Legendary INDYCAR team owner Roger Penske was announced Thursday by President Donald Trump as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the nation’s highest civilian awards, recognizing people who have made meritorious contributions. Among those recently honored by President Trump were Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Alan Page, Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach and Tiger Woods.

Team Penske has been in operation since 1966, beginning with endurance sports car racing before entering the Indy car world for the first time in 1968. It was 50 years ago that Penske entered his first car in the Indianapolis 500. Since then, cars entered by “the Captain” have won “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” a record 18 times – the most recent by driver Simon Pagenaud last month. Team Penske has won a total of 208 Indy car races, also the most by any team in the sport’s history.

Penske is also the founder and chairman of Penske Corporation, a closely held, diversified transportation services company whose subsidiaries operate in a variety of industry segments, including retail automotive, truck leasing, transportation logistics and professional motorsports. Penske Corporation manages businesses with consolidated revenues of more than $31 billion, operating in over 3,660 locations.

“It is truly an honor to be recognized by President Trump and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Penske said in a statement released by the race team. “I am humbled by the President’s acknowledgement of our achievements in business, in motorsports and in our community. Thank you to President Trump for this special recognition. On behalf of my wife Kathy (Penske), our family and our nearly 65,000 team members worldwide, it will be my privilege to accept this prestigious award.”