"This car is special": When Roger Penske honored Dale Earnhardt with a prized IROC car in his collection

NASCAR team owner Roger Penske shared the special car driven by late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt in his private selection, about six years ago.

Penske, 88, has built one of the most successful racing teams in motorsports. Team Penske has won five NASCAR Cup Series championships, eight IndyCar titles, and a record 20 Indianapolis 500 races. He also owns Penske Restoration, a facility where many of his race cars are stored and maintained. In May 2019, Penske talked about his collection of race cars, including the most special in his collection, the No. 1 Dodge driven by seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

"This is a perfect car. Isn’t that a great looking car? This car is special. The fact that it’s Earnhardt … to have his IROC car is something," Roger Penske said (via The Detroit News).

Earnhardt never raced for Penske in NASCAR but raced the Dodge during an IROC race at Michigan International Speedway in 1995.

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"They take it completely down and put everything back" - Roger Penske on winning race cars

Roger Penske's collection also includes Indy 500 winning cars including those driven by famous racers like Rick Mears and Bobby Unser. After each season, they rebuild winning cars and don’t race them again unless needed as a backup, to keep them original. The Team Penske shop is located in Mooresville, North Carolina. It also competes in IMSA and FIA World Endurance races and previously raced in Formula One.

"What we do is, we take the guys at the end of the season, people like Bernie who have worked on the cars all year, they take it completely down and put everything back. They love doing it," Roger Penske said (via The Detroit News).

"Pagenaud’s car, we won’t race it again unless we need it as a spare. At the end of the season, we’ll be at the race shop at Mooresville, and they’ll take the car completely apart and rebuild it to 100 point, like it’s a brand-new car, and that goes in the museum. And we’ll have the pace car, too," he added.

Penske’s first Indy 500 win as an owner came in 1972 when Mark Donohue took the lead after his teammate, Gary Bettenhausen, had engine trouble. The team won its second race in 1979 with Rick Mears, who went on to collect three more in 1984, 1988 and 1991. Penske returned to the Indy 500 in 2001 after a five-year break when Hélio Castroneves won.

Team Penske's 20th victory came in 2024 when Josef Newgarden won the four-hour rain-delayed race. Teammate Scott McLaughlin won the pole position.