Nichels Engineering Notes from its 1-2 finish with A.J. Foyt and Bobby Isaac in the 1964 Daytona Firecracker 400 …

Don Miller, Dan Luginbuhl Inducted into Team Penske Hall of Fame …

Former Penske Racing President and Long–Time Team Executive Honored in North Carolina

Don Miller, Roger Penske, and Dan Luginbuhl — Photo courtesy of LAT

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 9, 2019) –Team Penske inducted two long-time team leaders and executives into the Team Penske Hall of Fame this morning, as former Penske Racing South President Don Miller and Dan Luginbuhl, one of the pioneers of motorsports marketing and public relations, were honored in a special ceremony at the team’s Mooresville, North Carolina facility.

Miller met team owner Roger Penske in the early 1970s during his time as a sales manager for National Engines and Parts, Co. in St. Louis. Miller joined Penske Racing in 1972, working on the team’s stock car and IndyCar programs. A former racer himself, Miller brought a wide range of experience to the team and he worked in many capacities on his way to becoming Vice President of Penske Products.

Miller was instrumental in bringing Penske Racing back into full-time NASCAR competition in 1991 with driver and fellow Team Penske Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. Miller then became President of Penske Racing South, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the team’s stock car program. Under Miller’s leadership, Penske stock car teams produced a total of 69 victories in NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series andARCA competition until his retirement in 2007. The Chicago native was also an innovator in the sport, helping to design and develop several car safety advancements in NASCAR while leading the Penske team.

“When I first started at Team Penske there were 29 of us,” said Miller. “The population’s grown significantly since, but there is no place I’d rather be. I always tried to do the very best, not only for this team, but for Mr. Penske. When you’re a member of this team, he will always have your back. I really appreciate this award. I’m honored to be a part of this organization and Team Penske Hall of Fame.”

When Luginbuhl joined Penske Racing in 1969, he helped chart the course for the team’s innovative and successful partnership model. He also helped pioneer modern motorsports public relations and marketing.  Early in his tenure with Penske Racing, Luginbuhl cultivated the relationship with key team sponsor Sunoco, before he helped foster partnerships with some of the other top brands in motorsports including Pennzoil, Marlboro, Miller, Goodyear, Mobil, Mercedes-Benz and many other Fortune 500 companies.

Under his guiding hand, Team Penske became the industry leader in American motorsports media relations, sponsorship and hospitality – a standard that continues today. Over his 35-year career with Team Penske, Luginbuhl distinguished himself in numerous roles within the organization as he helped define and refine the Penske brand. He served as Vice President of Communications when he retired in 2002 and he continues to be a valued resource for Team Penske.

“I am very honored to receive this special honor. And I am humbled to be in the company of some amazing people,” said Luginbuhl. “It’s been my privilege to work with many a great people over the years.  We have come a long way since 1969 and our team of 10 working at the four-bay truck garage in Pennsylvania. But the mission today is still the same – work together, get the job done, keep building the Penske brand worldwide and of course, ‘effort equals results.’”

Inductions into the Team Penske Hall of Fame occur annually. Each year, two inductees are chosen from current and former drivers, employees and partners that have made a significant impact on the team and its history. The Hall of Fame class members are honored both at an event and within the walls of the Team Penske facility in Mooresville, NC.

Miller and Luginbuhl join past Team Penske Hall of Fame inductees: Roger Penske (2016), Mark Donohue (2016), Rick Mears (2017), Karl Kainhofer (2017), Rusty Wallace (2018) and Walter Czarnecki (2018).

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 540 major race wins, over 600 pole positions and 34 Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. Over the course of its 53-year history, the team has also earned 18 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win and overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Team Penske currently competes in the IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team also races in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, in a partnership with Dick Johnson Racing, as DJR Team Penske. For more information about Team Penske, please visit www.teampenske.com. 

“Region Racers” — it all began at Rudy Nichels’ Place …

The “Region Racers” Series – Rudy Nichels

By: Wm. LaDow

In 1908, a 10-year-old boy crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He and his father journeyed from Austria to settle in America.

Though his last name was Puja when he entered Ellis Island, it was soon changed. It’s unclear whether in his pocket rested a few coins or perhaps he was cared for by a kind immigration worker who gave him some change to get a meal, but from that day forward, his last name was Nichels.

After establishing their residency in Chicago, a teenage Rudy could often be found at the corner pool hall or participating in a local “game of chance.” But a few years later, Nichels settled down in the Calumet Region’s Griffith, Indiana, got married, and eventually started a family — a daughter and three sons.

Nichels was a born entrepreneur and quickly sensed that the American automobile was becoming more of a necessity than a luxury. He made it a point to get involved in any auto-related businesses he could find.

In time he was able to parlay his savings into purchasing a small Fisk Tire store on Ewing Avenue in South Chicago. So small was the shop that an automobile couldn’t be parked entirely under the roof while having its tires changed. Using the slim profits from this business, Nichels in 1930 purchased a restaurant located at the intersection of Fifth Street and Highway Avenue in Highland.

With his wife, Gladys, doing the restaurant cooking, Nichels turned his efforts toward another business, a gasoline service station and auto repair shop.

In 1936, he purchased a second restaurant and tavern just two miles east, on the corner of Ridge Road & Cline Avenue. Soon, he had a service station, an auto repair garage, a restaurant, and a tavern all on the northwest corner of the intersection, which he christened “Rudy’s Place.” With his early investment in restaurants and auto repair shops paying off, he began a search for another moneymaking opportunity and uncovered midget car auto racing.

The more Nichels heard about midget car racing, the more he thought it might be a good fit with his other businesses. On Oct. 10, 1937, Nichels decided to take a look at this potential business venture. With his oldest son, 14-year-old Ray visited the newly constructed Hammond Raceway located at Sheffield & Calumet Avenues. With 7,000 fans in attendance, Nichels witnessed his first midget car race. It would not be his last. A few weeks later, Nichels purchased his first race car.

At the Hammond, Indiana Speedway 5/8th’s mile track is two Nichels Service midgets. The car on the left is the #25 driven by Mike O’Halloran, and on the right is Teddy Duncan in the #2. Both drivers would eventually be elected to the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame. Kneeling between the Nichels cars are from left: Dale “Tiny’ Worley, Ray Nichels and Rudy Nichels – Nichels Engineering Archives.

From that day on, Rudy threw himself whole-heartedly into auto racing, owning several cars from 1938 through the late 1940s, giving drivers such as Ted Duncan, Tony Bettenhausen, Johnnie Parsons, Paul Russo, Ray Richards, and Mike O’Halloran some of the finest midget race cars in the business. All of these drivers eventually became members of the Midget Racing Hall of Fame after capturing a series of track championships driving for Nichels Service. Johnnie Parsons used his 1948 Midwest Championship driving for Nichels as a springboard toward winning the 1950 Indianapolis 500.

Nichels established the “Nichels Service” shop at the corner of Cline and Ridge Road as the cornerstone of Midwest auto racing. Working with racing equipment suppliers from across the country, he built a superb reputation for racing expertise. Nationally known drivers such as Ronney Householder anchored their race teams and equipment at Rudy’s Place when barnstorming across America.

Rudy Nichels shop at the corner of Cline Avenue and Ridge Road in Highland, Indiana, in 1947. Working on the two Nichels owned midgets in the front of the garage is 24-year-old Ray Nichels. In the back on the right in the white tee shirt is Ronney Householder, who at the time was one of the most respected drivers in racing. He went on to manage Chrysler Corporation’s racing operations from 1955 thru 1972 – Nichels Engineering Archives.

Nichels began promoting and sanctioning races at tracks throughout Illinois and Indiana, the racing business became so profitable.

During this time, his son, Ray, went out on his own and entered IndyCar racing, eventually competing in 15 Indianapolis 500s and building a Hall of Fame career as one of the nation’s finest mechanics and race car builders.

Rudy Nichels died in April of 1955, leaving a lasting legacy of being one of the first in a long line of Region Racers.

New book excerpt from the “Ray Nichels Story” by Wm. LaDow — published in Mopar Action Magazine …

1964 NASCAR Firecracker 400 Daytona Flashback … Nichels Engineering Drivers A.J. Foyt and Bobby Isaac – Finish 1st & 2nd …

Now on your newsstands – from Mopar Action Magazine – Part 13 of The Ray Nichels Story …

Breaking News from ESPN’s Bob Pockrass – Kurt Busch agrees to NASCAR Terms

By Bob Pockrass / ESPN.com 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Kurt Busch has agreed to the terms and conditions dictated by NASCAR that he must complete to get reinstated from his suspension.

NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said Monday that Busch informed the sanctioning body late last week that he would go through the process.

Kurt Busch has been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR, which has not disclosed the terms of his reinstatement. Higdon would not reveal details of the terms and conditions, saying that is between the driver and the “expert facilitator” of the program. He said there is no timetable for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver to complete the program. Busch’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, confirmed that his client agreed to NASCAR’s terms but had no additional comment.

“We understand Kurt Busch has begun the process for reinstatement as a NASCAR member,” Stewart-Haas Racing executive vice president Joe Custer said in a statement. “NASCAR has laid out its expectations for Kurt, and while there is no timetable to meet those expectations, Kurt’s willingness to embrace the conditions set forth by NASCAR is a positive step that we support.”

Busch was suspended indefinitely on Feb. 20, two days before the Daytona 500, after a Kent County (Del.) Family Court commissioner released his findings that Busch had committed an act of domestic violence Sept. 26 against his ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll.

Busch lost both of his appeals of the suspension Feb. 21, first to a three-member NASCAR appeals panel and then to NASCAR Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss.

Commissioner David Jones found that the evidence showed Busch had put his left hand on Driscoll’s neck and his right hand on her chin and face, causing her head to forcefully hit the wall of his motorhome.

Busch testified at the family court hearing on a protective order sought by Driscoll that he cupped her face with his hands and repeatedly told her to leave. The couple had broken up a week earlier, and Busch said she came into his motorhome uninvited. The Delaware attorney general’s office has not yet announced whether it will press charges in the case.

Regan Smith, who has replaced Busch for the first two races of the season, once again will drive the SHR No. 41 car in this weekend’s race at Las Vegas. If Busch wants to get back in the car, his only other option than to follow NASCAR’s terms and conditions is to file a lawsuit against NASCAR and seek an injunction.

 

Bob Pockrass — NASCAR

• Follow
• Archive

• NASCAR writer for ESPN.com
• 2009, 2013 NMPA Writer of the Year
• More than 25 years experience covering motorsport