PENSKE RACING REPORT - Sept 2, 2008

California Proves Challenging for Penske Racing NASCAR Trio

FONTANA, Calif. – Penske Racing drivers Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr. and Kurt Busch finished 16th, 31st and 39th respectively in Sunday's Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway.

Newman's No. 12 Kodak Dodge team started 17th and was able to run in the top 10 for a substantial portion of the 500-mile event Sunday night thanks to a two-tire pit stop midway through the race. In the closing laps, Newman battled with a number of cars to hold on to a top 10 but ended up with a 16th-place effort. With the finish, Newman is now 16th in the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings, 200 points behind the 12th-place cutoff for the "Chase for the NASCAR Cup." With one more race until the Chase begins, Newman is now mathematically eliminated from the possibility of making the 10-race championship shootout.

After starting in the 32nd position, Hornish and the No. 77 Penske Truck Rental Dodge were plagued with handling issues for much of the race. After a 31st-place finish, the No. 77 team now sits 36th in the 2008 Cup Series owner point standings.

No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch fell back in the running order after a Lap 44 incident and couldn't rebound, finishing 39th and maintaining the 19th spot in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings.

Helio Castroneves Battles To Controversial Second-Place Finish In Detroit

DETROIT, Mich. – In Sunday’s Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone IndyCar Series event, Helio Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, finished in second place for the record eighth time this season. The result further closed the gap between Castroneves and Scott Dixon in the race for the 2008 IndyCar Series driver championship. Ryan Briscoe, driver of the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, scored a ninth-place finish at the challenging 2.1-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park circuit, clinching fifth place in the championship standings in his first season with Team Penske.

A controversial call by IndyCar Series officials might have cost Helio Castroneves a win on Sunday afternoon in the Motor City, but the Team Penske driver still managed to move closer to the series title. Castroneves was leading the race when, on lap 72, he was ordered to surrender the position to Justin Wilson as a penalty for blocking. Wilson went on to win, while Castroneves came home solidly in second. The finish, coupled with current points leader Dixon’s fifth-place finish, brought Castroneves within 30 points of the lead for the championship with just one race remaining in the 2008 IndyCar Series season this weekend in Chicago.

“We finished second for the eighth time, but the point is we’re still in the hunt for the championship, and Team Penske is going to try everything we can to win it,” said Castroneves, who made his 111th consecutive start on Sunday, passing former teammate Sam Hornish Jr. for the second-longest streak all time.

Penske Porsches Finish Fourth and Fifth at Belle Isle

DETROIT, Mich. – In Saturday’s Detroit Sports Car Challenge Presented by Bosch at the challenging 2.1-mile Raceway at Belle Isle Park course, American Le Mans Series (ALMS) LMP2 class points leaders and defending champions Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) positioned themselves well for a class victory with good pit strategy and fast lap times when a controversial late race penalty for avoidable contact cost the No. 7 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder not only a victory, but a spot on the podium.

With 55 points left to be earned at the last two races, Bernhard/Dumas, who ended up fourth in the LMP2 class/overall, lead the Brabham/Sharp Acura by four points, 159 to 155. In team points, the Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder team leads the Patron Highcroft Acura team, 166 to 155.

“We were running second with a good chance to pass the leading Acura when a GT2 car moved into the path of Timo’s car as he was trying to position himself for a pass,” said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing. “Unfortunately, the final results of the race were decided by the officials, not on the track. The fans, the other competitors and manufacturers would have preferred to see the finishing order decided by the racers, not the officials.”