Penske says he's going nowhere fast

If Roger Penske adds to his glittering record at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by capturing an unparalleled 15th Indianapolis 500 today , it's not likely that you'll see the car owner planning his exit strategy from the sport.

"I would love to win the 15th," Penske said. "If I do, I guarantee I'll be back next year. I'm not in any position that I have any long-term or short-term plans to get out. I'm going to come here as long as I can."

Last year, Penske captured his 13th pole and 14th victory when Sam Hornish Jr. outdueled rookie runner-up Marco Andretti in a last-lap shootout. This year, Team Penske got another boost when two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002) gave Penske his 14th pole with a four-lap average of 225.817 miles per hour.

Penske will go for the rare Memorial Day weekend sweep, as his NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch, grabbed the front row for tonight's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

While car owner and four-time Indy 500 winner A.J. Foyt will be celebrating his 50th anniversary at the speedway, Penske has been a fixture at Indy for just as long, since 1951. " I was here for every year from that point on up until when we weren't here for the [five years] we had the split," said Penske, referring to the split in the 1990s between the fledgling Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Teams, of which Penske was a board member. "So I've been here and seen the revolution, what's taken place here, but I'll be back."

The Indy field of 33 contains six former winners, three of whom will be starting in the first two rows: pole-sitter Castroneves, 2006 winner Hornish (fifth), and 2005 winner Dan Wheldon (sixth). Buddy Rice, the 2004 winner, will start in the sixth row (16th), while Buddy Lazier, the 1995 winner, will start in Row 8 (22d), and two-time winner Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994) will start in Row 9 (25th) . . . Milka Duno, one of three women in the Indy field, and Phil Giebler are the only rookies in the race . . . The weather forecast today for Indianapolis calls for a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms.

The red No. 8 of Dale Earnhardt Jr., perhaps the most recognizable NASCAR Nextel Cup car, will literally be in camouflage for today's Coca-Cola 600. The Budweiser car will sport a desert paint scheme in honor of Memorial Day.

It's about as low a profile as Earnhardt can boast these days. Earnhardt, in 14th place in the points standings, flipped NASCAR upside down this month when he announced his departure from Dale Earnhardt Inc., effective at year's end. NASCAR's most popular driver has yet to find a ride for 2008.

The timing of the announcement couldn't have been worse for Earnhardt, who will be without crew chief Tony Eury Jr. today for the first of six points races. Eury was suspended May 15 after NASCAR inspectors discovered illegal brackets on the wing of the No. 8 car. Earnhardt was also stripped of 100 points.

Car chief Tony Gibson will make the calls today for Earnhardt, who will start fourth.

The last time Newman claimed a checkered flag was Sept. 18, 2005, when the driver of the No. 12 Dodge beat out Tony Stewart at New Hampshire International Speedway. "The importance of winning is at an all-time high because it's been so long since we've had one," said Newman, 13th in the points race. "The main focus is to get points and maintain our finishes the past four weeks and allow that to snowball into top-fives and victories." . . . Clint Bowyer spun the No. 07 Chevrolet during yesterday's afternoon practice and will run his backup car today . . . Kasey Kahne, a six-time Nextel Cup winner last year, raced to his first victory of the season last night, pulling away on a late restart to win the Busch race. Kahne, who swept the Cup events at Lowe's last year, will start 32d today.

Michael Vega reported from Indianapolis, Fluto Shinzawa from Concord, N.C.; material from the Associated Press was used in this report.