Penske Racing has one of the most open shop layouts for fans.  As you can see in the photo above, fans can walk along an open air area and look down into the shop.  There’s no glass separating the fans from the work area either.

When I visited the shops in October, I was amazed at their cleanliness.  When I think of a garage to build/repair cars, I think of oil on the floor and grime on everything.  The NASCAR shops are definitely not like that (or at least the parts we can see aren’t).  In some of my photos of Penske, pay close attention to the floor.  Not a spec of oil or and very organized.  It’s like a showroom, more than a work area.

Penske was one of our last stops on our whirlwind tour of NASCARolina.  The fan entrance into Penske is into the gift shop which has windows that allow you to see out into the ground level of the shop.  Because I was there in October, I knew that there were some stairs that led up to the fan walk (that Shelby is on above).  I don’t recall a sign being there telling you to go upstairs and/or what was up there.  Because of that, I freaked Shelby out a bit when I headed up the stairs.  As we got to the top and rounded the corner out into the shop, Shelby got really excited.  She didn’t know what to expect and being able to essentially be in the shop was pretty exciting to her.  [Being able to experience these shops through Shelby's eyes during the week we were in North Carolina was part of the excitement and enjoyment for me.  I knew she was enjoying herself up to this point but to hear and see her excitement at this particular moment was exciting for me.]

Click here to see the photos I took at Penske Racing.