(MOORESVILLE, NC) – To understand what sort of company Penske Racing South is, it pays to understand what kind of man Roger Penske is. In his youth, he was one of America’s most successful road racers. As a racing team owner, Penske Racing has scored victories, and in many cases won championships, wherever he’s competed. This includes Can-Am sports cars, open-wheel Indy cars, American Le Mans, and NASCAR’s Busch and NEXTEL Cup series. As a businessman, he is the founder and chairman of Penske Corporation with businesses in the Fortune 500, employing tens of thousands and earning billions of dollars in annual revenue.
Yet upon being named Newsmaker of the Year in February 2006 by Crain’s Detroit Business for his work chairing Detroit’s Super Bowl XL Host Committee, he made sure to thank not only the political leaders and corporate sponsors, but also “the snow shovelers, law-enforcement agencies, bartenders, bus drivers, baggage handlers, bouncers, cab drivers, ushers, security guards, emergency personnel, the United Way, the 8,000 Host Committee volunteers, and all those who served as the public face of Detroit.” In short, you’re nothing without your team.
Mazak is a strong member of the Penske team, and is one of the original group of Penske Racing South sponsors when Penske founded his NASCAR racing organization in 1991. As the Penske organization has grown (acquiring majority ownership of Michael Kranefuss Racing in 1998 and Jasper Motorsports in 2004), so have Mazak applications and involvement. From simple brackets to complex custom engine parts, Mazak production equipment plays an important role supporting Penske’s winning teams. More on Mazak’s machine tools and the parts they make for Penske Racing South will follow in a later installment.
The Facility
Roger Penske has not only built a great organization, he has built an unrivaled production/office facility. Penske Racing occupies two buildings formerly housing the Matsushita Compressor Corporation of America manufacturing plant in Mooresville, NC, totaling 424,697 square feet on 105 acres. Matsushita operated the facility for more than a decade, but the complex had been vacant for three years before Roger Penske entered the picture in 2004.
After acquiring the property in June 2004 for $7 million, two construction crews were placed on the project seven days a week. Within six months, the main building’s interior was gutted, and a major facelift begun. More than a quarter-million squares of Italian floor tile were laid in the office and shop areas. Other interior and exterior details include nine conference rooms, a 150-seat auditorium, a 138-seat cafeteria, a 330-foot elevated viewing area in the shop for fan walkthroughs, a 4,968-square-foot gift shop, a training room with weights and exercise equipment, men’s and women’s locker rooms and showers, two lighted baseball fields, and a one-mile nature trail.
The heart of the complex is Penske Racing South’s three NASCAR teams – two NEXTEL Cup and one Busch series – occupying 240,781 square feet, or more than eight acres under one roof. Separate buildings within the shop area house engineering and support operations for each team. Also contained in the NASCAR section are 17 surface plates, three paint booths, three body prep stations, a rapid prototyping department and an aero-scale model shop.
And that’s just the NASCAR section. Within six months of starting the rebuilding project, Penske’s administrative and chassis shops began relocating to the new racing campus. By March 2005, the NASCAR teams were completely moved in, and by the end of 2005, the American Le Mans Series team and its Porsche RS Spyders had relocated from their Reading, PA location to the new facility. And after the 2006 Indy Racing League series is concluded, Penske will become the first owner competing in three separate major racing series to place all of his teams under one roof and the first to base his Indy team, Marlboro Team Penske, in North Carolina.
“This investment by Penske Racing represents the company’s long-term commitment to racing and the Mooresville area,” says Penske. “We believe, too, that having all of our teams and support operations under one roof will result in a better product at the track. Departmental communications will be enhanced, thus providing for more efficient operations, and the tremendous work environment it provides for all Penske Racing employees is conducive to peak performance.”
The Technology
In addition to state-of-the-art facilities, Penske Racing also utilizes state-of-the-art technology to keep their winning edge. In a separate building in Mooresville, the Penske Technology Group has the most advanced moving ground plane wind tunnel commercially available in the world. In addition, the building houses a seven-post vehicle dynamics rig, scanning and reverse-engineering capabilities, a model shop, complete engineering offices, and a 20-seat conference room.
The open-jet, 16-ton rolling road wind tunnel is a sophisticated tool for Penske engineers to optimize the shape of virtually any object. The rolling road is adjustable for yaw to plus or minus eight degrees and the 500-hp main fan can generate wind up to 50 meters per second. Scanners, sensors, and sophisticated data-acquisition equipment link live test results to Penske engineers so data appears the moment the instruments sense it. Together with CAD/CAM and reverse-engineering capabilities, test results have cut assembly times up to two or three weeks where before at least a month was required for fit and assembly.
The seven-post vehicle dynamics rig provides accurate, repeatable simulations of race track conditions to simulate downforce, cornering, and braking loads. Four hydraulic actuators provide road excitation while three additional actuators are mounted to the vehicle being tested. Thirty-four channels of data are tracked and reported in real time.
Penske Technology Group makes both the wind tunnel and vehicle dynamics rig available for testing by other race teams. Strict measures ensure the confidentiality of all projects.
The Drivers
Championship-caliber drivers are competing for Penske Racing throughout the NASCAR and Indy series.
Kurt Busch drives the Number 2 Miller Lite Dodge, succeeding Rusty Wallace, who drove Number 2 since Penske Racing South was founded in 1991. “Joining Roger Penske and being given the opportunity to compete in one of his cars is indeed an honor,” Busch said. “I’m excited about what lies ahead.”
2006 marks Busch’s sixth full-time NEXTEL Cup Series season in NASCAR. In 2004, he was the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion, and in 2005 finished in the top ten. Career winnings total more than $29 million.
Ryan Newman was the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2002 and the SPEED Channel Driver of the Year for the 2003 season. Last year, Newman, driver of the Number 12 Alltel Dodge, notched one victory, eight poles, eight top-fives, and 16 top-10 finishes. Career winnings total $23.8 million.
A South Bend, Indiana native and Purdue University graduate in vehicle structural engineering, Newman and crew chief Matt Borland are the first driver-engineer/crew chief-engineer combination in NASCAR history.
Helio Castroneves is the first driver to win two consecutive Indianapolis 500 races (2001-2002) since Al Unser (1970-1971) and the only driver ever to win in his first two attempts. A native of Sao Paolo, Brazil, Castoneves is also a partner in NasrCastroneves Racing, which competes in the Brazilian Stock Car V8 Championship, a series much like America’s NASCAR circuit. In 2002, he was runner-up in the Drivers Championship in the Indy Racing League; in 2005 he finished sixth with one win and two pole positions.
Sam Hornish, Jr. debuted in the Indy Racing League in 2000 and in 2001 was the youngest-ever driver to become Series Champion at age 21 with three wins and two pole positions. He repeated the feat in 2002 with five wins and two pole positions, becoming the only driver to win back-to-back IndyCar Series Championships. This year marks his seventh season in the Indy Racing League. He is the series all-time leader in wins and laps led.
The main entrance of the new Penske Racing Facility overlooks 105 acres. After the 2006 IRL
series, Penske will become the first owner competing in three seperate racing series to have
all his teams under one roof.
Seperate buildings within the main building house engineering and support operations for
three NASCAR teams, two NEXTEL Cup and one Busch Series. More than a quarter-million
floor tiles were laid throughout the office and shop areas.
Mazak Corp. is among the original Penske Racing South sponsors when Roger Penske
founded his NASCAR organization in 1991.
Mazak production equipment such as the multi-tasking Super Quick Turn 250MY plays
an important role supporting Penske's winning teams.
Sample parts produced on Mazak Equipment.
