The Bathurst 1000 had an unprecedented race and finish for the ages. What is the point of sprint races? At least in Formula One, but even in MotoGP as it will have a new weekend format with a dedicated sprint qualifying session. NASCAR punted on Saturday due to weather, creating a doubleheader on Sunday, and an excellent finish. The final Indianapolis 8 Hour took place. The new IndyCar chassis will be testing at Sebring. However, this week, we cover something I have been thinking about for quite some time, I just hadn't gotten around to it.
Winning at Team Penske
It feels like everyone who drives for Team Penske in IndyCar ends up winning. That is kind of part of the deal. Team Penske hires the best and they are expected to be the best. Team Penske doesn't hire anybody. The team attracts the best talent around, and with some of the best engineers and crew members in the paddock, all the pieces are there for Team Penske drivers to win races.
It feels like they all win. Who is the last Team Penske driver to end up empty-handed?
With such a track record, it makes you think it is the team leading to all this success, and really anybody could win. Is that what the track record says?
Thirty-eight drivers have started an IndyCar race for Team Penske. Twenty of those drivers have won a race. That is just over half, but consider of the 18 drivers that did not win in their time with Team Penske, only three made ten starts or more. Twelve of those drivers made five starts or fewer.
That rules out infrequent one-off drivers for Team Penske and the occasional substitute for injury, the likes of Bobby Allison, Mike Hiss, David Hobbs, Jan Magnussen, Johnny Rutherford, Alex Barron, Max Papis, Gordon Johncock and Oriol Servià. There is not much you can do when you are only around for a short time.
Let's look at the 20 winners. They didn’t take long to win. The average number of starts it takes for a first victory at Team Penske is 8.5. Ten of the 20 winners won within their first five starts with Team Penske. Seven of the 20 drivers took more than ten starts, but five of those drivers took more than 15 starts. The most starts for that first career victory at Team Penske is 19. We will get back to that in a moment.
Drivers are expected to win immediately at Team Penske, and they generally do. These are finished products joining the organization. These drivers do not have questions over their heads. There is no hope they will develop into something. They already are something. Team Penske knows what it is getting, and it should not take look for a victory to go their way.
Nobody has taken more than 19 starts to score their first victory at Penske. Not many get that much longer of a leash. Three drivers made more than ten starts at Penske and never won.
Kevin Cogan spent the 1982 season with Team Penske but was released after the one season that is remembered for Cogan's accident at the start of the Indianapolis 500 from second on the grid. His best finish that season was second at Pocono, and he started on pole position twice.
André Ribeiro joined Penske in the 1998 season having previously spent three years at Tasman Motorsports, and he had three victories to his name. Ribeiro joined Team Penske when it was in the earliest stages of its worst funk. The Penske PC-27 chassis was horrendous. While Al Unser, Jr. got on the podium twice that season, the car was not contending for victories, and Ribeiro's best finish was seventh. The Brazilian retired at the end of the 1998 season where he started 18 races.
Then there is David Malukas. Having gone winless in his first season with Penske in 2026, Malukas is tied for the most starts for a Team Penske driver without a victory. If he does not win the 2027 season opener, Malukas will enter uncharted territories. No Team Penske driver has taken at least 20 starts to score his first career victory.
No pressure.
The team that is largely seen as a no-nonsense organization, and it has a track record that backs it up. Everybody wins at Team Penske, but then again, the team has never had a driver that has stayed for an extended period without winning.
Does that tell us anything for the near-future?
It would be easy to believe Malukas will entered 2027 with the most pressure on him out of all the drivers on the grid. Team Penske has never had to judge whether or not to keep a driver after 20 or 25 or 30 or 35 starts without a victory. It could make the team's decision very easy come the end of 2027, but this is a different IndyCar. This isn't the 1980s or 1990s. Team Penske doesn't usually take on development projects, but Malukas is a special case based on the team's own history.
While going winless, Malukas was the top Team Penske driver in the championship, and he was the top Penske driver in the championship for most of the season. Malukas had six podium finishes and nine top five finishes from 18 races. He was runner-up in his first Indianapolis 500 with the team, and he was 0.0233 seconds away from victory, the closest margin of victory in the event's history.
Everyone wins by year two at Team Penske. Scott McLaughlin opened his second full season with a victory. Simon Pagenaud won in his second season with Team Penske after going winless in year one. Pagenaud holds the mark of most starts before first Penske victory. Paul Tracy won it what was his first full season, but third season after he was part-time in 1991 and replaced an injured Rick Mears in 1992. Most don't need a third year to show they can win at Penske. Those three examples won early in the seasons where they scored their first victories for the team.
Penske may be willing to give Malukas a third year and see if that is enough to be lucky. Malukas just turned 25 years old on September 27. He was the fourth-youngest driver to ever run an IndyCar race for Team Penske behind only Paul Tracy, Jan Magnussen and Tarso Marques. Tracy is really the only other young driver Penske has taken and developed. Maybe Malukas gets a longer leash, and the team is willing to let him grow. Then again, if someone else is succeeding and beating Team Penske, Team Penske will make changes. It has a good eye for talent, and it usually can grab whatever driver it wants.
Champions From the Weekend
Maxime Martin clinched the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship with a fifth-place finish in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Thomas Preining clinched the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters championship with finishes of fifth and third from Hockenheim.
The #22 United Autosport Oreca-Gibson of Ben Hanley, Grégoire Saucy and Griffin Peebles clinched the European Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with a victory in the 4 Hours of Portimão.
The #17 CLX Motorsport Ligier-Toyota of Paul Lanchère and Alexander Jacoby clinched the European Le Mans Series LMP3 championship with victory in Portimão with third driver Louis Iglesias.
The #33 TF Sport Corvette of Charlie Eastwood, Blake McDonald and Alec Udell clinched the European Le Mans Series LMGT3 championship with a runner-up finish in Portimão behind the #75 Proton Competition Porsche of Matt Kurzejewski, Richard Lietz and Tom Sargent.
The #29 Turner Motorsport BMW of Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg clinched the GT World Challenge America championship with a third-place finish in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
The #028 RS1 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars clinched GT4 America championship with finishes of tenth and 30th from Indianapolis.
Albert Arenas clinched the World Supersport championship with a fourth-place finish in the first race from Estoril.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about a few champions, but did you know...
The #17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford of Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood won the 69th Bathurst 1000.
Max Verstappen won the Singapore Grand Prix, his second consecutive victory, and Verstappen also won the sprint race.
Marco Bezzecchi won MotoGP's Indonesian Grand Prix, his fifth victory of the season. Marc Márquez won the sprint race. Izan Guevara won in Moto2, his third consecutive victory and fourth of the season. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his tenth victory of the season.
The #32 GMG Racing Porsche of Kyle Washington, Riccardo Pera and Ayhancan Güven won the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
The #68 RAFA Racing Team Toyota of Westin Workman and Tyler Gonzalez swept the GT4 America races from Indianapolis. Peter Dempsey swept the GT America races.
Chase Briscoe won the NASCAR Cup race from Charlotte by 0.029 seconds over Christopher Bell. Corey Day won the Grand National Series race, his second consecutive victory and his fourth of the season. Layne Riggs won the Truck race, his seventh victory of the season.
Lucas Auer and Mario Engel split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Hockenheim.
Igor Fraga and Ayumu Iwasa split the Super Formula races from Fuji.
Nicolò Bulega swept the World Superbike races from Estoril. Tom Booth-Amos and Jeremy Alcoba split the World Supersport races.
Coming Up This Weekend
Max Verstappen will spend his Formula One off-weekend competing in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale from Portimão.
World Superbike closes 2026 with a round at Jerez.
The FIA World Endurance Championship keeps busy with its penultimate round from Barcelona.
NASCAR is at Phoenix.
Super GT will be at Autopolis.
