1. Roger Penske is the founder and chairman of the Roger Penske Corporation, a holding company for his various businesses.
19 Facts About Roger Penske
1. 2.
Roger Penske's father, Jay, was a successful corporate executive for a metal fabrication company and encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur.
3.
Roger Penske graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1955 and is a 1959 graduate of Lehigh University, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
4.
Roger Penske's first racing venture was in hillclimbing, but then ran road course racing at the Vineland Raceway in Vineland, New Jersey, as a member of the Philadelphia Region of the Sports Car Club of America in Porsches.
5.
Roger Penske made his first professional racing start at the now-abandoned Marlboro Motor Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
6.
Roger Penske competed in two Formula One Grands Prix and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963.
7.
Roger Penske never ran the Indianapolis 500: he was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis with the Dean Van Lines team.
8.
Roger Penske continued racing until 1965, when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
9.
Roger Penske Racing debuted in 1966 at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
10.
Roger Penske developed one of the most successful teams in IndyCar Series and NASCAR racing.
11.
Roger Penske is the most successful team owner at the Indianapolis 500 with 20 victories.
12.
Roger Penske is known by his nickname of "The Captain".
13.
Roger Penske served as a race strategist for his IndyCar team, most recently for driver Will Power.
14.
Roger Penske won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with driver Brad Keselowski on November 18,2012.
15.
Roger Penske is chairman of Roger Penske Corporation, based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
16.
On November 4,2019, Roger Penske acquired the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile course in Speedway, Indiana, the Indianapolis 500-mile race and IndyCar from the Hulman Family for an undisclosed amount.
17.
Roger Penske Racing donated $500,000 to Restore Our Future, Mitt Romney's Super PAC.
18.
Roger Penske endorsed Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.
19.
Roger Penske contributed $45,000 to Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign.