PEAK INDY

A LOOK INSIDE THE 1994 PENSKE PC-23. THE CAR THAT DOMINATED INDYCAR RACING'S GOLDEN ERA.

- DANIEL PUND

IT'S HARD TO FATHOM NOW, but in 1994, IndyCar racing was the country's most popular form of motorsport. The series, sanctioned by CART, was increasingly global in its aspirations. The '94 grid included three former Formula 1 champions and one future F1 champ. Chassis maker Reynard entered the series to take on Lola and Penske. A new Honda engine debuted to do battle with Ford and Ilmor.

But for all its mechanical diversity, 1994 was Penske's year. A murderers' row of drivers-Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, and Al Unser Jr.-piloted Penske's three Marlboro-sponsored entries. Of the 48 total possible podium positions that season, Penske drivers took 30. The Penske trio managed five podium sweeps. Unser won the drivers' championship and the Indy 500. Penske won the constructors' title, and the team's engine builder, Ilmor, took the manufacturers'.

There to capture the Penske cars and their engines in minute and exquisite detail was Tony Matthews, among the best cutaway illustration artists ever to put pencil to paper. The illustrations you see on these pages are all his.

In the following years, IndyCar would all but destroy itself, splitting into two warring factions. But those were just dark clouds on the horizon of a sun-drenched sky in 1994.

Heave Ho