Entering the semi-final round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Team Penske has two impressive bullets remaining in the chamber, as the world-renowned organization chases its third consecutive title in NASCAR’s premier division.
Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano are the two drivers that remain in contention for the NASCAR Cup Series title representing Roger Penske. Blaney is the defending champion, while Logano has won two championships, the first in 2018 and the most recent in 2022.
With only four races until the Bill France Cup is awarded on-stage at Phoenix Raceway, both drivers are looking to channel the late season runs that have successfully brought the last two NASCAR Cup Series championships home to Team Penske.
Blaney earned the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title after finishing the season with three consecutive top-two finishes (second at Homestead, first at Martinsville, and second at Phoenix). Logano, in complete opposite fashion, won at Las Vegas to lock him into the championship race, which he won to take the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series title.
“Trends are trends for a reason, right? I don’t know why or what that is, but it does seem like Team Penske does a good job rising to the occasion when it matters during the Playoffs,” said Joey Logano in a mid-week media availability. “I feel like that happened a little sooner this year. We started to make that turnaround a little bit quicker than last year, and still last year [Ryan Blaney] was able to win the championship.”
Whether or not the Team Penske rise to the top started earlier this year, both Blaney and Logano have had some difficult roads, just to get into the ‘Round of 8’ in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
After a consistent regular season, Ryan Blaney has stood and watched as things nearly fell apart several times, recording four DNFs in the last eight races, including two in the post-season at Watkins Glen and Talladega. In the other four races during that eight-race stretch, Blaney hasn’t finished worse than 10th.
On the other hand, Joey Logano wasn’t even technically supposed to make the ‘Round of 8’ this year, ending up four points short of regular-season champion Tyler Reddick. That was, however, until Alex Bowman got disqualified at the Charlotte ROVAL.
The season hasn’t been up to the standards expected of Logano by any means, with only five top-five and 10 top-10 finishes – both of which are guaranteed to be the lowest totals for the Team Penske driver since at least 2012.
Despite having one of the most difficult campaigns of his 15-year NASCAR Cup Series career, Logano is still optimistic that the late-season surge could propel his No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse team to a third championship.
“I feel great about it because we’ve done this before. Like I said before, from the outside looking in you look at it and say, ‘Well, they haven’t had as many top fives, they haven’t had as many top-10s, they haven’t been as competitive.’ Who cares? We’ve lived this story many times before,” said Logano. “Yeah, would it be easier if you had more playoff points? Yeah, but you know what? You win this weekend and you’re sitting as the favorite going into Phoenix, so it changes like that and that’s with the playoff system that we have.”
As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the first race in the semi-final round of the NASCAR Playoffs. Both Ryan Blaney (fifth, four below) and Joey Logano (eighth, 11 below) are on the wrong side of the cutline
Events at Las Vegas, Homestead, and Martinsville separate Blaney and Logano from visiting Phoenix Raceway with a shot at securing another NASCAR Cup Series championship. And just like in recent years, if a Team Penske driver makes it to the Championship 4, then they’ll immediately become the favorite
