In what has become an annual, year-end tradition, Team Penske announced the ninth class of the Team Penske Hall of Fame that was inducted at the organizationโs holiday party on Thursday, December 19th. Two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran and longtime team member Tim Lombardi form this most recent class to the Hall of Fame that began in 2016.
The two new inductees were honored with custom Hall of Fame awards as the team gathered in Mooresville, N.C. to celebrate one of the teamโs most successful years in which they captured their third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series title, 20th Indianapolis 500 victory, sixth IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship and first title in the competitive World Endurance Championship. Walter Czarnecki, Vice Chairman of Team Penske and 2018 Team Penske Hall of Fame inductee, helped induct each honoree with the presentation of the custom award that takes nearly 100 man hours to produce in Team Penskeโs machine shop inside their Mooresville, NC headquarters.
Born in Paris but raised in Brazil, the late de Ferran remains one of the most respected names in the motorsports world one year after his untimely death at the age of 56. A key figure in Team Penskeโs resurgence in the early 2000s, de Ferran won the former CART Series championship in 2000 and 2001. He was then instrumental in the teamโs move to the Indy Racing League in 2002, scoring the win in the 2003 Indianapolis 500 to make it three wins in a row for Team Penske in the โGreatest Spectacle in Racing.โ
Over the course of his four-year career with Team Penske, de Ferran scored nine wins and 14 pole positions. In a career filled with accomplishments, de Ferranโs record qualifying run at Auto Club Speedway remains one of the most awe-inspiring as his average speed of 241.428 mph for the 2000 CART race at the two-mile venue remains the closed-course record to this day. He retired from competition following a 2009 season that culminated with an American Le Mans Series (ALMS) victory at Laguna Seca in the seriesโ finale race. He then moved to serving managerial roles with several teams.
โGil would have been extremely honored with his induction into the Team Penske Hall of Fame alongside so many other racing legends,โ said Angela de Ferran, Gilโs wife, who was on hand for the presentation to accept the Hall of Fame Award. โHis years at Team Penske were not only his most successful years in his racing career, but also some of his happiest. He had the utmost respect for everyone he worked with.โ
Lombardi grew up in Valley Forge, Penn., and became a fan of Team Penskeโs Reading, PA-based race teams at a young age. After a brief career as an amateur racer and steel plant worker following college, in 1976 Lombardi gained employment at Team Penske through a cold call to team president and 2023 Team Penske Hall of Fame inductee, Jay Signore. In a fortuitous moment for Lombardi, he was hired as a transportation driver/mechanic and parts specialist for the International Race of Champions (IROC) series. He moved to the Team Penske INDYCAR operation one year later as team coordinator charged with: organizing all team travel; truck and motorhome movements; driver and team uniforms (including some NASCAR); radios; credentials; catering; marketing; graphics and running the transportation department. Lombardi retired at the end of the 2017 season but still maintains a presence around the team at various racetracks.
โTeam Penske just had this aura about them that I knew I wanted to be a part of,โ said Lombardi. โImagine being able to pick up the phone and get in touch with the president of any major racing organization today. It was a different time then where we wore so many hats, but looking back on it, I wouldnโt change a thing. Thank you to all the Team Penske employees โ many of whom I worked with โ that voted me into the Team Penske Hall of Fame. It means a lot.โ
With their inductions, de Ferran and Lombardi 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), Helio Castroneves (2020), Tim Cindric (2021), Jerry Breon (2021), Larry Bluth (2022), Clive Howell (2022), Nick Goozee (2023) and Jay Signore (2023).
The Team Penske Hall of Fame began in 2016 when Team Penske celebrated its 50th anniversary in motorsports. 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 with Team Penske team members serving as the voters. The Hall of Famers are honored both at an event and within the walls of the Team Penske facility located in Mooresville, N.C.
