Penske's NASCAR Dark Years

[@TheIceberg]

Who is your favorite Penske driver?

[@JackCallSports]

Ngl david Stremme

[@Flashdafishy]

Brad k because he’s a Michigander

[@kylebuschfan1898]

Dave Blaneys’ Son Ryan

[@Jason-qt5js]

Blaney

[@najaethecarsfan1078]

Logano and Blaney!!! 😎

[@Rooster84]

Can’t forget how Sam Hornish rewrote the rule book for the All Star race

[@PttyBlue43]

Normally when one Penske program is doing awful, the others are thriving. The Indycar team won 30 races between 06 and 10 while the IMSA team won three LMP2 championships in a row and won Sebring overall.

[@nathanstroud2223]

I attended all three PLMs that Penske entered with the RS Spyder (should've been four, but they pushed back the 2005 debut of the car to the finale at Laguna Seca when it was originally gonna be Petit), plus I also visited the Penske shop during this time and saw the Porsches there, so I guess you could say those cars became pretty familiar and special to me.

[@PttyBlue43]

@ I meant to say Sebring but man that must’ve been cool. Would’ve loved to see the RS Spyder in person

[@xavierjuno4572]

I mean it makes sense there's only so many resources to go around even for a big company like Penske

[@BraydenBunch58]

Imagine telling someone back in 2008 that Penske would win 3 consecutive championships, They’d think you’re crazy!

[@DominicApps]

Its crazy how we could be in a 4 year hendrick dynasty w/o the playoffs with larson elliot byron larson but instead we have 3 mickey penske championships in a row. I guess its what they get for kicking ass with johnson for 5 years

[@xavierjuno4572]

Honestly I'm just happy for Penske considering that out of the big 3, his team has had relatively the least amount of success

[@JackCallSports]

The fact they made Kurt Busch lose his mind shows how mediocre they were

[@TheIceberg]

Lol, he probably made them lose their minds to at the time

[@yourejovian]

Prob not hard to do

[@youfillmylifewithjello6661]

He is an insane alcoholic

[@lukeminosky2485]

It wasn’t really that hard for Kurt to lose his mind pre shr lol

[@RazorSharp75426]

They didn't call Kurt "The Outlaw" for nothing, didn't they?

[@DavidStewart-np3cj]

The cash input of Pennzoil really helped them. (Even Kurt Busch in 2011 was very competitive and Brad K won 5 races)….Miller Lite and Altel just werent writting big enough checks after 2006.

[@caiden6443]

At 6:17, I'd like to point out that Alltel didn't leave, they merged with Verizon around the end of 2008/ off-season before 2009, and they could've fought their contract like AT&T did when the merged with Cingular on the 31 car, but didn't so they used the Verizon sponsor in Nationwide and the Penske sponsor in Cup, and they were identical paint schemes. They also did this for 2010 but Verizon scaled back their sponsorship bc of the Cup series debacle

[@swinny5797]

Its kind of sad that Penske's bad years were basically because the Dodge was a super sexy brick of a car compared to the others. Still sad we never got to see the Gen 6 Charger race at all though

[@TheJordan9903]

That Gen 6 Charger looked so good we they revealed it. Still on the things that makes me upset when I think about it lol

[@xavierjuno4572]

Ya sadly looks don't win championships and out of all the manufacturers back then Dodge had probably the least amount of success

[@adepressednygiantsfan]

Its all because Joe Log and his even year magic wasnt there at the time

[@TheIceberg]

Roger knew with the 2013 big brain hiring!

[@LessGo7921]

Kurt Busch’s 2009 carry job doesn’t remotely get the respect it should. Best non Hendrick driver while both his teammates were sub p25-30 drivers

[@runrafarunthebestintheworld]

Kurt Busch 2010 "F*** these tires". 😅😅

[@milogunther5024]

Each of the 3 major teams have had "dark ages". HMS 2017-2019, Penske 2006-2010, JGR 2011-2014. But each had at least 1 driver do well in at least one year. HMS had Chase Elliott, Penske had Kurt Busch in 2009, JGR had Matt Kenseth in 2013

[@nathanstroud2223]

6:12 "The most interesting part of that year is the fact that this Penske team really had no sponsorship. They had Alltel leave them when Ryan Newman left, and they picked up Verizon." Alltel didn't leave, they got bought out by Verizon, hence the rebrand that just happened to coincide with Newman leaving the team. In fact, if you count Alltel and Verizon as the same entity, then you'd have to say that's one of the more enduring partnerships in racing that still continues to this day. They've been a primary sponsor in at least one branch of the Penske racing empire, be that NASCAR, ARCA, IndyCar or Grand Am, since 2000. That's a quarter century and counting.

[@redguysimracing2382]

Growing up a Rusty Wallace fan, 2003 & 2004 were a rough couple years.

[@81casperflip]

I still wonder what would have happened if they had picked Allgaier instead of Stremme

[@karlsingleton6115]

The NASCAR version of the phrase “Things will get better”.

[@szymonkunda2197]

Honestly the fact that Penske won last three championships kind of overshadows the fact that in reality they are mostly solid but not spectacular and dominant team. Since NextGen they haven't been great and I know it sounds crazy as they are undefeated in this era but well there's your playoff format

[@rzr-sm2fk]

The #2 car was really good in '93,'94 when Buddy Parrot was crew chief.After buddy left there was noticable decline for several years

[@chrisguardiano6143]

Totally agree with 2006-2010 being the dark period for Penske in NASCAR. Now when it comes to Indycar, I would say the only dark period that they have had was when they jumped ship from CART to the IRL in 2003 & they struggled with Toyota engines during that transition. However once they switched to Honda for 2006, they have been dominant in Indycar ever since, even when they switched to Chevy engines in 2012. One thing that people may not know about Penske is that they competed in F1 in the 1970's as both a chassis constructor & as a full time team. However unlike their efforts in NASCAR & Indycar, Penske struggled big time in F1 only getting one win in 3 seasons (1974-1976) with John Watson at the 1976 Austrian GP.

[@jacekatalakis8316]

I dunno,1995-9 in CART can be argued as a dark period for many,many reasons,and a good chunk of that is Little Al,and the Penske PC chassis ideas. AL should have won in 96 at Elkhart but his engine decided to be a mosquito sprayer, from 96 to 99, no wins, mid pack performance,stuck with a down on power Mercedes engine, and a bad set of chassis for the years. PT went off a cliff in 97 as well don't forget and got himself fired after a red hot start to the year

[@blowncopcar]

3 straight "championships"

[@hunternixonfishing2500]

My favorite Penske driver is Ryan Blaney. And he’s finally come into his own as a championship contender year in and year out

[@MegaMr46]

Although Brad Keselowski became a late bloomer in Penske as he had (literally) break a leg and had a hell of a turn around win 2 races before the Chase was set

[@AJHelotie]

4:10 If I had a nickel for every time someone got a lucky New Hampshire win because of rain in the COT era, I’d have 2 nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

[@BuschWhackerReviews]

Worth noting that Alltel didn’t leave after 2008, Verizon bought Alltel so it’s the same sponsorship basically

[@JGR4LIFE20]

Surprised that Black Flags Matter didn’t make a bad seasons Penske 2008 video

[@BraydenBunch58]

There wasn’t enough 2008 Penske for him to plagiarize

[@ic3man]

@@BraydenBunch58cold, but true

[@jim394]

Good video but you should've explained more what happened with AJ's drug test problem and Hornish temporarily returning.

[@victoruribe2465]

Today, Team Penske is one the best teams along with Hendrick & Gibbs in the Cup Series.

[@midwesttrainchasers8587]

Penske 00-05 89 ovr Penske 06-11 83 ovr PENSKE 12-17 98 ovr Penske 18-24 99 ovr

[@jackelofnar]

It provides the right manufacturer is so important

[@shodrickrasco2628]

Still wished Ryan Blaney would have won the title, but I'm proud of Team Penske

[@JavierEchavarria-y5l]

This is why they need to be stopped once and for all for the sake of the people

[@bostonwarrior4824]

Kurt Busch yeah was an absolute maniac, crazed lunatic at that time. But I mean he still won some races. Ultimately I just think that drama was just too much though. He had just a horrible attitude there for years and you could tell it kind of hurt the people around him. Glad though he reformed himself

[@ihave40winsyt]

idiots ruined prime ryan newman

[@mikeybrown6526]

smh fr

[@SuperNASCARrocks]

2008 to 2010 was pretty bad for Penske. Especially when a rookie Keselowski came on board.

[@karlcalvert812]

Championship system plays into their hands these days

[@jimobrien9104]

I forgot Kurt even drove the 22

[@NASCARFAN93100]

From 2008-2010 Mediocrity to 2022-2024 Dominance

[@cito1101]

3:43 A big What??

[@szymonkunda2197]

BUTT

[@robertstone9988]

Sucks what happend to aj in the 22 car. Guy got fired over bad drug test.

[@dustinplemmons]

Dodge didnt leave Penske, Penske left Dodge for Ford. lol

[@gustavosanchez2714]

Bring back 06 to 2010 again

[@kcbob8004]

They won 3 "playoffs"

[@hamlinfanatic11]

Penske's Championships in the Playoff format don't matter

[@xavierjuno4572]

Well like I always say hate the game and not the players and it seems to me that Penske are the better players

[@kcbob8004]

@@xavierjuno4572 That's the problem too many people are starting to hate the game. look a the grandstands each week.

[@pat02537]

6:28...Verizon bought Alltel

[@ryanoflaherty5225]

How how HOW was David Stremme hired. He was terrible in the two years he had before he joined!!

[@Colombiaballnr2055]

Dude imagine if Jamie McMurray actually ran the Bluetooth 2006 to 2010 which if we know anything about how Jamie McMurray career was in the mid to late 2010s as we all know he went when was an 06 when the Pepsi 400 2007 he did not won to race in 2008 somehow he won in the full Talladega race of 2009 and then in 2010 he won the Daytona 500 don't break your 400 and the Bank of America 500 and for all the only one like five races in the mid-2000s which is he actually did ran the Bluetooth I wouldn't be at least I will be the same thing as for those years he might win a couple races but still if he actually get the phone call I will merely say that it will be the same thing then help Penske racing was in 2006-2010 this is just a what if

[@jmed412]

Alltel was bought by Verizon.

[@elitegamer21005]

Penske should have stuck with Dodge….

[@zt5547]

Yeah, look how badly things turned with Ford, they won only 4 championships in the past 7 seasons lol