Roger Penske was a successful racing driver until he stepped out of the cockpit in 1964 to concentrate on his business interests. He didn’t stay away from motorsports for long, however, because by 1966 Penske Racing was competing in several sports car racing series.
By the early ’70s, Penske Racing had won races or championships in nearly every category it entered, including USAC Champ Cars and the SCCA’s Trans-Am and Can-Am Challenge. At the center of most of the team’s success was driver Mark Donohue, a long-time friend of Penske’s who earned a reputation as a deep-thinking, engineering-oriented driver. Donohue retired from driving after winning the 1973 Can-Am title in Penske’s Sunoco Porsche 917-30. But a new challenge would soon lure him back.
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