Penske expanding Nationwide team
Penske had been only an occasional entrant in the series until this year. The team made its debut with a one-race deal with Rusty Wallace in 1997 and didn’t run again until competing in 15 races with Ryan Newman in 2001.
Five years later, Penske ran 15 races with three drivers and run part time in 2007 and 2008, too.
But sponsorship from Verizon Wireless helped Penske decide to bump up to a full team for 2009, though it was a scramble. Allgaier was originally supposed to run only a handful of races, so crew chief Chad Walter began scrambling to get the No. 12 Dodge team ready for the full season.
“I had a meeting with our team – it might’ve been the day before we left to go to Daytona in February – and I said, ‘Look, no matter what happens, you’ve got to be proud of what you’ve done from December to now,’ because we literally had nothing," Walter said.
A backup car for Daytona was only completed the week before the race, so Walter encouraged his fledgling team to temper expectations. Some weeks, they’ll do really well. Other weeks, well, no one will get it.
Walter said the goal was to simply finish in the top 10 in points, and Allgaier did that, coming home sixth. Allgaier didn’t win a race, but he posted three top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and was crowned Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
“This year’s been a lot about building potential," Walter said. “You have to have potential before you can cash in on it."
Penske Racing President Tim Cindric said his group learned this year, its first as a full-time team.
“We learned a lot this year," Cindric said. “Running a single-car team for us was probably the best approach because we got to understand a bit more what it’s going to take to run at a championship level next year. Running a two-car team is going to be much different than running a one-car team."
Adding a second team isn’t as simple as doubling the number of cars and personnel, though.
“Once you go to a multicar team, you’ve got to have somebody to referee once in awhile," Cindric said. “But more importantly, you’ve got to have someone who’s looking after all the other things besides how you go fast."
Cindric said a team manager will be hired to supervise the Nationwide program. Plus, the Nationwide team moved into the area formerly housing Penske’s sports-car team on Dec. 6.
Crew chief Paul Wolfe was hired to lead Keselowski’s No. 22 team, and more personnel will be brought on in the coming weeks.
And though Keselowski’s team will be new, he figures to be a contender for the 2010 championship. That’s part of the reason why he decided to run both Sprint Cup and Nationwide next year.
“The goal there is to be that first guy to get [team owner] Roger Penske a NASCAR championship, whether that’s Nationwide or Cup," Keselowski said. “I want to be that guy. That’d be cool.
“I think I’m in an awesome position for that. I think. Maybe six months form now, I’ll say, ‘I didn’t realize how hard this was going to be.’ But with the transition of the new car, it essentially scraps a good portion of fleets. So you’re starting from scratch there. The economic situation right now has a lot of good people looking.
“We already have a sponsor. So that means we have the money to do it, there’s people available. And there’s no equipment that you’re really behind on. I think it’s a good year to do it."
Even Allgaier could be considered a title contender, despite his relative inexperience in the series.
“The kid can drive cars," Walter said. “As an example, Kevin Harvick runs 600 laps more than Justin Allgaier and does 14 more pit stops [on a weekend]. Not to mention his 14 years of experience beforehand. That’s always an Achilles heel that we have to circumvent.
“Do I think we’re capable of doing it? Yeah, I do. I think he’s got everything it takes from a talent standpoint, and he’s learned how to race.
“With feedback from a bonafide teammate and twice as much data for me to sort through and twice as much resources, I think he’s legitimate."
Running for a championship is only part of the reason why Penske Racing is in the Nationwide Series. It wants to be able to develop crew chiefs, engineers and crew members for its Cup program.
“There are certain guys, they’re ceiling is there," Cindric said. “Those guys are typically very good parts of the team and they’re very important to the team. But they know and we know that’s their level."
There are others, though, who are talented enough to move to Cup at some point in the careers. Still, Cindric said the Nationwide program needs to be balanced.
“If you keep moving everybody up, then you really don’t have any continuity," Cindric said. “You want those who know, ‘Hey, I’m going to work in the Nationwide program for the next two to five years.’ Then there are other ones you want who have the potential to prove themselves there and can start to fill holes [on the Cup level]."
Walter is one such employee who Penske officials will eventually move to Cup.
“We want to see him as a Cup engineer in our organization someday," Cindric said.
Having opportunities to advance makes Penske a more attractive team, Cindric said.
Still, Walter said his crew members aren’t looking ahead. Winning races and performing well in the Nationwide Series is what’s on their minds.
“The guys that are at Penske Racing that are involved in the Nationwide program, this is what we do," Walter said. “I pour my heart and soul into this, no less than somebody does over on the Cup side. This is my life, this is Justin’s career – however you want to look at it. I take this very seriously, and it’s run very similarly." scenedaily.com