PART TWO of the epic story of how DJR Team Penske came to be picks up from the key moments soon after the team was announced, the drama surrounding the decision made by Marcos Ambrose to step aside and then the progression to becoming a regular contender for both the team and drivers title by 2017. Check out Part One by clicking here.

Dale Rodgers picks up the story.. 

SO Team Penske was indeed coming to Australia, Marcos Ambrose had been confirmed at the announcement as the driver in a single car team and, not long after at the Gold Coast 600, a further bombshell was dropped as DJR would field a third entry at the final 2014 Supercars Championship round at Homebush with Ambrose at the wheel.

“Marcos returning was the key part of the story. I think DJR Team Penske, the alliance between Dick Johnson and Roger Penske alone was a huge story, but you throw in a two times V8 Supercars Champion who picked up his bat and ball and took on the world and then to return as a key part of this was extraordinary. The two biggest stories in this sport in the last ten years have been Ambrose returning with DJR Team Penske and Ford Mustang. The common thread through these stories is Roger Penske.” Story said.

The euphoria and excitement generated by the team from the Lakeside ‘test’ day and Ambrose putting in a solid performance at a soggy Homebush, reached a new level when a #17 Shell Helix DJR Team Penske Ford rolled out at the 2015 Clipsal 500.

And Ambrose did not disappoint, dropping the car into the Top 10 Shootout while Johnson, Story, Penske, Cindric and the team watched from the garage.

But dark days were around the corner as Ambrose vacated the seat just one meeting after Adelaide at a difficult Australian Grand Prix weekend.

“The Marcos Ambrose experiment did not work out. Marcos is a ruthless pragmatist to say the least. He is a very smart and capable human being … and also a brilliant race driver.

“Homebush at the end of 2014 was wet, he had not driven those sorts of cars for a very long time, the testing regime was not nearly as comprehensive as it should have been and he was a bit rusty. I think he underestimated it, putting it frankly. But there were very promising signs. He went to Adelaide in a brand new car and qualified in the Top 10. And that alone was a hell of an achievement. It put a spring in everyone’s step. He then went to the Grand Prix and endured one hell of a weekend. Start line smashes and a litany of heartache right through the weekend. And that was enough for him to say that ‘’this is not for me’,” Story explained.

“To his eternal credit, if it was not for Marcos Ambrose committing to this program in 2014, I doubt Roger Penske would be in the sport today,” a very forthright Story said of the major upheaval the newly formed team went thorough.

“But Marcos committed after stepping aside in early 2015, without asking, to meet all the commercial arrangements a race driver has, to be part of the team, to attend every race, to attend the autograph sessions, to mentor the engineering group, to mentor Scott Pye who picked up the drive after the Grand Prix. Ambrose did everything he could possibly do and more to make up for the fact he stepped away from the car. His actions saved the team and I will forever be grateful to him.”

In 2016 DJR Team Penske expanded once again to a two car team, bringing Fabian Coulthard to join Scott Pye. Story recalls 2016 as the year that DJR Team Penske decided it could not be a customer team in any way and had to strive to be in charge of all design, development and manufacturing.

“We were at the time a customer of Prodrive. We ran Prodrive front ends and indeed the car was effectively a Prodrive Ford with a DJR Team Penske engine. We realised that we were not going to get anywhere continuing down this path. We had to be self-sufficient and self-reliant.

“To that end we had to build up our own manufacturing base. So we really spent all of 2016 doing that. The developments of areas such as the front end on today’s cars came out of the work in 2016. There were signs we were heading in the right direction with some podiums and a double top ten result here at Bathurst. But we were still lacking in certain areas.” Story explained.

The recruitment of Ludo Lacroix at the end of 2016 was the next major step for the team. Story says that it was quite well known in Pit Lane that Ludo was not satisfied or content with the direction in a number of areas.

“Ludo was looking for a new challenge and reached out to Penske, initially with a bit of an eye on what he could do in the United States. We eventually talked him into doing something with us and stay in Supercars. In the meantime we had signed Scott McLaughlin as well which was a critical moment in the team’s short history. I got to know Ludo very well, very quickly as there were threats of litigation and a lot of money sent on lawyers. We got through that unscathed and managed to turn up in Adelaide not with any new parts, but having someone with his tenacity and resolve assess what we had and pull all the loose threads and tie them together. And it got us immediate results.”

DJR Team Penske went on to claim the Supercars Teams Championship in 2017, but the driver’s championship eluded them with a nail biting finale at Newcastle.

“2017 was an absolute ripper. We had the fastest car but too many unforced errors cost us the Driver’s Championship. Winning the Teams Championship still reflected what we had achieved. It still reflected how far we had come but it was not the ultimate prize we were chasing. It did show that we must be driven by process and not flying by the seat of our pants. It also committed all our people to ‘The Penske Way’, which is all about process, discipline and procedure and taking huge pride in what you do.

“It has made us all the more hungry for 2018 and beyond.” Story concluded.

DJR Team Penske has returned Dick Johnson to the winners circle. Along with Triple Eight Engineering, the Queensland team has cemented its spot at the top of the Supercars tree. The 2018 championship battle will go down to the wire and Johnson, Story and their team are hungry for success.

A lot has happened in four short years and a new Ford Mustang opens the next chapter for Story and his team.

WORDS: Dale Rodgers
IMAGES: DJR Team Penske / Supplied