{"id":89586,"date":"2019-10-25T13:00:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=89586"},"modified":"2019-10-25T13:00:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T20:00:32","slug":"roger-penske-receives-presidential-medal-of-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=89586","title":{"rendered":"Roger Penske Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  It\u2019s a very special day.  I am delighted to present our nation\u2019s highest civilian honor to a giant of American industry, entrepreneurship, and auto racing: The legendary Roger Penske.  Roger, I want to congratulate you in receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Incredible.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Kathryn.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Su5Xhr8NXVQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With us today is Vice President Mike Pence and many terrific members of my Cabinet.  Thank you all for being here.  I appreciate it.  They\u2019re all fans of Roger\u2019s.  And most importantly with us is Kathryn.  And you\u2019ve been married for a couple of years.  Do you want to give the number?  I know what the number is, but I refuse to give it.  Go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MR. PENSKE:  Forty-six years.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Forty-six years.  That\u2019s pretty amazing.  And you look at the conditioning and \u2014 you\u2019re doing something right, both of you.  Right?  And it\u2019s been a beautiful marriage, I know that, for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Roger was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in 1937.  The son of a successful businessman, Roger learned the value of hard work at a very young age.  At the age of 14, he attended his first Indianapolis 500.  At 15, he bought his first car with money saved from his newspaper route.  As a teenager, Roger spent his free time taking apart engines and repairing the old wrecks.  He obviously learned right from the start.  He knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n<p>In 1955, he attended Lehigh University, where he studied business administration and started racing in the Sports Car Club of America.  Roger quickly demonstrated exceptional talent for racing cars.  Over the next few years, he was named Sports Car Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated and North American Driver of the Year by the New York Times and the LA Times.  He also became the only person to win the SCCA\u2019s President\u2019s Cup three times \u2014 an astonishing feat, rarely equaled.<\/p>\n<p>After 55 victories in the top racing series of his time, Roger ended his career as a driver in 1965.  You know, I didn\u2019t know you were that great a driver.  I knew you were really great at other things, like winning the Indy 500, but I had no idea he was that good a driver.  See?  What do I know?  Right?  That\u2019s pretty amazing, actually.<\/p>\n<p>But he ended his career as a driver in 1965 to run a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia.  He rapidly succeeded in the auto business and returned to the racing world in 1966 with the creation of Team Penske.  Who would have thought what that would have meant?  Who would have known what was going to happen?<\/p>\n<p>The new team exemplified professionalism, dedication, and discipline in everything it did.  Penske quickly became known for immaculately clean cars \u2014 of great colors, I might add; the colors are incredible; scrubbed wheels; waxed garage floors; and excellence on the asphalt.<\/p>\n<p>The team earned the reputation of \u201cPenske Perfect\u201d and soon built an unrivaled brand in the world of racing.<\/p>\n<p>Team Penske\u2019s drivers form a roster of racing legends \u2014 from Mark Donohue, who delivered Team Penske its first Indianapolis 500 win, to Al Unser and Rick Mears, who are tied for the most Indy 500 victories in history.  There was Danny Sullivan and his unbelievable 1985 \u201cspin and win\u201d; Rusty Wallace who made Team Penske\u2019s presence known in NASCAR; and the iconic three-time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves.<\/p>\n<p>I recently hosted Team Penske\u2019s newest champions, Joey Logano and Simey \u2014 Simon Pagenaud, who is a terrific guy.  They were here just recently; I guess that was for \u2014 it was for a big moment, because we\u2019re going to tell you that story \u2014 at the White House after their victories in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series and the 2019 Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n<p>But Roger was here just before his 18th Indy win.  And he was here, being honored, for what he\u2019s done with NASCAR in the Cup Series.  And I just looked at him, I said, \u201cHow many times have you won the Indianapolis 500?\u201d  Because I know how hard it is.  It\u2019s very hard.  Japan, Germany, all of these countries \u2014 Italy, they all spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year trying to win.  I said, \u201cHow many times have you won?\u201d  He said, \u201c17.\u201d  I said, \u201cYou got to be kidding.  Seventeen?\u201d  I knew it was a lot, but 17.  And I said, \u201cThat\u2019s great.\u201d  I shook his hand.  That was the end of it.  He has been a friend of mine for a long time, by the way.  We go a long way back.  I refuse to say how far.  Right, Roger?  But we go a long way back.<\/p>\n<p>But I said, \u201cSo, you won 17 times?  That\u2019s great.\u201d  And that was the end.  And then, about two months later, I had the television on, it\u2019s the Indianapolis 500, and Simon is doing good, but then he\u2019s in second and first and back and forth.  And it ends up he wins by about two inches.  And it was an incredible race, and with an incredible driver and a beautiful car.  And it\u2019s, \u201cRoger Penske won.\u201d  So I said, \u201cWait a minute.  He told me 17 times.  And now this is the 18th time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I called him at the track.  And I was watching him on television.  He takes the phone out.  He\u2019s talking to me.  I said, \u201cYou think you can get\u2026\u201d \u2014 these operators in the White House, they\u2019re unbelievable, John.  They\u2019re, like, unbelievable.  I said, \u201cDo you think you can get Roger Penske?  He won the Indianapolis 500 about two seconds ago.\u201d  And \u2014 Edwin, he said, \u201cNo problem, sir.\u201d  He had him on the phone, like, 30 seconds later.  And I\u2019m watching him, the car is pulling in, and I congratulated Roger.<\/p>\n<p>And I thought to myself, it\u2019s an incredible achievement because I know how hard other countries \u2014 not just people, but countries \u2014 they can\u2019t win it.  They spend hundreds of millions of dollars.  New technology, new engines.  One engine is fast, but it breaks down.  One engine is slow, but it\u2019s reliable.  This guy keeps winning.<\/p>\n<p>So, to do that, was incredible.  So I said, \u201cI think we have to give him the Presidential Medal.  It\u2019s the greatest medal there is, except for, as you know, the Congressional Medal of Honor.  And they\u2019re on a par.  One is for military, one is for civilian.<\/p>\n<p>But I just thought it was an incredible thing.  I just leave him \u2014 he\u2019s up to 17.  And now I turn on again, and he\u2019s winning again.  And I know what it takes to win and \u2014 to win in that league, because it is very, very tough.  And that\u2019s in addition to all of the NASCAR victories he\u2019s had.<\/p>\n<p>So all of these exceptional racers were part of a team of professionals that never stopped working to achieve perfection.  And it\u2019s really that.  Every member of Team Penske would admit they could not have done it without the man that they call, very affectionately, \u201cthe Captain.\u201d  He\u2019s the captain.<\/p>\n<p>No detail is too small or effort too great for Roger in his relentless pursuit \u2014 and he is relentless, I can tell you that \u2014 of the competitive edge.<\/p>\n<p>In 1993, he started building an engine he would later describe as \u201ca rocket.\u201d  He worked with a small team of engineers for months in total secrecy.  Didn\u2019t want to talk to anybody.  Wouldn\u2019t let anybody out.  Lucky he didn\u2019t work at the White House; he\u2019d have leaks.  He would have had leak.  That engine would have been built long before you said, \u201cWhat happened?\u201d  Not only the White House, all of Washington.  He decided not to do it in Washington.  That was a good move.<\/p>\n<p>The incredible pushrod engine \u2014 still existing or not?  The push- \u2014 no good?<\/p>\n<p>MR. PENSKE:  No longer.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  They have better than that now.  That was old stuff, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. PENSKE:  Right.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  The pushrod engine he developed became known as \u201cthe Beast\u201d and delivered over 150 horsepower more than the competition.  Team Penske roared to victory at the 1994 Indianapolis 500, leading 193 out of 200 laps.  Incredible.<\/p>\n<p>In total, Team Penske has won nearly 550 major races, 35 national championships, two Daytona 500s, 18 Indianapolis 500s.  I think that\u2019s just an incredible achievement.  Eighteen Indianapolis 500s.  And secured over 600 pole positions.  In other words, he knows what he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n<p>Incredibly, Team Penske won more than one out every three Indy 500 championships in which he competed.  So every third year, he\u2019d win, essentially.  It\u2019s not even conceivable when you see all of the tremendous talent, money, rich people, rich men, rich countries with a lot of talent.  They can\u2019t beat him.<\/p>\n<p>For nearly five decades, it has dominated the greatest spectacle in racing, and in recent years, has become a growing force in NASCAR, where I really got to realize how many times he\u2019s won not only NASCAR, but Indy.<\/p>\n<p>Roger has been inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame, NASCAR Hall of Fame, and Automotive Hall of Fame.  He\u2019s built a team and a legacy that will endure forever.  I mean, frankly, they\u2019ll be \u2014 nobody will ever be able to challenge this.  I don\u2019t care what they do, how good they are, there are some things you can\u2019t do.  And it will ensure forever in the history of racing and in the history of sports, I think.<\/p>\n<p>Roger is also one of the most successful businessmen I America.  He started with a single dealership and today runs an automobile and automotive empire that employs 64,000 people at over 3,600 locations with annual revenues of over $30 billion.  That\u2019s fantastic.  I still think 18 Indianapolis 500s is more incredible, but that\u2019s okay.  That\u2019s okay.  But that\u2019s really incredible what you\u2019ve done in business.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s rescued countless struggling business ventures \u2014 I remember when he did it \u2014 like the Detroit Diesel Division of General Motors.  You bought that one for a song, I remember, huh?  Which was something with a lot potential, but they didn\u2019t know what they were doing.  He didn\u2019t say that; I did.  Where he increased the company\u2019s heavy-duty engine market share from 3 percent to 30 percent very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Roger is a dedicated philanthropist who has worked tirelessly to get the Motor City back on its feet.  He\u2019s chaired the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the host committee for the 2006 Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<p>When the city needed emergency vehicles, Roger organized business and business leaders, and they really did a fantastic job.  They purchased 100 police cruisers and 23 ambulances.  He helped save the Detroit Institute of Arts with a $10 million donation and created the Roger Penske Detroit Fund to support the city\u2019s homeless population.<\/p>\n<p>Roger, from racing to business to philanthropy, you have moved from one great victory to another.  You\u2019re a very unique person.  I know you for a long time.  You\u2019re a very unique person and truly a great champion and truly a winner.  No matter what you do, it turns to gold.  You are a legend in the speedway and you\u2019re a legend in business, and your name is revered everywhere the checkered flag flies and beyond that.<\/p>\n<p>So I will now ask the military aide, as soon as Roger is going to say a couple of words, and I\u2019ll ask the military aide to forward \u2014 step forward and present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a legend in so many ways and a great friend of mine, Sir Roger Penske.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. PENSKE:  Thank you, Mr. President.  It\u2019s a wonderful honor to receive this award.  It\u2019s amazing to be here today.  And thank you, Vice President Pence, you know, for you being here in your busy schedule.<\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s amazing \u2014 you know, many years ago, my mother and father invested in me and told me the love and passion of our great country.  And to think that I\u2019m standing here today in the Oval Office with the President and the Vice President, and all of you here today, and especially my family, to receive this wonderful award, it\u2019s just hard to believe that that would happen.<\/p>\n<p>As we all know, people make a team and people make power.  And I think the great thing \u2014 and I\u2019ve had the opportunities to do is to surround me with the talented individuals in my business.  And we built Penske Corporation over many years, and to see the success is really due to our people.<\/p>\n<p>Motorsports has been the common thread through our business for many years.  In fact, it helped us build our brand.  Think about 18 Indianapolis 500s and also the many championships.  But guess what?  That was the power of the team.<\/p>\n<p>The 64,000 people that worked for us on a worldwide basis in five continents and nine countries, these are the people that I need to thank today, because if they hadn\u2019t done their work, I wouldn\u2019t be here today.  As we think about things that we\u2019ve been able to do in supporting the communities where we work and where we live, in 2006, I was the Super Bowl Chairman in Detroit \u2014 Super Bowl 40.  This was an opportunity for me, as an individual, to get the public and private sector together to start developing a plan for the renaissance of the city of Detroit.<\/p>\n<p>If you think of that today, it\u2019s called almost a \u201cmodel city,\u201d 13 years later, when you think about Detroit.  It is the automotive capital of the world.  As we go forward together as a nation, the innovation and technology that will come out of Detroit will be amazing.<\/p>\n<p>Thinking about my family and thinking about support, my wife Kathy, here today, of 46 years, has been my support \u2014 really, my support staff for so many years.  She\u2019s walked this long river for me and along this walk for many years.  And I want to thank her personally for the love and support of my family that\u2019s here today \u2014 our 13 grandchildren.  Her love and passion has been so special.<\/p>\n<p>And to think that I\u2019m here today with my five children, their spouses, my brother and his wife, is amazing.  And, to me, this is a very, very special time.<\/p>\n<p>I really want to thank the President for this prestigious honor.  Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom really is something special.  And, to me, it means more than any business success or motorsports trophy.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank the men and women in our armed forces.  They\u2019re the real heroes and the backbone of our country.  I want to thank them.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Pence, Mr. President, thank you for this honor.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>MILITARY AIDE:  Roger S. Penske has led a life worthy of example as an accomplished businessman and humanitarian.  Guided by his father\u2019s favorite phrase, \u201cEffort equals results,\u201d he created and built Team Penske into the most successful motorsports group in history.<\/p>\n<p>Off the track, Mr. Penske built his first car dealership into the Penske companies \u2014 great American businesses that also make their vehicles available to bring crucial supplies to people in need.<\/p>\n<p>Roger Penske\u2019s passion and unrelenting drive have established him as an icon of sports and business.  America is proud to honor him.<\/p>\n<p>(The Presidential Medal of Freedom is presented.)  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everyone.  Very much appreciate it.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, do you still have confidence in your Chief of Staff, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everybody.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Are you going to the World Series, Mr. President?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Yes?  You are going to the World Series?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  On Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Are you going to throw out the first pitch?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t know.  They\u2019re going to have to dress me up in a lot of heavy armor.  I\u2019ll look too heavy.  (Laughter.)  I don\u2019t like that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. It\u2019s a very special day. I am delighted to present our nation\u2019s highest civilian honor to a giant of American industry, entrepreneurship, and auto racing: The legendary Roger Penske. Roger, I want to congratulate you in receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Incredible. (Applause.) Thank you, Kathryn. With [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/72975713_2542503805837337_823520048697049088_n.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/89587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}