Team Penske is ahead of schedule versus last year’s pace – Speedway Digest

Last season, it was a productive tire test at North Wilkesboro that marked a change in Team Penske’s fortunes in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The end result was a third championship for driver Joey Logano and a third straight for the Penske organization.

This year, Team Penske is already ahead of schedule. Austin Cindric won at Talladega two weeks ago, and Logano triumphed at Texas last Sunday.

In addition, Josh Berry won for Penske affiliate Wood Brothers Racing in the fifth race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I think last year we had the new nose with the Ford, and it took everybody a little bit to get rolling on what it liked and what it needed,” said Ryan Blaney, who won the Cup title in 2023 between two of Logano’s championships.

“That’s a big change from what we had in ’23. This year, we didn’t really have any changes to the car, so we were just kind of ahead of the game. We’re just up to speed faster, with what we figured out during the summer last year that led to the end, and we’ve really just kind of refined that, what was working.

“It’s been nice to have really fast cars this year. Hopefully, we (Blaney’s No. 12 team) can get in Victory Lane soon. I’ve been really happy with how we’ve been performing. It hasn’t really worked out for us.”