The Penske PC-27 was a

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

racing car designed by John Travis and manufactured by Penske Cars in

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

, Dorset. The design was based around the team's 1997 car, the PC-26. It competed in the

1998 CART season The 1998 FedEx Championship Series season was the twentieth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, Cali ...

and, as the PC-27B, in part of the 1999 season. In the 30 races that it took part in, its best finish was second at the 1998 Budweiser 500k in Japan. The PC-27 was the last CART racing car built by Penske, before the team switched permanently to customer chassis.

Racing history

1998

The PC-27 made its debut at the first race of the 1998 season, the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Unser Jr retired with a broken transmission and Ribeiro finished 17th. Both drivers finished the

Budweiser 500k The Budweiser 500K was an automobile race sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, it was held at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. The event was held from 1967 to 1969 and again from 1981 to 1983. Racing Histor ...

, The American second and the Brazilian ninth. Both drivers retired at the

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...

, Unser Jr had contact with

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...

and Ribeiro with an oil leak. The Brazilian failed to qualify for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota and the American finished 15th. Both drivers retired at the Rio 400, Unser Jr with engine failure and Ribeiro with a broken transmission. For the second race in a row, both drivers retired. it was the

Motorola 300 The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline is an IndyCar Series race held at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, United States. The event was first held as a CART series race from 1997 to 2000, initially o ...

, the American had contact and the Brazilian with a broken transmission. Both drivers finished the Miller 200, Unser Jr 3rd and Ribeiro 18th. The American retired with a broken transmission at the ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix and the Brazilian finished 16th. Both drivers finished the Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline, Unser Jr finish fifth and Ribeiro 15th despite stopping with three laps to go with a broken transmission. The American finished 17th despite stopping with four laps to go with a broken shift linkage at the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Star Bank and the Brazilian retired with a broken transmission, Unser Jr finished 17th despite a collision with

Gualter Salles Gualter Salles (born September 28, 1970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), is an open wheel race car driver. He raced in the 1997-2000 and 2003 CART seasons, as well as one Indy Racing League event, totalling 49 IndyCar starts overall. He also competed in ...

at the hairpin at the Molson Indy Toronto and Ribeiro retired with a broken transmission. Oil leaks put both drivers out of the U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota. Both drivers finished the Miller Lite 200, the American sixth and the Brazilian tenth. Both drivers retired at the Chicago Tribune Presents Texaco/Havoline 200, Unser Jr had contact with

Patrick Carpentier Patrick Carpentier (born August 13, 1971) is a Canadian former professional auto racing driver. In the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series, he achieved five wins and 24 podiums, as well as two third place championship finishes in 2002 C ...

and Ribeiro with engine failure. Both drivers finished the

Molson Indy Vancouver Molson Indy Vancouver was an annual Champ Car race held in the ''Vancouver Street Circuit'' near BC Place and running past Science World (Vancouver), Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada held in July, August or September from 19 ...

, the American fifth and the Brazilian seventh. The second race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Texaco/Havoline 300, Unser Jr sixth and Ribeiro 14th. The third race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Texaco Grand Prix of Houston, the American seventh and the Brazilian 17th. The fourth race in a row both drivers finished a race, The Honda Indy 300, Unser Jr 22nd and Ribeiro 13th. Both drivers retired at the final round of the 1998 season, the Marlboro 500 presented by Toyota, the Brazilian had contact and the American with an oil leak.

1999

The team modified the PC-27 into the Penske PC-27B and Unser Jr stayed with the team but Penske ran one car for most of the 1999 season as Ribero retired in February 1999. The first race of the season was the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Unser Jr crashed and broke his leg. He was replaced by Brazilian Tarso Marques for the Firestone Firehawk 500K and finished 14th. The Brazilian retired at the

after a collision with

and

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...

. Unser Jr returned for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota but retired with a crash. Two PC-27Bs were entered for the American and the Brazilian for the Grand Prix Telemar Rio 200, with Marques finishing ninth and Unser Jr 12th. Before the

Unser Jr used the Lola B99/00, Marquez continued to use the PC-27B but retired with a crash. The team ran the B99/00 for the next five races: ( Miller Lite 225 Presented by Kmart, Texaco/Havoline Presents Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200, Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar, The Chicago Tribune Presents Texaco/Havoline 200 and the Molson Indy Toronto. The PC-27B returned at the U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota with two PC-27Bs entered for Unser Jr and American Alex Barron; engine failures put both drivers out of the race. The team ran the B99/00 for the next five races: ( Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit, Miller Lite 200, Target Grand Prix Presented by Shell,

and the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring The Shell 300). The PC-27B returned at the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston with only Unser Jr and finished 15th. Mechanical problems put the American out of the Honda Indy 300. Two PC-27Bs were entered for Unser Jr and Barron for the final round of the 1999 season, the Marlboro 500, Unser Jr finished seventh and Barron retired when he crashed.

Complete CART World Series results

( key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Unser Jr and Marques scored points in the Lola B99/00.

References

External links

penskeracing.com
{{CART 1999 1999 CART season cars Team Penske American Championship racing cars