When Roger Penske defied the odds to build an empire: "They said, 'you must stop racing if you want to be a dealer'"

Roger Penske is one of the most successful names in the NASCAR fraternity. He is a successful team owner and businessman, but none of that happened overnight. During his long journey, he faced numerous challenges, including defying a warning: "If you want to become a dealer, you got to stop racing."

Mr. Penske, who is 88 years old, was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and started his journey from the very bottom. As a teenager, he used to work at a gas station, and from there on, he made it to be called one of the very best in the modern automotive industry.

In 2015, Roger Penske was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Famer at the Renaissance Center, alongside automotive pioneers Elwood Haynes, former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, and Ratan Tata, the former head of Tata, Jaguar, and Land Rover.

During his induction ceremony, Penske opened up about how he once defied the warnings to be successful in life. The Team Penske owner said (via Detroit Free Press):

"As a racer, I worked for a Chevy dealer. I wanted to become a car dealer, and I came to Detroit and saw some people at Chevrolet. They said, if you want to become a dealer, you got to stop racing, so it was a pretty easy decision at that point, because I really wanted to become a businessman, and obviously it turned out."

"But I was also able to start up my own race team, and a few years later, the success came on the track. We won our first Indy 500 with Mark Donohue in 1972. Having been a driver and understanding what drivers go through has made us a better team, I believe," he added.

Besides the Automotive Hall of Fame, Roger Penske is also a holder of the Motorsports Hall of Famer of America, International Motorsports Hall of Fame, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, NASCAR Hall of Fame, Trans-Am Series Hall of Fame, and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

---

How is Roger Penske enjoying the pinnacle of success in motorsports?

NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano celebrates with team owner Roger Penske after winning the Cup Championship at Phoenix Raceway. - Source: Imagn

Roger Penske is the most successful race team owner after his NASCAR, IndyCar, and IMSA SportsCar Championship gave him ultimate glory in recent times.

Starting with NASCAR, Team Penske won three back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series titles with Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and then Logano again in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively.

In IndyCar, his drivers won two back-to-back Indianapolis 500s in 2023 and 2024. In the IMSA SportsCar Championship, his team won three back-to-back races in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2022, 2023, and 2024.