It all began In late November 1971 when Team Penske ran a “super secret” test on the American Motors Matador at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The only people present were Team Penske engineer Chuck Cantwell, driver Mark Donohue, technicians from Holman & Moody which built the car, and officials from American Motors. Satisfied with the results, two weeks later American Motors announced that they would provide factory support for the Matador in NASCAR.
Team Penske had an ambitious auto racing schedule in 1972. They started out the season participating in four NASCAR races. By the end of March, they turned their eyes to their fourth attempt to win the Indianapolis 500. After winning the Indianapolis 500, they went on to participate in Can-Am races. With the exception of participating in sports car races, they participated on a limited basis in both NASCAR and USAC. Mark Donohue was the only driver for Team Penske.
Donohue started from the fourth position in the opening race at Riverside in January. Unfortunately, the linkage for the rear axle pulled out from the frame on the 14th lap and he finished in 39th place. Penske entered an undersized 366 cubic inch engine compared to other teams which ran with 427 cubic inch engines for the Daytona 500. Donohue was knocked out of the race with a push rod failure for a 35th place finish. Donohue was back-ended by Bobby Isaac on lap 47 in the Ontario race. The crash sent Donohue into the wall and he finished 44th. Before Team Penske turned their eyes toward participating in the Indianapolis 500, Donohue had his best finish of the season, 15th at the Atlanta 500 despite having lost control of his car and spinning it on the front straightaway. He was able to continue but his car later overheated.
In the off-season, Donohue worked on the set-up of the AMC Matador to improve its performance. Veteran NASCAR racer Bobby Unser believed that Donohue had an advantage in the first race of the season since the car utilized championship style brakes. Despite using an undersized 366 cubic inch engine, Donohue dominated the Riverside road race and won by nearly five miles over Bobby Allison. It was Team Penske’s first NASCAR victory.
Dave Marcis then took Donohue’s seat in the AMC Matador so that Donohue could concentrate on the USAC races leading up to the Indianapolis 500 . While the car had an advantage on the road courses, NASCAR returned to the ovals. Marcis drove eight races for Team Penske beginning with the Daytona 500 where he was forced out of the race by a ring and pinion failure and finished 27th. Hoping to be more competitive, the car was outfitted with a 427 cubic inch engine. It didn’t make much difference. His engine failed on the 114th lap for a 37th place finish. Equipment failures continued to plague the AMC car at Martinsville where he finished 26th, at Charlotte (28th), Texas (33rd) and Bristol (28th). His two best finishes of the season were at Dover (8th) and Rockingham (5th).
The 1974 season started with Gary Bettenhausen joining Team Penske to race in both NASCAR and USAC. Bettenhausen drove the AMC Matador in five NASCAR races. His best finish was fourth at Michigan. Bettenhausen, who loved to race sprint cars, entered a race at Syracuse, New York in July. He crashed during practice and broke both collarbones and his nose leaving Penske without his services. He had been warned by Penske not to race in the sprint races and he was fired from the team
Roger Penske saw an opportunity when, in August, Bobby Allison announced that he wasn’t going to drive the remainder of the 1974 season. The problem was that NASCAR mandated the use of a 355 cubic inch engine and Allison, who had his own racing team, didn’t have the funds to purchase the engine. Penske hired Allison to drive the AMC Matador for the final six races of the season. He won the final race of the season at Ontario leading 34 of the 200 laps.
Bobby Allison continued on with Team Penske for the 1975 season and ran all thirty races. It started with a win in the season opener at Riverside and continued with a win in a 125-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 where he finished second. He also won two races at Darlington—the Rebel 500 in April and the Southern 500 in September. By the end of the season, he had accumulated 11 top 5 finishes. Allison also drove in three 500-mile USAC races for Team Penske. At the end of the 1975 season, AMC announced that they were leaving full-time auto racing.
Penske switched to a Mercury for the 1976 season. After his success in 1975, Allison did not win a race in 1976. He had 15 top 5 finishes which placed him fourth in the driver’s championship. His top finish was second in the Riverside 400.
For the 1977 season, Penske hired Dave Marcis. He drove either a Chevrolet or a Mercury in 13 of the season’s 30 races. He finished fourth in five of the races while driving for Team Penske. After several top teams were involved in a cheating scandal, Penske decided not to run in the Talladega 500. He believed that cheating was happening too often in NASCAR. His focus had also shifted to open-wheel racing.
Team Penske briefly teamed with Rusty Wallace in 1980. Not only did Rusty Wallace finish second in his debut race at Atlanta, he dominated the field in a 200-mile race at Milwaukee and won by nine seconds over Joe Ruttman. Penske then left NASCAR until the 1991 season when Roger Penske teamed with Rusty Wallace and Don Miller.