Chevy’s Historical Connection Continues Into The Future At Team Penske

Team Penske’s history with Chevrolet runs deep from the very beginning of the racing operation 60 years ago when Mark Donohue drove a Corvette Sting Ray in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona Sports Car race. Donohue drove a Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 for Team Penske winning three races in 1967 and 10 races in 1968.

That historical connection will continue into the future in the NTT IndyCar Series as Team Penske and Chevrolet announced a multi-year extension on October 8.

Chevrolet has powered Team Penske to nine victories in the Indianapolis 500 with drivers Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden.

The Early Relationship Between Penske Racing And Chevrolet

When Roger Penske was a racing driver, he drove Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, winning the Nassau Tourist Trophy in 1964, just one year after becoming general manager of a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia.

By the end of 1964, Penske made a career-defining decision. He purchased the Chevrolet dealership and retired as a race driver. He didn’t give up racing, however, as he transitioned to team ownership.

Since that time, Chevrolet and Team Penske have epitomized auto racing excellence and that historical link will continue.

“Chevrolet has been a terrific partner for our NTT IndyCar Series team, both on and off the track,” said team owner Roger Penske, who since November 2019 also owns IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. “While winning on the track is certainly important, Team Penske’s partnership with Chevrolet extends far beyond that. We are excited that this extension will take us well into the future as we work to build on the success we have enjoyed together in the IndyCar Series.”

Penske Racing And Chevrolet’s Early IndyCar Efforts

Team Penske first began competing in IndyCar with legendary driver Mark Donohue driving a Chevrolet-powered Eagle in the USAC-sanctioned race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on June 15, 1968.

Two years later, on July 3, 1970, Donohue scored the team’s first IndyCar pole position when he claimed the top qualifying spot for the USAC event at Sonoma Raceway in a Chevy-powered Lola T150.

The Ilmor Chevrolet V8 engine made its debut at the start of the 1986 season, ushering in the modern era for the manufacturer in IndyCar Series competition. Rick Mears’ 1987 victory at Pocono Raceway marked Team Penske’s first win with an Ilmor Chevy engine. Team Penske also helped produce the first Indianapolis 500 win for the Ilmor Chevy engine when Mears captured his third career victory at the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 1988.

“For decades, Team Penske and Chevrolet have had one of the strongest competitive relationships in all of motorsport, built on a foundation of trust, a shared commitment to technical excellence, and a relentless focus on winning,” said General Motors President Mark Reuss. “The results of our partnership speak for themselves, but we’re also driven by what comes next. This extension ensures our teams remain aligned and steadfast in our pursuit of more poles, more wins and more Indy 500 victories together.”

Since officially joining forces for the 1986 IndyCar Series season with a manufacturer-backed relationship, Team Penske and Chevrolet have visited Victory Lane on 125 occasions and have captured 157 pole positions, including Scott McLaughlin’s NTT P1 Award at Laguna Seca in September that represented Chevrolet’s 250th IndyCar Series pole position.

Team Penske’s Incredible Racing History

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports and is celebrating its 60th Anniversary during the 2026 season. From its first race in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 660 major race wins, over 700 pole positions and 48 National Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. In its storied history, the team has also earned 20 Indianapolis 500 victories, three Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win, victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, along with a win in Australia’s legendary Bathurst 1000 race. More than 100 drivers have raced for Team Penske over the course of its six decades.

The team currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NTT IndyCar Series, as well as IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship through a Team Penske global partnership with Porsche.

Future Relationship Solidified Between Team Penske and Chevrolet

I had a chance to talk to Team Penske President Jonathan Diuguid and Jim Campbell, Vice President, Performance and Motorsports Commercial Operations, General Motors, about the significance of these two historic operations continuing into the future.

“We’ve had a great relationship with General Motors throughout this era of the car and throughout the era of the 2.2-liter engine, we’ve had success with IndyCar Series Championships and Indy 500 wins,” Diuguid told me. “Honestly, it was a pretty short conversation to continue the partnership with them as we’ve been successful together. It’s been a fruitful relationship and can’t wait to get started in the new era of IndyCar with the new IR-28 car that begins competition in 2028.”

A new car built by Dallara along with a more robust 2.4-liter engine formula by Chevrolet and Honda will create more horsepower, more speed and more excitement for IndyCar and its teams.

That is why the slew of engine extensions announced this week have been important for Chevrolet. On October 6, Chevrolet announced an extension with Arrow McLaren and on the following day, ECR. Team Penske was the third engine agreement extension in as many days.

“As we head into the future, this is the time of year that we really button up all those agreements,” Campbell told me. “This has been a big week of announcements for Chevrolet with the Arrow McLaren extension, the ECR extension, and now the Team Penske extension.

“We’re really taking a relationship that goes back almost 26 years with Team Penske. It’s one of the most successful IndyCar series teams and the partnership, many of their wins and championships have come with Chevrolet power.”

Counting Chevrolet’s involvement with Team Penske going all the way back to the mid-1960s, and then later in IndyCar, the relationship actually goes back further than 26 years. But when Chevrolet returned to full-time IndyCar participation in 2012, Team Penske has been a constant.

“It’s been a great ride with Roger Penske and the Penske organization over the years,” Campbell said. “You talked about some of those early initiatives and wins we had, and then, of course, the Ilmor Chevrolet V8 that made its debut at the start of the 1986 season. We really had another round of amazing success together that included a lot of race wins in the series but also wins in the Indianapolis 500.

“We love the relationship. It’s based on a foundation of focus on competition, a lot of trust, and a focus on performance and winning. And that’s what’s going to continue here going forward for many years.”

Team Penske And Chevrolet On The New IndyCar 2.4-Liter Engine

Team Penske and Chevrolet certainly have a tremendous history of success, but the contract extension is all about the future. Both are determined to achieve even more success when the 2.4-liter engine, paired with the IR-28 hits the track against the Honda teams beginning in the 2028 NTT IndyCar Series season.

“This year is the 60th anniversary of Team Penske, so we’ve got a long history in racing, and so does General Motors,” Diuguid told me. “When two partners come together like that, the success speaks for itself. And GM is dedicated to being successful on the track, and we’re really proud to represent them in IndyCar as well.

“We’ve developed aero kits with GM, we’ve developed the 2.2-liter engine with GM, and we’re going to begin to start to develop the 28 car and the 2.4-liter engine that comes along with it.”

A major bonus is Team Penske is located in Mooresville, North Carilina. The GM Charlotte Performance Center is located 23 miles away in Concord, North Carolina, near the Hendrick Motorsports Campus.

“Our proximity to the GM Technical Center in Concord and the facilities and resources they have there is a real benefit for our team and a benefit for General Motors,” Diuguid explained. “The proximity and the partnership there is something we rely on every day, whether it’s the driver simulator or dynos or simulation rigs or drivetrain rigs that they have in that building, all to make it faster and more successful on track.

“The development process has already started with the engine partner, Ilmor and Chevrolet, so the engine development is already pretty far along the road. I think the first time it will go in a car will be the end of the first quarter beginning of the beginning of the second quarter in 2027 so that will be the first time it hits the track. But that development work has already started, and General Motors made significant investments with consolidating all of their motorsports programs in the GM Technical Center, whether it’s NASCAR or Formula One or IndyCar or Sports Cars. Having all those resources centrally located really allows us to extract and utilize all those things to where we don’t have to necessarily put the car on track, and we can simulate pretty much everything else from a full car to a full powertrain to completely in the digital world with the driving simulators.”

Drive, Vision And Determination Have Forged A Dynasty

It takes a tremendous effort to be successful in any sporting endeavor, but it takes incredible drive and vision to be a dynasty. That is what Team Penske has achieved over the past 60 years as the most successful racing team in Indianapolis 500 history with a record 20 wins, and 17 IndyCar Series Championships. That was a record that was broken this year by Chip Ganassi Racing as Alex Palou won that team’s 18th IndyCar Series title.

Chevrolet and Team Penske are already plotting and scheming to win another IndyCar Series Championship in 2027 and beyond.

“The partnership with Roger Penske over all these years, it’s been fantastic,” Campbell said. “We’re proud to be partners with him. What I love is the will and drive he has to compete at the highest levels, to win races, the biggest ones of all, including the Indy 500, to win championships. That focus is every single day. I see the same thing with our General Motors president, the focus not only in our automobile business, but when it comes to performance in the racing platforms that we have at our company. It’s the same focus, so it’s the parallel goal. We’re in sync and we love that.

“And one thing that I also appreciate about racing with Team Penske, when you win a big race like an Indy 500 and you go to Winner’s Circle and you are able to celebrate with the team, the unique thing that you often hear from Roger Penske is, ‘let’s get another one next year.’

“While you’re in Winner’s Circle for that race. He’s already thinking about what’s next, and I love that lean forward, look ahead, and always focused on ‘how do we get another win, another championship in racing?’

“It’s motivating, and it’s exciting.”

In the case of Chevrolet and Team Penske, it’s also the key to their historic and legendary success.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com