With 224 Indy car wins since 1971, nobody has done it better than boss Roger Penske’s team.
Mark Donohue was team owner Roger Penske’s first Indianapolis 500 winner with his win at the Brickyard in 1972. Donohue’s win at Michigan in 1971 in the Michigan 200 was Penske’s first as a team owner in Indy car racing.
Gary Bettenhausen was Penske’s second driver in Indy cars to make it to victory lane. He started 15 races for The Captain and won both the Trenton 201 in 1972 and the Texas 200 in 1973.
Super Mario made 23 starts for Penske between 1976 and 1980. He scored wins at the Trenton 150 in 1978 and at the Michigan 150 in 1980.
Probably best known as the driver to first break the 200-mph barrier at Indianapolis in 1977, Sneva had a solid run with Penske with 54 starts between 1975 and 1978. His first win for the team came at the Michigan 150 in 1975. He was also Penske’s second 500-mile race winner, winning at Pocono in 1977.
Al Unser made 59 starts in Indy cars for Penske, but none bigger than the one that led to his Indianapolis 500 triumph in 1987. He also won at Cleveland and Pocono for Team Penske.
Juan Pablo Montoya, currently a mainstay on Roger Penske’s Acura team in the IMSA sports car series, won four races in 52 starts for Penske in IndyCar. He won the Indianapolis 500 for Penske in 2015. One of the most versatile drivers of this era, he’s also won in Formula 1, NASCAR Cup and IMSA.
Ryan Briscoe won at least one race in four of his five seasons with Team Penske. His best season was 2009, when he won three races, took four poles and finished on the podium in 11 of 17 races. He finished third that season in the championship. Briscoe started 82 races for Penske in Indy cars.
The pride of tiny Defiance, Ohio, put together a dream season for Team Penske in 2006, winning the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar season championship. He raced one more season for Penske in Indy cars and tallied 64 starts before moving to NASCAR full time to race for The Captain in 2008.
Gil de Ferran won at least one race in each of his four seasons with Team Penske. He announced his retirement from Indy cars following the 2003 season, despite winning the final race and finishing second in the IndyCar Series championship that year. He started 71 races for Penske.
The first of three Unsers to drive for Penske, Bobby Unser became the team’s third Indy 500 winner. He started 37 races and won 11, giving him the best winning percentage (0.297) of any Team Penske driver in the team’s history.
Emerson Fittipaldi was a road and street master for Penske during his run of 109 races for the team. He won at Detroit, Cleveland, Mid-Ohio twice and Portland before finally winning on the big oval at Indianapolis in 1993.
Paul Tracy was a beast for Team Penske in his first full year in the Indy car ride, winning five races, finishing on the podium eight times en route to a third-place finish in the CART championship. He finished the Penske portion of his long career with 11 wins in 76 starts.
Simon Pagenaud was winless in his first season with Team Penske in 2015 before storming back to win five races and the IndyCar championship in 2016. His next best season was in 2019 when he won three times and captured the 18th Indy 500 trophy for the team. Pagenaud has 96 starts, and counting, for Penske.
Danny Sullivan, known best for his “spin and win” at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, made 91 Indy car starts for Team Penske. That Indy 500 victory was his first win for The Captain.
Talk about first impressions. Al Unser Jr. joined Team Penske in 1994. All he did that year was win eight of 16 races and finish on the podium three other times on his way to the CART championship. His win at the 1994 Indianapolis 500 was part of a dominant stretch that saw Little Al win five of six races. He started 101 races for Team Penske and is one of five racers to reach the 100-start barrier for the team in Indy cars.
Josef Newgarden is another who hit the ground running, winning championships in two of his first three years for Team Penske. He’s notched 15 wins in 65 starts. At 30, expect Newgarden to continue marching up the all-time wins list for the team.
Rick Mears, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, celebrates the 1984 Indy 500 win with Penske. Mears started 192 Indy car races, second most among all Team Penske drivers, and sits third on the team’s all-time wins list. Mears in 1979 became Penske’s second Indy 500 winner.
Known as the series’ Spider-Man for his penchant for climbing fences after winning races, Castroneves is one of the most prolific racers for Team Penske. He leads the team with 309 career Indy car starts and is second on the wins list with 30. Three of those wins came at Indianapolis (2001, 2002 and 2009).
Will Power, the all-time leader in Indy car wins for Team Penske with 36 in 187 starts, has a championship (2014) and Indy 500 win (2018) on his list of accomplishments. He has at least one win in each of his 12 seasons with Penske. Since his first full season with the team in 2010, Power has never finished lower than fifth in the season championship standings.
Scott McLaughlin joined the Team Penske IndyCar win club in 2022 when he won the season-opening race from the pole at St. Petersburg. The past Australia Supercar champion has plenty of time to add to Team Penske’s rich heritage.
Keyword: All 20 Indy Car Race Winners in Team Penske History, from Mark Donohue to Scott McLaughlin