With over 60 years of team experience between them, Penske Performance President Tim Cindric and longtime crew member and facilities manager Jerry Breon represent the 2021 class of the Team Penske Hall of Fame. As two of the team’s longest-tenured associates to earn the Hall of Fame honor, Cindric and Breon become the 10th and 11th inductees into the exclusive club as they received their custom awards during Team Penske’s employee ceremony at the team headquarters in Mooresville, NC on Wednesday morning.
Cindric came to Team Penske at the end of the 1999 INDYCAR season as the President of Penske Racing Inc., the same time as 2020 Team Penske Hall of Fame inductee Helio Castroneves. In this role, he led the formation of the Porsche RS Spyder program that had a highly successful run in the American Le Mans Series from 2005-2008. Cindric was elevated to the role of President of Penske Performance in 2005 and continues to lead all racing operations today, along with Penske Technology Group and Penske Restoration.
Widely renowned as one of the brightest minds in racing as a team strategist in INDYCAR and IMSA, one of Cindric’s largest initiatives came between 2005-2007 when he coordinated the move of the team’s NASCAR, INDYCAR and Sports Car operations under one 400,000-square-foot roof in Mooresville, NC. In 2014, Cindric led additional Team Penske expansion with the formation of the former DJR Team Penske program in the Australian Supercars Series, and again in 2017 with the former Acura Team Penske program in IMSA.
Over the course of Cindric’s tenure, Team Penske has produced 25 major racing championships, over 300 race victories, eight Indianapolis 500 titles and three Daytona 500 wins – with the most recent coming last month.
“I have followed Team Penske since I was a little kid,” said Cindric. “I can remember the night that I got the call from Roger, asking if I’d like to come work for him. He told me he wanted a leader within the team, but more than that he wanted a partner. I never thought he would consider me for that, but here we are 23 years later. I am honored to join this hall of fame because of all that came before me, true pioneers in racing that paved the way for all of us.”
Throughout his 40-plus year career at Team Penske, Breon embodied the term “human capital” frequently used by team founder Roger Penske to recognize the organization’s greatest resource. In a career that started in 1974 after he attended his first Indianapolis 500, Breon has held numerous positions within the organization.
Breon joined the team as a mechanic for the former IROC program and within six months was promoted to lead the fabrication department, a position he would hold until 1999. It was then that he transitioned to the role of facilities manager for the former Team Penske INDYCAR shop and Racing Experience located in Reading, PA. Breon was a vital member of the group that was charged with the consolidation of all of the Team Penske teams during the transition to the organization’s current Mooresville, NC facility.
In addition, Breon served as an over-the-wall member for Team Penske for 21 years, most notably as a tire changer for the INDYCAR program. In that role he helped Team Penske to the title in the first six Pit Stop Championships held on Carb Day before the Indianapolis 500. He also served as a tire changer and fueler, for the NASCAR team. Breon retired from the role of facilities manager in 2017 as one of the longest-tenured employees in the history of Team Penske.
“This is quite an unexpected honor,” said Breon. “When I first started working at Team Penske, I thought it would just be a summer job. Little did I know I would stay here for 43 years. When I started there were 13 of us, including Roger. To see what Team Penske has become since then is amazing and I am very grateful for the opportunity to have worked at such a place as this.”
With their inductions, Cindric and Breon join previous Team Penske Hall of Fame honorees: Roger Penske (2016), Mark Donohue (2016), Rick Mears (2017), Karl Kainhofer (2017), Rusty Wallace (2018), Walter Czarnecki (2018), Don Miller (2019), Dan Luginbuhl (2019) and Helio Castroneves (2020).
Inductions into the Team Penske Hall of Fame occur annually. Each year, 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 Famers are honored both at an event and within the walls of the Team Penske facility located in Mooresville, NC.
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