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Penske reluctant to run IndyCar drivers at Bathurst like Andretti

Roger Penske says his IndyCar team will not follow Andretti Autosport's lead in allowing its drivers to compete in a Supercars Bathurst 1000 wildcard entry any time soon

Andretti driver and 2019 title contender Alexander Rossi raced at Bathurst in a one-off Walkinshaw Andretti United Holden entry this year, alongside fellow IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe.

The pair's WAU entry, which was staffed by a mix of the Andretti IndyCar squad and its Supercars counterpart, ended up 19th after Rossi spun late in the race, which was won by DJR Team Penske duo Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat.

Penske said WAU co-owner Michael Andretti discussed the idea of having Will Power race at Bathurst.

"From our perspective, with all the racing we're doing and knowing how competitive it is, to take any focus off this race I think we'd be better off running the two [full-season] cars," said Penske.

"It's always something [we could do] in the future, but we haven't won this race [previously] and our focus here is on that.

"Maybe at another race, we might do it, but I don't see it in the future at the moment."

Part of Penske's reluctance to run an entry similar to Rossi's and Hinchcliffe's arrangement is the limited testing available in Supercars.

Rossi and Hinchcliffe had just three days of running at Winton, using a limited allocation of tyres, ahead of the Bathurst race.

Penske joked that he could invite the DJR Team Penske crew to the Indianapolis 500 for a wildcard entry that operated under Supercars' strict testing regulations.

"What I want to do today, I want to say to Roland [Dane, DJR Team Penske boss] that Michael Andretti and I have gotten together and we want to have a wildcard at Indy," said Penske.

"We're going to offer it to Roland. He can come over, he can have three days of testing, 10 sets of tyres...

"We just want to know who will be his drivers, then we'll maybe give them a little extra wicker when he needs it. We'll just wait and see!"

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