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Team Penske Has Dominated Indy 500 Qualifying

Speedway, IN, 5/11/2008 – With Ryan Briscoe?s third fastest time on ?Pole Day? yesterday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparations for the 92nd running of the Indy 500, it marked the record 35th time a Team Penske car will start on the front row.
Roger Penske?s stellar operation has dominated qualifying at the Indianapolis 500 dating back to 1971 when original Team Penske driver, Mark Donohue qualified second to Peter Revson.

Penske?s first Indy 500 pole occurred in 1977 when the ?gasman? Tom Sneva broke both one-lap and four-lap qualifying records enroute in breaking the historic 200 mph barrier. Sneva backed it up the following year taking the pole with rookie Penske teammate, Rick Mears qualifying a surprising third.

Mears himself captured the pole the next year and also won the 1979 ?500? his first and Penske?s second (Donohue-1972) win.

The personable Mears who?s first IndyCar win occurred at the historic Milwaukee Mile in June, 1978 would go on to a record six pole positions (1979, 82, 86, 88, 89, 91) and eleven front row starting spots at the venerable ?Brickyard.?

Two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves has captured two poles with Team Penske (2003, 07) along with the aforementioned Sneva, Bobby Unser in 1981, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1990, Al Unser, Jr. in 1994 and Sam Hornish, Jr. in 2006. Mario Andretti was overall fast qualifier for Team Penske in 1976 however did it on the second weekend of qualification, thus started 19th.

This year, fan-favorite, Helio Castroneves will be looking to earn his third Indianapolis 500 victory after winning back-to-back races in 2001 and 2002, an historic achievement when you consider he won ?500? in his first two attempts. Castroneves, the defending pole sitter claimed Penske Racing?s record 14th pole at the ?Brickyard? last year.

Team Penske?s pair of drivers return to the Speedway with the support of the most successful racing team ever to compete at the Indianapolis 500.

A look at Penske Racing?s impressive numbers at the Indianapolis 500:
14 Victories
14 Pole Positions
76 Starts (with 19 different drivers)
10 Different Winning Drivers
6 Wins from the Pole
35 Front Row Starts
1,835 Laps Led in Competition

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