Of all the owners in the garage area, I don’t think any of us can ever put into words how excited everybody in that garage area was at the end of Sunday for Roger Penske, who won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title.
Having seen him come in, believe in NASCAR, support our sport, be a former track owner, just all the commitment that the Captain has put into motorsports as a whole and, most important, focusing in on the NASCAR side, he has done so much for racing.
He is the ultimate racer. And for him to be able to capture this after everything else he has done, I don’t think anybody can totally understand. He has won this championship, he has won the Indianapolis 500, he has done this, he has done that. For a true racer, dealing in one of the most competitive series there is, it was his time.
He has earned it so many different ways for the support he has given, the people he has given opportunities to, the class that he shows that brings such a top level of not only sponsors but individuals into our sport because of him.
I think it’s very gratifying and very satisfying for so many of us, me included, to see this man accomplish this finally and be able to complete his odyssey. He has, again, captured so many championships, so many wins in so many different series and it would have been such a sad moment as far as people in racing if he could not have accomplished this.
Now, Roger Penske has basically taken his place, which is very rightfully earned, as being a championship car owner in NASCAR.
