Racing
Penske chief grew up on gasoline alley
By GREG ZYLA

Mark Donohue finished seventh in 1969 in this Offypowered Lola, and then sat on the front row in 1971 in an Offy-powered McLaren with an engine built by Carl Cindric and Herb Porter. (Penske Collection photo)

Tim Cindric, 38, is president of Penske Racing, Inc. It is his childhood memories, however, that we present in this interview, specifically his days around his father Carl's garage.

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ZYLA: Tim, you grew up in racing, as your father did engines for Indy Cars and eventually worked for Herb Porter, the noted Indy engine guru. Can you tell us about this time in your life?

CINDRIC: My father built Indy-car engines back in the '60s. Later, Dad worked for Herb Porter, whose garage was near Dad's at Indy's Gasoline Alley. Rick Long joined Porter in 1973, and today, Rick runs Speedway Engines. The three of them worked out of two wooden garages year-round at Gasoline Alley. My dad never got a win at Indy, but the company did take care of Goodyear for its tire-testing program.

ZYLA: How did that tire testing with Goodyear work, engine-wise?

CINDRIC: Back then, Goodyear had its own fleet of engines. If you were testing Goodyear tires, Goodyear also gave you an engine to test with. So, not only did you go test tires, you also tested engines. My dad, Rick and Herb had the contract with Goodyear to rebuild the Offenhausers, and then the DFX Cosworth. So, anybody that tire tested was sent an engine to run from them.

ZYLA: That was no doubt a major contract?

CINDRIC: Oh yes, it was their main stream of income. And on occasion, Goodyear would allow those engines to be utilized by teams for qualifying and racing. In the early '70s, Mark Donohue qualified on the front row a couple times with engines from my dad's shop.

ZYLA: Your dad must have been proud, along with Rick and Herb.

CINDRIC: Sure was. My father built this house in 1973 in Claremont, Ind., and it was the

house I grew up in, all the way through college. By the time I got to ninth grade, I kept asking my dad why we weren't changing the carpet, because it was this old worn shag carpeting that my Hot Wheels cars never worked good on. (Laughter). It got to the point where there were some holes rubbed through in the entryway, too, and my dad told me that "Roger Penske paid for that carpeting, and I'm never going to change it." Dad had received a bonus from Roger for using one of the company's engines with Donohue - I think in 1971 they sat on the front row at Indy.

But he never won Indy with one of his engines. I would sit in that old tower terrace there hoping one day one of his engines would win. So, it meant a lot when I was able to win Indy in 2001 with Roger and my dad being there for it.

ZYLA: What happened to the engine business?

CINDRIC: Rick and Herb started HP engine development, and my dad worked for them. They built what is now Speedway Engines on Gasoline Alley. At that time, it was on

Roena Street before it was called Gasoline Alley. They started doing customer DFX engines, and also the engine for the Oldsmobile Aerotech car that Foyt broke the closedcourse speed record in.

ZYLA: Any other customers of note from those days?

CINDRIC: Yes, Vermont American for Johnny Rutherford and Howdy Holmes - that was a big contract. Also Scott Brayton and his 37 car for Brayton Engineering; The American Dream Team with Poncho Carter; The Genesee Beer Wagon with Steve Chassey and sometimes Larry Rice and Rocky Moran. Those are memories I'll never forget.

Write to Greg Zyla in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL32853-6475, or send an e-mail to letters.kfws@hearstsc.com.

(c) 2006 King Features Synd., Inc.