Will Roger Penske, now that he's Mr. Saturn, consider putting a Saturn on the NASCAR tour?

  
Roger Penske (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   POCONO, Pa.
   Roger Penske's move to buy the Saturn brand from General Motors and his plans to turn Saturn into "a global brand" raises some intriguing questions, particularly for Penske's NASCAR side.
  But now there is talk of an even bigger role in the car business for Penske -- with some saying he is the man who should now be taking over GM itself.
  The Penske-Saturn move, which would give Penske an additional 350 car dealerships across the nation, and would save may 13,000 jobs, naturally is creating tons of speculation, even that Penske might be looking at Nissan-US to make some of his new Saturns.
  What all this might mean for Penske's NASCAr operation is certainly unclear.
   However Penske men say that Chrysler has not paid its bills lately, while going through bankruptcy.
   All the details of the Penske-Saturn deal aren't on the table yet, but it appears that Penske is buying the Saturn "brand," including trademarks, and its dealerships, with the service-and-parts departments.
   Where the cars themselves will be coming from isn't clear. Penske says he'll buy some cars from GM and some from Renault. It doesn't appear Penske will be buying any car-building plants himself.
   It is unclear if Penske might be interested in fielding Saturns in NASCAR, though under NASCAR's common template rules it would be fairly easy, depending on where the engines come from.