Penske offers financing for 2028 IndyCar chassis

Vehicle sales, leasing and rentals form the core of Roger Penske’s businesses outside of the IndyCar Series that he owns, and with the looming arrival of the first new IndyCar chassis commissioned by Penske Entertainment, he’s introducing a financing option for teams as they prepare to acquire Dallara IR-28s.

“We all believe it’s time for a new car, and then when you start talking about it, you do get some of the pushback that OK, a new car is a huge changeover and a huge financial commitment from the teams,” IndyCar President Doug Boles told RACER.

“Roger had mentioned that we would come up with some sort of financing plan to assist at an owners’ meeting last season. So I think the fact that we are 18 months from when it actually starts competing, and almost a year really from when the teams individually start testing it, it really gives teams a little bit more time to plan on, on how to budget that as they go forward.”

Full details of the offer aren’t known, but RACER understands Penske’s first-ever IndyCar financing plan is specific to each charter entry’s second IR-28 purchase. Teams are responsible for buying the first IR-28 chassis for each of their entries, third, and beyond, but if a team wants to make use of Penske’s financing option in lieu of seeking a bank loan to acquire a spare IR-28, the series’ owner will enter into an agreement with the team and cover the up-front costs with an undisclosed interest rate and repayment period.

As RACER chronicled last Friday, the estimated price for a complete IR28 is $1.1 million with all of the componentry required to compete on road and street courses, plus ovals.

Although Penske is not the first series owner to offer financing to teams during a chassis changeover, it stands as another advancement and enhancement for IndyCar since it was acquired from the Hulman George family leading into 2020.

“So it’s been working through that and trying to put something together to allow the teams that need it some way to plan and help them put together the rest of the financing that they need to get all those cars on the books and delivered for them,” Boles said. “It’s something that Roger really wanted to do and the series wanted to do and we’re excited that we’re able to help with it.”

The majority of IndyCar’s 11 full-time teams have meaningful levels of financial support from wealthy owners, investors, or considerable sponsorship income to cover the costs to acquire all of their Dallara IR-28s without assistance from Penske or a bank. But there could be select instances where some of IndyCar’s smaller or less wealthy teams could engage Penske for the second-car financing plan.

“It’s a good thing,” Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Mike Shank told RACER. “I’m not sure how many of us are going to take Roger up on that offer, but it’s great to know that it’s there. I would prefer to keep debt off my books for lots of reasons, so I’m going to try to get creative to get our new cars without going down the financing path. But I think it’s a great tool, and it’s something very similar that Jim France did for us back in the DP (Grand American Daytona Prototype) days through SunTrust Bank.

“That made it ridiculously easy for guys like me to get into the series and frankly, I wouldn’t be here today without what was done there through SunTrust. So I’m all for it now. Roger is trying to help, which is all you can ask. Some people will use it. Some people won’t. But they’re trying to help.”