Team Penske confirmed that two-time IZOD IndyCar Series championship runner-up Will Power, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and six-time race winner Ryan Briscoe will comprise its driver lineup for the 2012 season.
It will be the third consecutive full season (fourth overall) that the trio will be teammates. Since 2009, the three Team Penske drivers have generated 21 victories and 28 poles. Power contested a partial season (six races) in 2009.
“We are excited to return with a three-car team in 2012,” Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said. “The combination of Helio, Ryan and Will has been a formidable one on the track and they work very well together as teammates. Our goal all along has been to continue running three cars and thanks to our terrific partners, we have been able to make everything work from the business side.
“Now, all of our focus will be on developing the new Chevrolet IndyCar and getting ready for a strong return to the track in 2012.”
Power earned a series record-tying eight pole starts and six victories this season in finishing 18 points behind Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti in the championship chase for the second consecutive year. The Aussie, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, suffered a compression fracture of the fourth thoracic vertebra in the season finale but is expected to be fully healed for the start of the 2012 season March 25 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Power also was the driver for Chevrolet’s initial engine development program test in early October at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Castroneves, who has been driving for Team Penske since the 2000 CART season, posted four top-five finishes this season. His streak of seasons with a victory ended at 11 (an IZOD IndyCar Series record).
Briscoe, who turned 30 on Sept. 24, also recorded four top-five finishes in his fourth season with the team.
A team highlight came Aug. 28 when the trio swept the podium in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
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