Team Penske Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Roger Penske's First Indy 500 Victory

This Friday, will not only be the traditional Carb Day in preparation for Sunday’s 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it will also mark yet another legendary milestone for Team Penske.

Friday commemorates the 50th anniversary of Team Penske’s first win in the Indianapolis 500, with Mark Donohue behind the wheel. It would be the first of 18 wins in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing for team owner Roger Penske.

“It's really cool to see it go through from that point in time,” Team Penske president Tim Cindric said. “I've been part of I guess eight of Roger's 18 victories. I think the most exciting one is always the next one for him, so looking forward to getting more for him.”

How many more times does Penske want to win at Indy? He kind of gave a hint about that to Cindric when they won their first Indy 500 together in 2001, which coincidentally was Helio Castroneves’ first of four wins in the Memorial Day classic.

“I'll never forget in victory lane, the first time we won (the 500) together back in 2001, I said (to Penske), ‘Wow, this is 11 for you, but it's a big deal for me," Cindric said.