Penske has had tumultuous season

Dennis Passa

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 7:24 a.m.

Roger Penske sits in a crowded team trailer looking as good as a man can amid the most tumultuous and tragic season in his 30 years of racing.

Engine and chassis problems contributed to a lack of success, and Penske did not renew the contract of slump-ridden Al Unser Jr. Then, the team was deeply shaken by the death of Uruguayan rookie Gonzalo Rodriguez in a practice crash last month in Monterey, Calif.

Although 1999 has been dreadful for Penske, it hardly is an aberration for the team that went from being the best in CART - with seven championships - to the status of non-contender.

"I looked at my results over the last five years, and we really haven't been able to meet the expectations of myself personally or the team," said Penske, dressed in his trademark crisp white Hugo Boss shirt and black slacks. "I felt that a wholesale change was in order."

A drought of 49 races since Paul Tracy won in 1997 has stranded Penske with a Champ car record 99 victories. So he dumped his own Penske chassis at midseason for a Reynard, said he will change engines next year from Mercedes to Honda, and released longtime friend Unser.

Even the timing of the announcements was a departure from Penske's policy of waiting until the end of the year. The driver changes - to Greg Moore and Gil de Ferran - were announced in August. The other moves have come in spurts in the past two months.

Perhaps the most difficult was ending his six-year association with Unser. Since teaming with Penske in 1994, Unser has 12 of his 31 victories. Now, mired in a career-worst losing streak and ready move to the rival Indy Racing League, Unser will drive only once more for Penske.

"I wish him all the best," Penske said. "It's a wakeup call for us, it's a wakeup call for him."

A few seasons ago, that seemed unthinkable. Unser had a CART record-tying eight victories - including his second win and Penske's 10th in the Indianapolis 500 - and his second series championship in 1994.

That, not a decline that began when none of his cars made the Indy field in 1995, will be the way Penske would prefer to remember the Unser era.

"We're still great friends and we'll support each other wherever we go," Penske said. "We looked at it as a transition."

Unser, expected soon to formalize a contract with Galles Racing to jump to the IRL, is winless in 70 races pending his final start Oct. 31 at California Speedway. So, the 37-year-old driver agrees that a change was in order.

"It really wasn't that hard of a decision," he said. "This is another corner we're taking."

Rounding them next year for Penske will be Moore, 24, and de Ferran, 31. Penske thinks he has the drivers who can help him move back toward the top.

"He's got a long career ahead of him, and he comes to us as a seasoned winner, which is important," Penske said of Moore. "De Ferran obviously is a winner.

"He has a tremendous understanding of cars and technology. I think the balance of those two guys will be tremendous for our team."

Penske likes the mixture of youth and experience of his new drivers.

"I really at this point couldn't get into a driving school," he said. "We had a tragic situation this year, and I thought the best thing to do was to have two proven winners."

On Sept. 11, Rodriguez, a promising driver in only his second race for Penske, hit a concrete wall at about 140 mph during practice for the Shell 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway.

It was the second death of a Penske driver. His close friend, Mark Donohue, who won the 1972 Indianapolis 500, was killed three years later during practice for the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix.

"If you lose a driver, you can't say anything else but that it's been tragic," Penske said of the Rodriguez death.

So, he moves on, and hopes Moore and de Ferran will help him turn it around.

"I have a good feeling we'll be very competitive next year," de Ferran said.

But if they aren't, Penske won't be looking for anyone to blame.

"I don't think that's fair," he said. "The bucks stop here."