DJR Decision Pending At Penske

The future of DJR Team Penske should be decided by the end of October.

Team Penske is about to begin its annual analysis of its racing programs and Supercars is one of them.

The American motorsport powerhouse has already withdrawn from IMSA sports car racing with Honda and there have been questions for months about its future commitment to racing in Australia.

The president of Team Penske, Tim Cindric, is not giving any absolute answers but tells Race News there is a definite timetable for a decision on the American operation’s commitment to Supercars and the Shell V-Power Mustang squad.

“We’ve heard all of the same rumours and haven’t really responded to any of them as usually that just sparks more speculation,” he tells Race News from the USA.

“To sum it up, we evaluate all of our programs every year to determine the best way forward for our teams.”

Without going into any detail, or balancing the successes of the team with Scott McLaughlin against any future commitment, Cindric is clearly focussed on the business world and the impact of the coronavirus on all of Team Penske’s operations.

“Obviously, this year is different in many ways. We came to the Supercars series to promote our businesses in Australia and New Zealand as we do with all of our racing programs. Unfortunately, not being able to attend the events and not realising the benefit of the business to business interaction makes us question this year’s value as is the case with all of our partners.

So, moving to the bottom line, when is a decision likely to be made?

“We will probably take another 60-90 days to further evaluate how 2021 might look and go from there,” Cindric says.

“ We have assembled a great Team with fantastic people. Hopefully we can continue to build on the successes on and off the track.”