised that I could keep up with the Audis, and, when Ryan [Briscoe] had some handling problems, I got past him into second place, and surprised the leading Audi to take the lead just before the rain came," said Dumas, who drove the car during the 1 hour 2 minute yellow flag caused by a severe thunderstorm.

"After the restart, the Audis went by us again, and we were back to our Class win focus, but the Penske team made some smart decisions on fuel and tires, and Timo [Bernhard] brought the car home for both the Class and overall win."

Bernhard, who won the LMP2 Class in the RS Spyder last year, and has two GT2 victories to his credit at Road America, said he was unaware that he was in first place until there were only two laps remaining.

"I came in for fuel with 30 minutes to go and the leading Audi also came into the pits," Bernhard said. "I left the pits and did not see the Audi, so I assumed they were ahead of me. The first clue that I was in the lead was when I saw the two cars battling for position behind me on the straight. And then, with two laps to go, the team told me on the radio I was in front, but I was losing time. I had to push, and traffic was hard, but the car was great and I was positioned to win."

With extra points awarded for the 4-hour event, Dumas and Bernhard now lead the LMP2 Class with 150 points. Maassen and Briscoe are second with 133 points. Acura drivers David Brabham and Stefan Johansson are third with 90 points.

The American Le Mans Series now takes a week off before heading to Ontario, Canada, for the Aug. 26 Grand Prix of Mosport.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 12, 2007) - Kurt Busch strengthened his hold on 12th place in the standings with his 11th-place finish in Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen, while Ryan Newman gained a position with his 13th-place performance at Watkins Glen International.

With four races remaining before the "Chase for the Championship" begins, Busch leads 13th-place Newman by 96 points and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who dropped to 14th, by 100 points. Busch trails 11th-place Martin Truex Jr. by 58 points. Newman moved into the standings' 13th position due to Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevrolet losing an engine during the season's final road course race.

Even though both Penske Racing drivers improved themselves in the overall picture, it wasn't an easy 90-lap event on the 2.45-mile course for either competitor. Newman experienced handling issues with his Kodak Dodge Avenger and took two side trips into the gravel pits that provide run-off areas at various turns. The first occurred on lap 11 and the second shortly after the 50-lap mark when he and Clint Bowyer tangled. Newman also incurred a penalty after the first gravel pit excursion for pitting before pit road was open. That left him 41st on the lap 14 restart.

Fuel only and a chassis adjustment on Newman's fourth stop vaulted him into the top 15 where he remained for the final 25 laps.

"We're competitive, but I wasn't happy with the car today," Newman said. "It didn't drive the way it should have."

Newman noted his 13th-place finish helped in the point standings, but then added "we could have capitalized more."

"The balance wasn't good (in the car)," Newman continued. "I drove it off the race track, which got us behind and then we fought back with a good strategy. We just got beat around out there."

Busch's frustration stemmed from his car's poor fuel mileage and a speeding penalty on pit road.

Busch was running second in his Miller Lite Dodge Avenger on lap 65 when crew chief Pat Tryson called him down pit road for his final scheduled stop. Unfortunately, Busch was tagged with a speeding penalty on his exit and was sent to the rear of the longest line for the lap 67 restart.

Busch lined up 37th for the return to green-flag racing, and had made it back to 23rd when the race was red-flagged on lap 76 for a five-car crash that left debris and fluids in turn 1. After the race was stopped for 26 minutes 4 seconds, it resumed on lap 78. However, it went back under yellow on lap 80 when P.J. Jones spun into the gravel on the inner loop.

Busch was 18th on the lap 83 restart and was able to climb an additional seven spots during the remaining laps to post his 11th-place finish.

"I realize that it was a good day for us in the points and all, but it really gets frustrating when you have a car as strong as we did here today and only get an 11th-place finish out of it," Busch said. "We were running second and had a car strong enough to win here today, but the fuel mileage situation bit us again and we had to pit. Then, to top it off, we got a speeding penalty leaving the pits.

"When I looked up there before we went back to racing after they pulled the red flag and saw the [No.] 07 car [Clint Bowyer] and the [No.] 1 car [Martin Truex Jr.] in front of me, I knew I had to do all I could to try to get around those guys. I raced my guts out 'til the very end and we still only got an 11th out of it. We have to get this fuel mileage deal figured out; we absolutely have to. With the way things went here today, we could have very well won the race. I know I'll calm down and see the big picture view of things later on, but it sure is frustrating to not finish any better."

Next weekend, the series moves to the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway for the 3M Performance 400. ESPN and MRN Radio will broadcast the race scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EDT.

Busch Series

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 11, 2007) - Kurt Busch nursed his almost brakeless Penske Truck Rental Dodge to a third-place finish, while Ryan Newman held off a tenacious Andy Lally for ninth in Saturday's Zippo 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at Watkins Glen International.

It was Busch's third top-10 finish in four Busch Series races this season, and Newman's second in five Busch Series events this year.

"It was a great solid run for our Penske Truck Rental Dodge team and I'm so proud of the job that Roy McCauley, Troy Raker and the guys did in preparing our car for this race," said Busch, who clicked off a 72.569-second, 121.540-mph record lap to grab the pole for the second straight year for the race on the winding 2.45-mile layout.

"We set a new track record in qualifying, led a lot of laps and had a very respectable finish, so I'd say it was a successful day here at Watkins Glen. Now we're hoping to come back out here tomorrow [Sunday] and do the same thing with our Miller Lite Dodge Avenger over on the Cup side.

"We paced the field early on, but the pit strategy turned into a situation where it was all over the board. Some of the guys pitted under the first yellow and, like us, some went 12 or 13 laps before hitting pit road with their fuel strategies. Then, when we went with four fresh tires, some teams went with fuel only. So there were all kinds of strategies in play out there.

"I ran it super hard every lap and I think that might have contributed to our problem (with the brakes) late in the race. That's the way it goes, as just as right when it was 'show time' the (brake) pedal went straight down to the floorboard.

"We were pretty much a sitting duck out there and the 29 car [Jeff Burton] got back around. With a little less than 10 laps to go, we had to go into the defensive mode and hang on to all we could get. We were able to hold off the 15 car [Paul Menard] and bring her home third, and that was a huge accomplishment considering the situation we were in."

Only three laps had been run under the green Saturday when the first of five yellow flags waved for a blown engine in Max Papis' car. Strategies started to unfold that early in the race, as several teams opted to pit during that caution period. Busch and Newman both remained on the track, possessing first and third, respectively. Kevin Harvick, Burton, Menard and several other drivers pitted on lap 5 and were already utilizing strategy of making the 82-lap distance with only one additional pit road visit.

Newman, complaining of a tight race car, pitted on lap 11 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Busch pitted the following lap for four tires and fuel. After 28 laps, Busch was fifth and Newman was sixth.

Busch narrowly avoided disaster on lap 39 when Steve Wallace crashed at the entry into the esses right in front of the No. 39 Dodge, bringing out the race's second caution flag. All the cars running in front of Busch pitted on lap 39, with Busch running at the point once again for the lap 40 restart. Newman also pitted during the caution period and restarted in 10th.

Busch made his final stop on lap 48, taking on four tires and fuel and getting chassis adjustments that included wedge and minor air pressure changes. While his crew completed the stop, the race's third yellow flag flew; this one for debris in turn 2. Busch exited pit road, and Newman elected to pit his Kodak Dodge for fuel only during the caution period.

Busch lined up 10th for the lap 52 restart, while Newman was 19th. When Robby Gordon's car lost its transmission entering turn 1, all of the cars stacked up. Busch made a daring inside dive and threaded through the traffic, gaining three spots in the turn.

Busch was up to sixth on lap 53 and cracked the top five on lap 54. He passed Bobby Labonte for fourth on lap 55 and got around Matt Kenseth for third on lap 56. When he cleared Menard on lap 58, his sights were set on leader Harvick.

With Harvick in the fuel-conservation mode, Busch was trimming off three-quarters of a second of the advantage held by the No. 21 Chevrolet.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. and David Ragan crashed in the inner loop on lap 67 to bunch up the field. Three laps later, Wallace crashed with Juan Pablo Montoya to bring out the race's final caution flag.

Busch attempted a run on Harvick for the lead on the restart entering turn 1, but he suddenly saw the brake pedal go to the floor. He momentarily veered off the track, but quickly gathered it back in. Burton and Menard were able to get around and relegate Busch back to fourth.

Busch got back around Menard for third on lap 73 and passed Burton for second on the same lap. But with a "mushy" brake pedal, Busch got into turn 1 a little too hot on lap 74 and Burton was able to reclaim the second spot.

The remainder of the race saw the almost brakeless Busch go into the defensive mode and his ability to hold off the other drivers was impressive. At the checkered flag, it was Harvick taking the win by 3.529 seconds over Burton with Busch in third.

Meanwhile, Newman was battling Denny Hamlin and Lally for a top-10 finish. First, Newman forced his way around Hamlin in turn 1. Newman, who was 10th when the 82-lap race restarted on lap 73 after the fifth caution period, barreled off into turn 1 under Hamlin with seven laps remaining. Newman's Kodak Dodge slid wide and took Hamlin with it into the paved run-off area. Both kept racing and Newman completed the pass.

Newman now focused his yellow No. 12 Kodak Dodge on Lally. The dual began, and as they entered turn 11, Lally shoved Newman to the outside. Newman kept control of his car and continued down the frontstretch, maintaining a slim advantage over the hard charging Lally until the checkered flag.

Newman will again compete in the Busch Series in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch returns to the circuit at Kansas in September.

INDY RACING LEAGUE IndyCar Series

SPARTA, Ky. (Aug. 11, 2007) -- Team Penske experienced a disappointing weekend at Kentucky Speedway with an ill-handling race car handing Helio Castroneves a ninth-place finish in Saturday's Meijer Indy 300, and an early race crash relegating Sam Hornish Jr. to 18th.

With three races remaining in the 2007 IndyCar Series season, the performances cost both Penske drivers in the standings. Hornish remained fifth, but dropped 139 points behind leader Dario Franchitti. Castroneves maintained sixth, but dropped 160 points off the lead.

Castroneves, who started 13th, raced among the lead-lap cars before a mechanical problem forced the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara back in the field.

"We were running in the top five after our first pit stop and then something happened with the car," Castroneves said. "It's a shame because we started the race strong and the Team Penske car was handling well. The good news is that we still finished in the top 10. I have to hand it to my guys, they did a fantastic job in the pits all day and at least we were able to get some points out of it."

Early in the race, Hornish got caught in the turbulence created by another car, sending the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara into a spin.

"We h ad a good car and moved up real quick on the start," said Hornish, who started seventh. "It was unfortunate. Dario picked the outside line going around. I tried to get to the other side, just came out and took the air off of the car. Unfortunately, as soon as you get to the other side, it puts a whole bunch of downforce on the front and the back end came around. There was nothing we could really do about that at that time."

The series takes a weekend off, then resumes Aug. 26 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.