NASCAR team owner Roger Penske sees potential of IndyCar duet

Team Penske's owner Roger Penske recently expressed his inclination towards potentially seeing a cohesiveness between the NTT IndyCar and the NASCAR schedule. Although races in both series happen on the same day, they are mostly scheduled on different tracks in different cities.

Roger Penske, whose corporation owns the IndyCar Series, recently shared his thoughts on NASCAR and IndyCar scheduling doubleheader weekends. In a conversation with John Newby last week, he said (via FanBuzz):

"I'm not announcing anything, but think about it, (Indianapolis) we ran a doubleheader there with IndyCar and NASCAR," Penske, who owns the IndyCar Series, said ahead of the NASCAR Awards. "You could do that to give a fuller weekend and some diversity there."

"We've got assets, and we go to these temporary circuits. To have two racing series that could come in and help pay for those assets, and that build-out will be very important," he added.

Although NASCAR and IndyCar have scheduled a doubleheader weekend at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track owned by Roger Penske, it is possible to see more weekends as seen before at IMS.

Team Penske has achieved remarkable success in both NASCAR and IndyCar, securing 243 race victories and six driver championships since its IndyCar debut in 1968. In NASCAR, the team began competing in 1972, transitioning to full-time participation in 1976. It has since claimed 230 race wins and six championships across the Cup and Xfinity Series, highlighting its dominance in American motorsport.

Roger Penske's NASCAR driver Joey Logano secured his third overall Cup Series title after winning the Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Despite the controversy behind the playoff format, this historic win also marked Team Penske's third consecutive Cup Series title, marking their dominance in the sport.

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Roger Penske comments on Joey Logano’s championship and NASCAR points system changes

Joey Logano’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship has sparked controversy due to his performance metrics during the season, marked by an average finish of 17.1—the lowest ever for a Cup champion. Critics have debated the playoff format's fairness, claiming it enabled Logano to secure the title despite inconsistent results.

Recently, Roger Penske backed Logano's title win amid the controversy around the current playoff format. In an interview with Bob Pockrass, he said:

“Well, I would say this, that we all signed up for a point system at the beginning of the year, didn't we? And that's what we operated on, and we've been around where there's been changes many different times, and I think we'll let NASCAR take that one on if they think they need changes, that'd be fine,” Penske said.

Similarly, Penske's Ryan Blaney 2023 championship title win invited scrutiny for underwhelming season stats. Both cases highlight concerns about the playoff system rewarding single-race performances over season-long consistency.