Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears used the public opening of the Team Penske’s 50th anniversary exhibit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum to unveil the car Castroneves will drive in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. The announcement was part of the many activities to commemorate the 100 days out countdown to the historic race May 29.
Castroneves’ Pennzoil-sponsored car will again use the famed “Yellow Submarine” livery as he seeks to join Mears, Al Unser and A.J. Foyt in the Indy 500’s exclusive four-time winners’ club. The iconic livery, which Castroneves ran in 2014, is the same used by Mears in his 1984 and ’88 wins.
“Last time we ran with these colors was 2014 and we finished second,” said Castroneves, who jokingly called the car the “Yelio Submarine” to rhyme with his name. “I don’t want to finish second anymore. We want to make it happen and it’s great Shell-Pennzoil has given me the opportunity do run this car on such a special day. Not only the 100th Running of the Indy 500, but in the 50th anniversary of Team Penske.”
The Team Penske exhibit will put a spotlight on 50 years of racing history, tradition and heritage with an amazing 22-car collection at the Hall of Fame Museum. The exhibit will feature an extensive lineup of the team’s Indy cars, stock cars, Formula One and sports cars accompanied by an array of memorabilia and trophies. The collection of Indianapolis 500-winning cars starts with Mark Donohue’s from 1972 along with cars driven to IMS Victory Lane by Mears, Bobby Unser, Danny Sullivan, Unser, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr., Castroneves, Gil de Ferran and Sam Hornish Jr.
Also on display for the first time under one roof will be both the 2015 Indianapolis 500 and 2015 Daytona 500 winning cars of Penske drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Joey Logano. The Team Penske exhibit will run from Feb. 19-Nov. 30, giving racing fans plenty of opportunity to see the winning collection.
“This puts a size on 50 years,” Mears said. “It’s hard to think about how big 50 years is physically, but when you walk in and see everything from 50 years in one place, so to speak, it lets you put a size to it. The magnitude of it is really what jumps out at you at first and then you think about the history and what has really taken place over that length of time.”
