The new Penske Racing South shop [#2, #12, #77] debuted Wednesday night and entering the cavernous facility you felt as though you were there for a rock concert or looking for the anchor store of a major shopping mall. Penske himself acknowledged this: “If (this) doesn’t work as a race shop, we can always have concerts in here.” He quipped. Much of the space is done, but the team has yet to fully move from their present multi-building location five miles away, although the move should be completed by March. Penske purchased the former Matsushita manufacturing facility last summer and has been hard at work ever since getting it ready for occupation by his three Nextel Cup teams. Two shifts worked seven days a week to gut the interior and rebuild it to Penskes specifications. The building itself (there are actually two if you include a smaller shop in the rear) encompasses a total of 424,697 feet. 240,781 square feet, thats 8 acres under roof by the way, of which are occupied by the race teams. There are 3 paint booths, one for each team, 3-body prep stations and 17 surface plates. By far the most fan friendly shop on the tour, there is a 300-foot long second floor catwalk that will allow fans to view the ongoing work. Penske made sure to note to Lowes Motor Speedway president, Humpy Wheeler, that the 300 foot long stainless steel rail is the longest in North Carolina. See more and some images of the shop at Cupscene.com and some pics of the media tour also at Cupscene.com [looks like the site is down].(1-27-2005)
