Can a major NASCAR team break through for first points win of 2025?

LINCOLN, Ala. — Through nine full points-awarding NASCAR Cup Series races in 2025, a Team Penske driver has been a favorite to win more often than not.

In the first two races, at Daytona and Atlanta, Joey Logano was in control early on and Austin Cindric fought for the win. Then, Ryan Blaney carried the torch as a prime contender in four of the next seven races.

Six races with winning cars — yet, outside of Cindric’s win in the Daytona Duel qualifying race, no wins this season.

Late-race wrecks dashed Logano and Cindric’s hopes at Daytona. A week later, Cindric saw deja vu while racing Kyle Larson for the win at Atlanta.

Ryan Blaney was the only Penske driver to finish top-10 in both races. Still, the bad luck didn’t spare him.

Blaney had two blown engines in three weeks — finishing 28th at Phoenix and 36th at Homestead-Miami, where he led 124 of 207 laps and earned 18 stage points. Sandwiched in there was Las Vegas where he had one of the most maneuverable cars in the field — yet only a 35th-place crash DNF to show for it.

Blaney was back at it at Darlington, taking the lead with four laps to go, right before a caution. A bad pit stop cost Blaney the lead — and the win — much like how a bad stop dropped Logano from first to 15th with 22 laps to go at Las Vegas.

Las Vegas was the site of Cindric’s only top-10 finish since Atlanta — sixth. Logano has mirrored that number with an eighth-place finish at Martinsville being his only top-10 of the whole season.

Yet, Logano is 47 points above the playoff cutline, only 30 back of Blaney (+77). The difference between Logano and Cindric? At least 50 points.

Cindric lost those points after an intentional wreck at COTA, putting him 29 below the cutline, instead of 21 above.

After Bristol, where Blaney didn’t catch a caution right and finished fifth while Cindric and Logano finished 17th and 24th, respectively, the only off-weekend before 28 straight weekends of Cup racing couldn’t come soon enough.

Now back, rested and recharged, Penske heads to one of their best tracks in recent memory.

Logano and Blaney rank first and fifth, respectively, in laps led among active drivers at the track. Penske has four wins in the last 11 races, including three for Blaney. Blaney has won three of the last 11 Cup races there and has two runner-up finishes.

Yet, it’s as much wreckers as it is checkers, as seen last fall.

Blaney crashed out early and finished 39th. Then, late in the race, as Logano and Cindric ran up front and appeared to be setting up an easy entry into the Round of 8, a wreck dropped them to 32nd and 33rd.

Talladega could be the weekend for Team Penske, the owner of the last three Bill France Cup trophies, to really improve their pit stops and their luck — and break through for a win. If they can do that, the momentum toward a fourth-straight Cup could be unstoppable.

Editor’s note: Team Penske has started or finished second in the last five NASCAR Cup Series races at Talladega:

• Fall 2024, Spring 2024: Austin Cindric started second
• Fall 2023: Joey Logano started second (Ryan Blaney won)
• Spring 2023, Fall 2022: Blaney finished second