DJR Team Penske's strong South Australian links

The Adelaide Parklands circuit has been part of Dick Johnson's racing history since the first event in 1985. He won twice on the streets of Adelaide firstly in the Group A Ford Mustang then in the awesome Shell Sierra RS 500. Son Steven also took out a fine second place back in 2001 and James Courtney was second overall in 2010.

But it's the more recent developments that have bought the southern state into focus at DJR Team Penske.

SA born Scott Pye was recently confirmed as DJR Team Penske's Pirtek Enduro Cup co-driveralongside Marcos Ambrose. After a very strong year with the team in 2014, Pye looked like he might miss out this year, but the new look DJR Team Penske team wasted no time in locking him into the team for 2015.

The other South Australian connection is that of Managing Director and Team Principal Ryan Story.

Story's name has popped up more and more in the last 12 or so months, particularly through the negotiation period and subsequent majority ownership purchase of DJR by American racing giant Roger Penske.

He's been able to fly largely under the radar in terms of media interest and scrutiny - but not anymore, given his new high profile role and responsibility with the famous team, now featuring a two-time V8 Supercars champion in Marcos Ambrose.

V8supercars.com.au took time out with Story and his is a familiar tale of so many people in pit lane - his love of the sport started as a young fan, and in Story's case, in his hometown of Yorketown in South Australia.

"I've always been a huge fan of motorsport," Story says. "I watched every race I could on TV and vividly remember the first round I went to live with my dad, Eric - Mallala 1993, the first year of the V8 rules that we now know as V8 Supercars.

"The bloke driving the #17 car was an absolute hero of mine growing up. I was also a member of the DJR Team Mates membership program since it began."

Story, who has qualifications in applied mathematics, engineering and economics, has a working background largely outside the sport, with plenty of time spent in the United States and business interests that are wide and varied.

When DJR claimed the 2010 V8 Supercars Championship with James Courtney amid well-publicised inner-team turmoil between co-owners Dick Johnson and Charlie Schwerkolt, Story wanted to help his childhood hero.

"After that season I approached the team with a few commercial ideas and opportunities and I ended up being in a position to sponsor the team, albeit in a very small way," Story said.

"That led to being invited in 2012 to having a greater participation in the team - from a technical standpoint initially - and that led more to assisting the Johnson family with their interests in the business.

"When things took a turn for the worse at the end of 2012, when it was apparent that the business was in a bit of trouble, I sat down with Dick and the family and had a real heart-to-heart with them about what their ultimate goals were and what they wanted to do.

"I made a decision that I would throw myself in head first and run the business, and put some money in to help it get through that period."

Working with Steve Brabeck of Crimsafe, a key player at DJR Team Penske also heavily involved behind the scenes, Story has spearheaded the meticulous planning of the team's spending.

He believes the technical alliance they share with the only other Ford team on the grid, Prodrive Racing Australia, has been a positive decision which also allowed them to have young star Chaz Mostert for most of the 2013 season, taking the team's first race win since 2010.

"At the end of the day it's not rocket science, it's motor racing," Story said.

"You still need sound business practice behind it. But at the same time you want to do everything you can to be as competitive as you can.

"We just went out and systematically made decisions that were right for the business - that was really what resulted in the turnaround.

"We punched above our weight and scored a few solid results, but were never quite as consistent as we wanted to be. A lot of that was due to the fact that we didn't have budgets to match some of the others and we were repairing and fixing mistakes of the past.

"Even without the Penske partnership we were going to be in a position last year where we had paid off all the debt - and that was a calculated strategy that we have been sticking to regimentally from 2013, with enormous effort from our staff, particularly Richard Swan, who are all just terrific people.

"It wasn't always fun, especially for an ultra-competitive guy like Dick - and frankly, Steve and I don't lack in competiveness either - but you have to be sensible and reasonable about these things, and sometimes it's the right call to be a little conservative and make sure everything else is on the right track.

"I think it's fair to say the strategy was successful, though it wasn't without a bit of pain from time to time."

And then contact from the United States came - Roger Penske was keen to get involved in V8 Supercar racing.

As Hall of Famer Dick Johnson explains, Story was a crucial cog in the deal going ahead and DJR Team Penske being created.

"Ryan was the initial contact direct with Roger and got the process rolling with the Penske organisation," says Johnson.

"He then became the key contact on the deal throughout the last 12 months.

"The process was a long one, but Ryan was able to work through the many things that were thrown up at us."

The result sees Story now Managing Director and Team Principal of DJR Team Penske. The faith of a giant of world motorsport the ilk of Penske and his mammoth worldwide organisation is well placed according to three-time Bathurst winner Johnson.

"He has been a great asset and really has moulded the management team into the best group we have had for many years," he says.

"Team Penske's acknowledgment of his work was 100 per cent accurate."

While Story is measured in his goals for 2015, he believes the strength of the team will build in its own time with the return to two cars on the map.

"Our short term expectations are realistic and of course it is fair to say that we will work very hard to be a competitive force, which we are confident we can achieve all in due time," he says.

"We are essentially now part of Penske Corporation, which has a $20 billion plus turnover and employs some 44,000 people worldwide, and we have the great distinction of being able to draw from 50 incredible years of experience and success in Team Penske and of course the opportunity to work for and with Tim Cindric, who is an outstanding operator and a real gentleman," he says.

"It really is an extraordinary thing to be a part of that.

"Motor racing is all about passion and it adds tremendous significance when you're effectively the marketing arm of an important strategic investment in Australia by Roger Penske. So when you connect all of that together, it's a hell of a responsibility - and something that we're all incredibly excited about and take very seriously indeed."

The team last week unveiled Ambroses's Shell Helix livery for the Clipsal 500, which is the two-time champ's first point-scoring race since 2005.