V8 Supercars: Penske set to open series account in Adelaide

Roger Penske and Dick Johnson will see their new joint venture in Australia's V8 Supercars series take flight this weekend with former series champion Marcos Ambrose piloting the No. 17 Ford Falcon at the season-opening Clipsal 500. According to Penske Racing president Tim Cindric, modest expectations have seen set for the early portion of the season, but they won't last for long.

"I went to the open test at Sydney at Easter Creek and felt we were maybe 50 percent of the way there as DJR Team Penske, and my expectation this weekend is we should be 70 percent of the way there as an organization, and maybe run in the top half of the field," Cindric told RACER shortly before boarding a flight for Adelaide where he'll oversee DJR Team Penske's debut.

"We we're certainly a long way from the top half at the end of last year in the Wild Card race we did with Marcos, and our goal for the first part of the year is to run in the top half. By the end of the year, we want to be in a place where we can run in the top 5."

Penske's partnership with the legendary Johnson and his DJR team goes much deeper than a branding exercise. As Cindric illustrates, applying the mindset and methods that have delivered countless championships for Penske in North America is a major part of how they want to evolve the V8 team.

"We have a long way to go to reach the level of competition they have in the V8 series," he said. "We'll be there with RP (Roger Penske) and then I'll spend a week with the team after the race to analyze where we are as a program. The short-term expectations are limited, and we have some work to do to convert the team and the on-track product over to the Penske culture and the Penske way of doing things. It's a work in progress." ​