Fair or Not, the Penske Advantage Is There : Auto racing: The team’s willingness to experiment usually keeps its drivers ahead.

Way back in the early ‘70s, one of racing’s catch phrases had to do with “Roger Penske’s unfair advantage.”

It was part bravado and larger part advertising for Penske-endorsed automotive products peddled by Sears. But there was more than a little bit of truth to it.

Penske did have an advantage, unfair or otherwise. He somehow managed to think a jump ahead of the pack. His ideas didn’t always pan out, but there never was a shortage of ideas.

Twenty-some years and a slew of track triumphs later, not much has changed. Penske’s willingness to plow new ground still doesn’t always work--there have been a few forgettable seasons--and his drivers don’t always win, but his is usually the team to beat.

And so it was Sunday at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. There were two disappointments in what started as a Penske parade--Penske cars ran 1-2-3 for the first 20 laps--but one won, for the second week in a row.

In three Indy car races this season, Penske’s drivers--Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy--have won twice, finished second twice and been on the pole twice. Unser, Sunday’s winner, and Fittipaldi share the season lead with 37 points each.

And in the last two races--last week at Phoenix and here Sunday, on a fast oval and a not-so-fast street course--only one team, the Newman-Haas outfit with lead driver Nigel Mansell, the defending national champion, has remotely threatened the Penskes.

But there was no catching them. Tracy and Fittipaldi had transmission problems that took them out of the running, but Unser motored smartly along, always well out of Mansell’s reach. And quite probably, had Tracy and Fittipaldi stayed in the running, Mansell would not have caught them, either.

“The car worked very well, we just weren’t quick enough to beat them today,” Mansell said of the Penske cars. “We go into the month of May (and the Indianapolis 500) knowing that we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”

Penske has announced an Indianapolis joint venture with his Ilmor engine company and Mercedes-Benz, hoping to cash in on the liberal rules at Indy for stock-block engines where Buick never quite made it. And although no one quite knows what will come of that, everyone else is at least a little nervous, knowing Penske’s reputation.

“Hats off to the Penske team for that,” Mansell said. “I’m not a betting man, but I would never bet against a great team like the Penske team. They don’t do anything by half measures.

“But equally, as we all know, Indianapolis is a very special event. Anything can happen, and normally does. So we will go there, do the best job we can and see what happens.”

Unser, in his first season with Penske, is more enthusiastic about his chances.

“When you’ve got a team behind you that gives 110%, and builds you the car and really puts the effort behind you, it opens new doors for you,” he said.

“You go develop the race car, you’re always thinking about new things--since I’ve gotten with Penske, that’s exactly what’s happened. Since I started racing in 1983, this team sets the standard in Indy car racing. It feels good to go into Indy driving for Team Penske.”

But then, Little Al had the advice of a couple of multiple Indianapolis winners to help him decide to go along with the program.

“When (uncle) Bobby Unser says it’s the team to be with, and then my dad says it’s the team to be with, and if you have any opportunity to get there, you’d best go--when these two guys say that, they’re not blowing smoke. They’re both champions, and they both drove for Penske.”

Obviously, this Unser also knows all about that “unfair advantage.”