hearing that #12 Mobil One owner, Michael Kranefuss is to sell the #12 team to Roger Penske, who owns the #2 Miller Lite Ford team. Also, Kranefuss is expected to purchase the #41 from Larry Hedrick and run Shawna Robinson with a possible Cup deal out of the Statesville, NC shop. One thing that makes this odd, is the #41 is a Chevy team, Kranefuss is a Ford guy. No word on if Mayfield stays of goes to one of the other teams looking for a driver (#’s 01, 4 or 7), seems to be something going on with the #12. Kranefuss was not in Charlotte for the race week and during the Ryan Newman announcement (#02 ALLTEL) there was NO mention of Mayfield being a teammate or Kranefuss UPDATE: Penske Performance South, Inc., the managing member of Penske-Kranefuss Racing, LLC, and Michael H. A. Kranefuss today announced the purchase of Kranefuss’ 50 percent stake in Penske-Kranefuss Racing, LLC by Penske Performance South, Inc., effective immediately. The Team will now be known Penske Racing, LLC, and Walter P. Czarnecki, vice-chairman of Penske Performance South, Inc., has been elected president of the company. Jeremy Mayfield will continue as the driver of the Team’s #12 Mobil 1 Ford Taurus, with Michael Kranefuss continuing as a member of the Team for the remainder of the NASCAR Winston Cup season(Williams Company)(10-9-2000) AND see related stories at the Sporting News: Source: Penske now sole owner of No. 12 Ford team and SpeedVision: Penske Buys Out Kranefuss and That’s Racin’: Penske buys out Kranefuss UPDATE 2: The Penske-Kranefuss Racing NASCAR Winston Cup team Monday night announced an ownership change, one that could lead to driver Jeremy Mayfield’s departure from the operation at the end of the season. A Penske news release said Mayfield and Kranefuss will continue to be associated with the Mooresville, N.C.-based team through the end of this season. Mayfield is considered a candidate for at least two Winston Cup cars that will be vacant at the start of the 2001 season(Greenville News) BUT an NOL column reports: A spokesman for Mayfield said the driver had two years remaining on his contract with the team and he had “no plans to go anywhere.”(10-10-2000)
