Racer - Fall 2013

LEADING BY ACTION AND EXAMPLE

It took NASCAR royalty to pull off the
acquisition and merger of the ALMS
into Grand-Am. With a lifelong passion
for sports car racing, Jim France spent
the money to buy Don Panoz’s series
and tracks and, rather than shut down
Grand-Am’s more successful rival, did
the unexpected by blending both
operations and bringing the most
successful ALMS classes into the new
TUDOR United SportsCar
Championship. France forged new links
with the ACO and appears genuinely
motivated to promote the USCC to a
much higher level than Grand-Am
received. Whether France remains on
this list in 2014 will depend on how
much of an impact North America’s
unified sports car series can make
during its inaugural season.

At 76 years old, Roger Penske
continues to command the sport from
on high. Coming off of his team’s first
NASCAR Sprint Cup title in 2012, “The
Captain” switched Penske Racing from
Dodge to Ford in the off-season, yet still
saw new recruit Joey Logano qualify
for his first Chase. Reigning champ
Brad Keselowski’s failure to join him
was a hiccup, but he can rest easy that
Penske is staunchly loyal to his drivers
and will give him the time and support
to regain his mojo. That’s certainly
been the case with Sam Hornish Jr.,
who repaid Penske’s faith with a
tenacious assault on the Nationwide
Series title. Ditto AJ Allmendinger,
who rebuilt a career and a reputation
with a limited IndyCar program, nearly
stole the show at the Indy 500 and won
two road races in Nationwide. Speaking
of loyalty, Helio Castroneves has been
with Penske for 14 seasons, winning
three Indy 500s, but ’ 13 was among his
best on a season-long basis – testimony
to a stable, inclusive team environment
that starts with Roger himself and still
places value on maturity and
experience. But we also saw that Penske
isn’t afraid to pull off a coup when the
stars align. By signing Juan Pablo
Montoya from NASCAR, he delivered a
major PR and marketing opportunity
to IndyCar which it must now grasp.