Roger Penske denies rumors of Carl Edwards jumping ship - MotorSportsTalk

Team owner Roger Penske over the weekend denied a rumor that has been gaining steam throughout the NASCAR garage: that Carl Edwards will be bolting from Roush Fenway Racing at season’s end to join Penske Racing.

FoxSports.com asked Penske if Edwards would join and expand his current organization to a three-car team effort in 2014, with primary sponsorship from Quicken Loans.

“Absolutely not,” Penske said. “That’s a good one, but no. We would do a third car if we had proper sponsorship. But right now we have two good young drivers and we continue to get our cars better.”

However, Penske, fresh off a Venice birthday vacation for wife Kathy, did not rule out the possibility that his organization will eventually grow to a three-car operation, most likely with Sam Hornish Jr. as the driver, if enough sponsorship can be found.

Doubling down on their commitment to electric auto sports, McLaren Racing announced Jake Hughes will join Rene Rast to compete in the 2023 Formula E Series (FE), which completes their driver lineup.

The NEOM McLaren FE team was formed by the acquisition of the Mercedes-EQ Formula E team that won the 2021 and 2022 championships with Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries behind the wheel.

“Today’s announcement feels like a long time coming,” said Ian James, managing director of NEOM McLaren Electric Racing in a release. “Since May this year, when we first announced McLaren Racing’s entry into Formula E, we have been working tirelessly to get in place the best possible team and structure for sustainable success.

“On the one hand, we have been working on the retention of the amazing talent that already was in place before going into the transitional phase. I’m proud to say I think we’ve done a great job on that front.

“On the other hand, we have been focusing on putting in place new processes and new talent – and the latter includes the drivers.”

The NEOM McLaren Formula E team has arrived. 👊 #NMFE

— NEOM McLaren FE (@McLarenFE) November 29, 2022

The driver lineup clasps the two hands together.

Hughes brings 10 years racing experience in single seater cars, including a role with the acquired Mercedes-EQ team as a reserve and development driver for the past two seasons. He is the 2013 BRDC Formula 4 champion and has multiple wins in Formula 2, including two in 2020.

Announced in August, Rast joins the team after earning two podium finishes and six top-fives in 22 career Formula E starts for Audi Sport ABT before returning to the DTM Series last year. Rast’s best finish in Formula E came in the Puebla E Prix when he finished second to teammate Lucas di Grassi by less than a half second.

McLaren’s commitment to Formula E comes one year after they entered the Extreme E rally series in 2022 with Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour in the driver lineup. After a modest start to the season, the McLaren XE drivers crossed the finish line first in Round 4 in Chile, but were assessed a time penalty that dropped them to fifth. Last week in the season finale in Uruguay, they held onto a hard-earned second place finish.

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