Which departure is the bigger story …. McLaughlin or Penske?

So, there it is: The two worst-kept secrets in Motorsport are no longer. 

Scott McLaughlin is off to IndyCar and Roger Penske departs the Australian motorsport landscape after a five-year tenure that saw him win three championships, Bathurst and a whole lot of motor races. 

I will come to the young Kiwi superstar in a minute because it’s worth discussing the American Billionaire’s departure first. 

Penske’s introduction to the sport came with much fanfare and a promise to offer the investment and commercial contacts to help rebuild the storied Dick Johnson Racing into a powerhouse team once again. 

He did that, and more. During his time in Supercars, ‘The Captain’ not only saw the famous Queensland team restored to its competitive self, but also helped draw Ford back in as a major manufacturer to the Supercars championship. 

‘The Captain’ Roger Penske at the Bathurst 1000 in 2019

His commercial contacts saw a host of sponsors, and finally Shell’s Australian distributor, sign up to adorn the pair of DJR Team Penske Fords, ensuring the financial viability of the team. 

And of course, he provided a technical package that enabled a young Kiwi superstar to basically dominate the sport for three or four years. 

The influence Roger Penske leaves on the sport here is as significant as the investment he made in it and it is impossible to argue he doesn’t leave Dick Johnson Racing in a better place. 

Penske’s influence wasn’t so much in the ongoing support of the team, it was in giving it the tools to return to the front of the field and, ideally, stay there. 

His lasting legacy, at least from the team’s point of view, will be leaving them with the facilities, methodology, people and processes with which to continue being a competitive force in the championship for as long as they have the budget and drivers able to do the job. 

That the team is Dick Johnson Racing, one of the last true links to the past of Australian Touring Car racing, makes it even more significant. Penske’s departure, while sad, is not a major blow for the championship as long as the DJR part of the DJR Team Penske marriage continues to thrive. 

Penske’s own release blamed the current Covid-19 situation as the reason for his departure, and that makes sense. Others have speculated at his displeasure at the Bathurst saga last year as playing a role but on that I suspect we’ll never know because he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to air his dirty laundry. 

Either way, it was clear that his stake in a race team on the other side of the world was a small fry compared to the enormous undertaking he has with his own businesses, let alone the fact he now owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the IndyCar series itself. 

So while we’ll miss having the Penske name attached to Supercars, it’s understandable and not a critical blow to the championship. 

Losing Scott McLaughlin, however, is a different story. 

The now three-time champion is clearly the most popular full-time driver in the sport at present, with a strong public persona, an active media presence and the kind of clout not seen by an individual driver since Craig Lowndes was still a full-timer. 

No one will begrudge him taking the opportunity of a lifetime to go and race IndyCars for Roger Penske. It’sa chance few drivers get to make, especially ones at his point in his career. It speaks volumes for just highly regarded the Kiwi is within the Penske organisation; while from the outside we could all tell he was pretty, no, very special, the metrics they have on the inside must be spectacular as well. 

Scott will perform superbly in IndyCar, of that I have no doubt. Penske wouldn’t have given him a shot if the team didn’t think he would be capable of doing it and certainly his debut performance in St. Petersburg last weekend was proof enough that he’ll be in the mix sooner, rather than later. 

His loss to Supercars is significant, however, and the sport will be looking for next natural successor to step up to fill the void that he leaves. 

It’s odd, isn’t it – this is probably the only time that in a game of ‘who is the most important to the sport’, Roger Penske actually second. Such is the strange motorsport landscape in which we exist down here. 

Scott McLaughlin is the sport’s biggest star at present and it strikes me that superstar drivers of Scott McLaughlin’s ilk are just as hard, if not harder, to find than billionaire team owners. 

Even if that particular billionaire team owner is Roger Penske.

Working full time in the motorsport industry since 2004, Richard has established himself within the group of Australia’s core motorsport broadcasters, covering the support card at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix for Channel 10, the Bathurst 12 Hour for Channel 7 and RadioLeMans plus Porsche Carrera Cup & Touring Car Masters for FOX Sports’ Supercars coverage. Works a PR bloke for several teams and categories, is an amateur motorsport photographer and owns five cars, most of them Holdens, of varying vintage and state of disrepair.

http://www.theracetorque.com/

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