updated February 18, 2008

There is a long-standing motto associated with Penske Racing that “Effort Equals Results.” Well, the same could be used to describe Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology alumnus Tim Cindric.

Perhaps there is no better example of that slogan being demonstrated than the team effort that produced an impressive first- and second-place finish for Penske Racing drivers Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch in the 50th Daytona 500 on Feb. 17 in Daytona, Fla.

Cindric (Mech. Eng., '90) has been president of Penske Performance Inc. since 2006, overseeing operations that include teams competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, IndyCar Series and American LeMans Series.  He also has management responsibility for Penske Cars, Ltd., Racing Experience, Inc., Penske Technology Group and Penske Motorsports, Inc. He works out of Penske Racing's headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.

Under Cindric's leadership Penske has won two National Championships, three consecutive Indianapolis 500-mile race wins (2001-2003) and now, for the first time, "The Great American Race."

In this year's Daytona 500, Newman and Busch worked in tandem on the final lap, passing Tony Stewart for an improbable victory that vindicated Roger Penske's racing career of one of the most successful car owners in motorsports history.

"This was a team effort," Penske told reporters in the Daytona 500 winner's circle. "I’ve been here almost 30 years trying to get in victory lane. To achieve this with the competition, with Ryan and Roy and the whole team, it’s just unbelievable. We’ve worked hard. We’ve come close. I think it was a pure team effort. Ryan drove a masterful race, as he has done many times and come up short. But today was special for us."

And, special for Cindric, too.

In 1999, Penske Racing was struggling in the CART series and Penske knew it was time to turn the team around. He was impressed with Cindric, who was team manager for team owner Bobby Rahal at the time.

“His first conversation with me was, `I’m not looking for a team manager, I’m looking for someone who wants to be my partner and turn the team around,’” Cindric recalled.

“Roger didn’t know my desire to work for him. My wife is the only one who knew that. My biggest apprehension was that he and I had a relationship where I could work with him. He is one of the elite and I wanted to make sure I was the right guy.

“As much as half of me was intimidated by the situation, the other half was if you don’t try this you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. I can live with failure; I just can’t live without trying,” he stated.

Penske saw something in Cindric, an Indianapolis native who was a basketball standout at Rose-Hulman (being inducted into the college's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001).

“I knew Tim from when his father worked on our engines with the Goodyear tire tests,” Penske said. “I had seen Tim operate at Rahal. He was a young guy, had the technical expertise, was an athlete. So, he was a competitor.

“He had the passion to join our team. He was at the right age when he came to the team and he has done an outstanding job. It’s a pleasure to work with someone like that . . . I guess you never know the right guy until you throw him the long ball. So I might have been luck to make that call to him,” said the legendary car owner.

Cindric took over the team at the end of the 1999 season. With Cindric at the helm, Gil de Ferran gave Penske Racing CART titles in 2000 and 2001. The team returned to the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 with Castroneves winning in 2001 and 2002 and de Ferran winning in 2003.

And, now, the team has won its first Daytona 500.