Team Penske

Team Penske History

Team Penske was founded by Roger Penske in 1966. Their first race was at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Penske partnered with Mark Donohue, a notable driver of his time to race in the USRRC and Can-Am Sports car series with a Lola T70. The team was successful in a short amount of time and won two consecutive titles in the USRRC championship and three titles in the SCCA Trans-Am titles.

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The team started NASCAR operations in 1972 with the Winston Western 500 held at the Riverside International Raceway. They fielded part-time races for several drivers including Donohue, Dave Marcis, Donnie, and Bobby Allison. They fielded a car full-time for the first time during the 1976 season with Bobby Allison. They finished 4th in the points. Team Penske disappeared from the Cup Series from 1977 to 1990, before making a comeback with Rusty Wallace in 1991.

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Team Penske won its first championship in 2012 with Brad Keselowski behind the wheels of his No. 2 Dodge. The team switched to Ford in 2013 receiving their engine package from Roush Yates Engines. They started fielding three cars in 2018 with the addition of Ryan Blaney to their Cup Series program. The team won back-to-back championships in the Cup Series; in 2022 with Joey Logano and in 2023 with Ryan Blaney.

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Team Penske Owner

Roger S Penske has remained as the owner of the team since its inception. He is nicknamed “the Captain”. Roger Searle Penske is a retired American professional driver and businessman. He is the sole owner and founder of Team Penske. He has a diverse portfolio of business in the auto-racing sector including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar. He is the founder and owner of Penske Corporation which is a holding company for his businesses. He has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.

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Roger Penske raced in Formula 1 and NASCAR. He was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1937. He was the SCCA Driver of the Year according to Sports Illustrated in 1961. He retired from racing in 1965 to focus on his businesses. He resides in Birmingham, Michigan. Roger Penske has a gross net worth of nearly $6.5 billion as of July 2024 according to reports from Forbes. He is ranked 785 on the list of billionaires according to Forbes in 2024.

Team Penske Crew Chief

Team Penske fields three cars in the NASCAR Cup Series. The crew chiefs for the respective cars are:

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is serving his 21st season with Team Penske in the 2024 Cup Series season. He is the longest-tenured active road crew member in the organization. Wilson was brought to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, paired with Harrison Burton at Wood Brothers Racing. He switched to Team Penske for the final 10 races of the 2023 season pairing up with Austin Cindric. Wilson has previously managed Austin Cindric in the Xfinity Series. The driver won the 2020 and 2021 Xfinity Series championships in his tenure.

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Brian Wilson is a second-generation race engineer. He resides in Mooresville, North Carolina with his wife Lindsey, and daughter Finley. Wilson is a native of Detroit, Michigan. He grew up competing in go-karts when he was eight years old. His father was a racer and he worked for the No. 33 Skoal Bandit car as a race engineer in 1995. Brian Wilson has received a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked on Team Penske’s No. 77 car before joining Austin Cindric in the No. 2 car. He worked as a shock specialist in 2006 before becoming a race engineer in 2007.

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Jonathan Hassler

Jonathan Hassler is the crew chief of the defending champion, Ryan Blaney. He joined the team as a crew chief for Blaney in the 2022 season. Hassler has spent three seasons with Team Penske. He managed to give the team a net payday of $1 million with Ryan Blaney at the NASCAR All-Star Race in 2022. He served as the crew chief for Wood Brothers Racing in their No. 21 Ford for the second half of the season.

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Hassler is a native of Greencastle, Indiana. He started racing go-karts at eight and competed in many sports. He graduated from Purdue University in 2007 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined Team Penske as a race engineer in 2008. He served as Brad Keselowski’s race engineer in 2018 and 2019. He was a part of his two iconic runs in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, which include claiming three straight wins in 2018 and two of the most dominant short track victories in 2019.

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Paul Wolfe

Paul Stuart Wolfe is a native of Milford, New York. He is the crew chief of no.22 Joey Logano. Wolfe is a retired professional race car driver who raced in NASCAR. Paul Wolfe ran 16 races in the NASCAR Busch Series between 2003 and 2005. He joined Penske Racing in 2010 serving as the crew chief for Brad Keselowski. Paul and Brad went on to win the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series.

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Wolfe rejoined with Keselowski in 2011 and later procured the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series title with Brad Keselowski. He gave Team Penske their first championship and became the first NASCAR crew chief to claim a title in both Xfinity and Cup Series. He moved on to the no.22 team in 2020 and helped them win the 2022 Cup Series with Joey Logano. Paul Wolfe has been married to Aleah Wolfe since 2014 and has one child with her.

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Team Penske Records in NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series

Team Penske has been a regular competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series. They have run a limited schedule in the Xfinity Series with many of their drivers. The team is currently only fielding cars in the Cup Series. Their Xfinity program was shut down in 2022 after they won the Xfinity championship in 2021 with Austin Cindric. The team has not fielded a car in the NASCAR Truck Series since 1996.

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There are no notable records gained by Team Penske in either of the series.

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List of Team Penske Drivers

Current Drivers:

Past Drivers:

List of Team Penske Champions