"TEAM PENSKE RACES BACK            
TO INDY 500 PRACTICE"                   

Published, in edited form, in the Johnson County (Ind.) Daily Journal, May 7, 2001 ©

[*Third-place, Feature Writing, annual writing contest of American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association, May 2002*]

         They lined up in almost regal order along the pit row, angle-parked, noses pointing toward the track, four revived ghosts of Indy 500s past.

         And so, Sunday, the royalty of many May 500-mile races until six years ago waited patiently, spotless white Indy-cars with the unforgettable gleaming red stripes and trim, black wing covers strapped across their noses like giant Breathe-Right strips.

         Team Penske was back at the place it used to rule with regularity, with four cars sitting nearly four hours on the Indy pit row, almost like a collection of royal jewels on display, never moving a muscle, mechanics tinkering with metal fasteners and wheel hubs, laying out the requisite tools and paperwork, a silent foursome waiting for its caddies to show up.

         Shortly before 5 p.m., they did - two 200-mph caddies and the captain of a fleet of rocket ships that had won 10 Indy 500 races between 1972 and 1995, the year before Indy-style racing became a house divided against itself and Roger Penske and his front-running cars disappeared from the Indy 500 scene faster than props in a David Copperfield special.

         "It feels great to be back," Penske, whom many have long referred to as "The Captain," said after taking back his old post along pit row late Sunday afternoon. "I'm glad we got here."

         Getting back for Sunday's opening round of practice for the May 27 Indianapolis 500 was no Sunday drive -- more like a whirlwind tour of the royal family. Penske's CART team and its drivers, reigning CART champion Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, had competed in their series' race in Nazareth, Pa., earlier in the afternoon, made a 77-minute flight to Indianapolis and then strode out onto the pit road they hadn't set foot on since May of 1995, the last time Indy was a CART race instead of an Indy Racing League event.

         All four Team Penske cars - a primary car and a backup for each of its young Brazilian drivers -- fired up during the last hour of practice and ran a handful of laps each. Their speeds were impressive if not spectacular - de Ferran hit 219.243 mph and Castroneves 216.608 mph - but their appearance Sunday was more about homecoming than speed, anyway.

         "Both drivers are excited to be here," Penske noted. "I think it's going to be an interesting month for us, having not been here for five-and-a-half or six years."

         And an intense one, no doubt. As the racing crowd knows well, Penske invented the concept of being prepared before even the Boy Scouts of America heard of it. That alone explained the lengths the Penske entourage went to just to put in a few shakedown laps as the clouds darkened over the westside kingdom of speed late Sunday afternoon. That and the fact that the team must qualify next Saturday or Sunday, since a CART race in Japan will be run the same weekend as the only other day of Indy qualifying, May 20.

         "You never know what's going to happen," the ever-prepared Penske said from his reclaimed pit-lane throne. "If we're rained out tomorrow, we need to be sure we're ready to go Saturday.

         "And I think anything we learned today we can take to tomorrow. This was a chance to shake 'em down and get the drivers in the groove."

         Clearly, both drivers got their grooves back quickly Sunday. "Everybody's really intense about this," de Ferran, who competed in the 1995 Indy 500 but barely made it through the first lap, confirmed. "That's the way Roger is, and that's the way the team works, not only for this race but everything they tackle."

         De Ferran, who crashed out of the Nazareth race earlier Sunday, made it clear he knew how important it was for Indy's winningest car owner and team to be back in their rightful realm. "Absolutely, it's a big deal for everybody to come here and do well, plus the team has a great history here also," the 2000 CART champion said.

         Castroneves showed he knew his history, too. "It means a lot to the team, and it means a lot to me as well," said Castroneves, who won CART's Long Beach Grand Prix earlier this year and finished 11th at Nazareth Sunday. "The team has a saying - 'We're not coming here to be a number, we're coming here to be THE number' - and that's my same philosophy."

         And Castroneves acknowledged the extra pressure the Team Penske racing schedule will put on him and his teammate this week. "I know we have to work very hard," the often-ebullient Indy rookie conceded. "I know it's going to be very tough - one week is going to be a very long week. We have to make sure we're fine for qualifying."

         So, it was an efficient and meaningful if not triumphant return, yet, for Team Penske at the speed arena where drivers like Mark Donohue, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr. and Rick Mears flew its familiar colors straight into Victory Lane. "Obviously, we were right on one thing," "Captain" Penske pointed out, glancing skyward as the raindrops that cut the opening day of Indy practice six minutes short began to spot his white Team Penske shirt at the end of the afternoon. "We knew it was going to rain, so we wanted to get a chance to shake down all four cars, which we did.

         "So, we completed what we expected to do, and tomorrow I hope we can go out and really run."

----------

 Copyright 2001 by Jerry Miller ©

 Color photo courtesy of Championship Auto Racing Teams

 Return to Writings page