Team Penske Nominated For Sports Team Of The Year

The Sports Business Journal announced today that Team Penske has been named a finalist in the Sports Team of the Year category for the eighth annual Sports Business Awards. Team Penske is the only motorsports program to be nominated this year for the prestigious award. Other Team of the Year finalists include the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, the Seattle Seahawks from the NFL and Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals.

The winner will be announced on May 20, 2015 at the awards ceremony to be held at the New York Marriott Marquis at Times Square.  

“It is a tremendous honor that Team Penske has been named as a finalist for the Sports Business Journal Professional Sports Team of the Year,” said team owner Roger Penske. “This is one of the most prestigious awards in the sports business world and it is a testament to our people along with our business partners and the tremendous amount of work we have accomplished together over the past year. We are fortunate to represent many of the world’s leading brands and our team has been able to win with them both on and off the track.”  

Launched in 2008, the Sports Business Awards were established by the Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily to celebrate and recognize the leaders, visionaries and day-to-day practitioners who personify excellence in the business of sports. The 2015 nominees and winners are recognized for excellence and outstanding achievement in sports business for the period spanning March 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015. 

In Team Penske’s nearly 50-year history, the organization has won over 400 major races, a record 15 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 titles and 27 national championships.  

The 2014 season was a landmark year for the team, as it included unprecedented championships in both the Verizon IndyCar Series with Will Power – the 13^th open-wheel title for Team Penske – and the NASCAR XFINITY Series, where the No. 22 team took home it’s second-straight owners’ title. In addition, both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano finished inside the top five in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings, with Logano in contention for the title heading into the final race of the season. Across INDYCAR and NASCAR, all six of Team Penske’s full-time drivers and cars finished in the top five in series points with 22 wins equating to a winning percentage of 25 percent of the total races run. 

For Team Penske, the 2014 season also saw historic expansion. In September, they announced the addition of Simon Pagenaud to their INDYCAR lineup, joining Power, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya to create a fourth entry for the first time in the history of Verizon IndyCar Series competition., Team Penske’s 2015 four-driver lineup all finished among the top five in the 2014 championship standings. Team Penske also formed an alliance with Australia’s oldest and most established motorsports team – Dick Johnson Racing – to create DJR Team Penske, which is competing in the 2015 Australian V8 Supercars Championship.  

In addition to Team Penske being nominated for the SBJ Team of the Year award, NASCAR was also nominated for the Sports League of the Year and NASCAR Chairman Brian France was nominated for the Sports Executive of the Year.