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(Do you like the consonance?) From auto dealerships to Super Bowl XL, Roger Penske finds success in just about everything he does.

His Penske Automotive Group, with 253 dealerships, is the second largest auto dealer group in the world.

His Penske Truck Leasing manages more than 200,000 trucks around the world.

And Penske is a self-made billionaire. Forbes ranks him as the 773rd richest man in the world and 296th richest man in America.

In open wheel racing Penske’s teams have won 13 championships and gone to victory lane a total of 141 times, including 15 Indianapolis 500 wins. He is one of the most prolific owners in open wheel racing.

Despite his success in business and on that side of racing, in 27 years of fielding a car in NASCAR Penske hasn’t been able to push his teams across the threshold and become a championship winning owner (though he came very close in 1993 and has 62 race wins). That may soon change.

It was only a matter of time before the man affectionately known as ‘The Captain’ once again positioned his NASCAR team to be as consistently competitive as any other organization in the sport.

With the announcement last week that Shell/Pennzoil would join the team in 2011, Penske (the organization) showed their strength not just as a racing organization, but as a business entity. The team and the larger Penske Corporation is able to provide sponsors with so much more than just an on-track presence. With big sponsors in short supply, this type of thing is vital.

On track, the team has Kurt Busch (a championship winning veteran), Brad Keselowski (an eager rookie), Sam Hornish (a developing, championship winning race car driver), and strong prospects in Justin Allgaier, Parker Kilgerman and Dakoda Armstrong.

Armstrong, running full time in the ARCA Series, won his first race this past weekend. And Allgaier scored his first win at Bristol earlier this season and has shown marked improvement. To his credit, Parker Kilgerman was running well this past weekend before getting caught up in a wreck.

While there is still work to be done at Penske, they are well positioned for the future. They have veteran talent, great sponsors and the willingness to nurture the Penske stars of tomorrow. Those are all factors that could one day soon combine to give Roger Penske that elusive NASCAR championship.

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The 2010 racing season is officially upon us!  The Rolex 24 at Daytona kicked it off Saturday, and haulers carrying stock cars will roll into DIS this week.  Daytona 500 qualifying and the Budweiser Shootout headline a busy upcoming weekend.  Along with the NASCAR events, the ARCA Series will open it’s season with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 on Saturday afternoon.  And with the names that are on the entry list for the ARCA race, SPEED may be in for record breaking ratings.

The most notable of those names on the entry list for the ARCA opener is of course, Danica Patrick.  She will be making her much anticipated stock car debut under the watchful eye of Tony Eury Jr. and her new JR Motorsports team.  A lot will be riding on her performance in the race, as a successful outing could lead to her being approved for the Nationwide Series race at Daytona in two weeks.  NASCAR won’t be the only one watching her on Saturday though, as I’d imagine many race fans will tune in to see if the hype is really justified.

Besides Patrick, this may be one of the more interesting entry lists we’ve ever seen for a Daytona ARCA race.  There are no less then six women drivers attempting the race including Patrick, Milka Duno, Alli Owens, Leilani Munter, Amber Cope, and Jennifer Jo Cobb.  There is also a former Formula One driver attempting his first stock car race in the person of Nelson Piquet Jr.

The race will also feature the usual bevy of young, up and coming development drivers like Dakoda Armstrong and James Buescher, along with a mix of series veterans including Frank Kimmel and Bill Baird.

In the past, the ARCA race at Daytona has proven to be wildly unpredictable because of the inexperience of many of those competing.  There are very few opportunities to run at tracks like Daytona, and many drivers log their first ever restrictor plate track time during this event. 

Besides the problems with inexperience, drivers in this race sometimes have a tendency to drive over their heads in the hopes they can run well and impress the NASCAR team brass that will be in attendance.  A solid performance here could lead to an opportunity to move up, or attract new sponsorship.

This combination of inexperience and over-driving has often led to dramatic wrecks, crazy finishes, and angry drivers.  Something tells me this edition will be no different.

The Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona gets underway on Saturday afternoon at 4:30PM EST on SPEED.  My only question for you is, will you be watching?